# well, writing doesn’t get much better than this…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sur1PNyO7EI

[00:00] There's a famous theory from Alfred Hitchcock saying, "If two people are sitting at a table talking and suddenly a bomb under the table goes off, that's surprise."
[00:10] But if we as the audience see the bomb under the table before it explodes and the characters don't know it's there, that's suspense.
[00:16] And no modern filmmaker understands suspense better than Quentyn Tarantino.
[00:19] Whether it's Hans Landa drinking milk in the opening scene of Inglor's Bastards or the diner standoff in Pulp Fiction, Tarantino is a master of the slow burn.
[00:27] He takes his time.
[00:29] He lets the tension simmer and marinate, and just when the tension is unbearable, the bomb goes off.
[00:34] The dinner scene in Django Unchained is one of those moments where Tarantino gives us a masterclass in slowburn tension, making it one of the most intense, dangerous, and unforgettable moments in modern cinema.
[00:43] Let's explain the setup.
[00:46] Django and Dr. Schulz are on a mission.
[00:48] Django, played by Jamie Fox, was once a slave who was separated from his wife, Bhilda, who was captured and sold off to a different plantation.
[00:55] Django managed to free himself and on his journey to find his wife, he meets a bounty hunter disguised as a dentist named Dr. Schultz, played
[01:01] by Christoph Waltz.
[01:02] They start working together to make money by hunting down wanted criminals.
[01:06] But when Dr. Schulz hears about Django's wife, the real mission begins.
[01:09] She speak a little German, too.
[01:11] Your wife.
[01:12] Mhm.
[01:13] Which is not about money anymore, but about justice and revenge.
[01:17] They arrive at a plantation called Candyland, owned by antagonist Kelvin Candy, played by Leonardo DiCaprio.
[01:23] They say they are there to buy a slave fighter, also known as a Mandingo fighter, but in reality, they are there to free Django's wife, who he hasn't seen for over a year and has been enslaved there.
[01:32] When they arrive at the plantation, we are also greeted by Steven for the first time, played by Samuel L. Jackson.
[01:38] Pay in mind, we're already 1 hour and 30 minutes into the almost 3-hour movie.
[01:42] This man is a real piece of work.
[01:43] He is the house slave of Kelvin Candy and has been working on this plantation his whole life.
[01:48] It's Snowball.
[01:50] Now, who the hell you calling Snowball?
[01:53] Poss.
[01:54] I snapped your black ass off that neck down here in the mud head.
[01:57] See it?
[01:57] See it?
[01:57] Basically gaining trust to run the plantation alongside his owner.
[02:00] This is also the moment Django finally sees that
[02:02] His wife is still alive, who has been locked up in an underground box overnight for attempting to escape.
[02:08] We see ice cold water being splashed onto her to wake her up.
[02:11] So, whatever it takes, Django is going to do everything in his power to save her.
[02:15] Right before the dinner scene starts, Django and his wife reunite shortly upstairs, and she is reluctant that her man is finally here to save her.
[02:21] Hey, little troublemaker.
[02:24] [Music]
[02:25] But they still have to make it out of the plantation alive.
[02:29] Now, let's enter the dining room.
[02:31] This is the moment where all the characters come together for the first time in the movie.
[02:34] A lavish southern space full of candle light, cigars, and delicious food.
[02:39] But in reality, it's one big trap.
[02:41] Now, it's crucial to understand that Dr. Dr. Schultz and Django are lying to Calvin Candy the whole time.
[02:47] The figurative bomb under the table is Calvin Candy finding out that he's being played by Django and Dr. Schultz and that they are not here to buy a fighter slave.
[02:54] And Kelvin Candy is no idiot because when that happens, all hell breaks loose.
[02:59] Now all of a sudden, what felt like a business negotiation turns into something far more dangerous.
[03:04] The thing at the center of the table is the scariest thing of all.
[03:09] Steven Candy's house slave who plays the villain behind the villain who is secretly observing the whole table from the background.
[03:16] So at the dinner scene we have five important characters.
[03:18] First we have Calvin Candy, a charming and sadistic plantation owner who loves being the smartest guy in the room and hates being outplayed.
[03:24] There's no one in the fight game that appreciates the value of showmanship more than Miss Calvin J. Candy.
[03:31] Nobody.
[03:32] His objective is to sell a slave.
[03:34] Then we have Steven.
[03:36] He might not own the house, but he runs it from the shadows.
[03:38] Steven's role in this scene is critical, and we'll come back to him later as the scene unfolds.
[03:42] Steven, you just interrupted Dr. Schultz here.
[03:47] Sorry, Dr. Schultz.
[03:50] My ears ain't worth a damn these days.
[03:52] His objective is to sabotage Django.
[03:54] He envies him because he is a free black man and he himself not entirely.
[03:58] Despite working at the plantation his whole life, Django, he is a freeman.
[04:03] This [ __ ]
[04:04] That [ __ ] there.
[04:05] Then we have Dr. Schultz, a well-studied and smart European man who is here to help Django.
[04:09] He is cool, clever, and morally outraged.
[04:13] He's barely holding it together, but his objective is to make a deal to save Django's wife.
[04:17] Now, Django is a slave who freed himself, silently furious, dangerous, and playing the long game.
[04:24] He has endured a lot of humiliation to rescue his wife.
[04:26] And lastly, Broomhilda, Django's wife, who got separated from her man at the start of the movie and sold as a house slave to Calvin Candy.
[04:34] The table is our battlefield in this scene.
[04:36] And at the head of the table, we have Calvin, who thinks he controls the room, but in reality, he doesn't.
[04:41] One of the most powerful shots is a profile angle of Calvin with Steven leaning over his shoulder.
[04:47] He's not just sitting there, he's being watched over, reinforcing Kenny's words.
[04:50] First thing is first, first things first.
[04:54] The subtle blocking shows that Steven's presence isn't decorative.
[04:58] He is the one managing the power.
[05:00] Another element that adds more tension is the constant tight framing of the shots.
[05:04] We, as the audience, are trapped here, just like the characters.
[05:05] We have nowhere to escape to.
[05:07] The scene starts out polite.
[05:09] Wine is poured.
[05:09] Cigars are lit.
[05:11] Candy makes jokes, but it's all performative.
[05:13] Dr. Schultz is constantly feeding into the ego of Kelvin Candy by complimenting him.
[05:17] They're even making fun of Dr. Schultz having a crush on Django's wife as she also speaks German like he does.
[05:23] I see you two getting on famously.
[05:27] But beneath that table, everyone is gripping their metaphorical guns because the real battle is psychological.
[05:34] Steven begins to suspect something in Broom Hilda's behavior.
[05:37] He has the suspicion that Broom Hilda might know Django and confronts her in the kitchen.
[05:41] You don't know him.
[05:43] No.
[05:44] Know what?
[05:46] In the meantime, at the table, they are talking about buying one of the fighter slaves.
[05:49] They agreed to make the deal and buy a slave for $12,000.
[05:53] I have a deal.
[05:55] Essimote your own $12,000.
[05:56] Hooray, doctor.
[05:56] Hooray.
[05:58] And a wise decision that is.
[05:59] But not Django's wife.
[06:01] As soon as the deal is done, Calvin Candy starts to bring Bumhilda into the conversation.
[06:05] Candi proudly shows her scarred back to
[06:07] His guest, and Steven starts to notice the rage in Django's expression.
[06:10] He's got something like four lashes on her back.
[06:13] Lie just get once.
[06:13] She lose her goddamn mind.
[06:15] With Steven having confirmed that Brumhilda and Django know each other, he quietly whispers to Candy that something is off.
[06:23] And that is when the power shift happens.
[06:27] Suddenly, Calvin gets up from the table.
[06:29] Now, during the entirety of the dinner scene, Tarantino has added a sound of a ticking clock in the background.
[06:34] If you'll excuse me a moment,
[06:37] Metaphorically representing the ticking time bomb that will eventually explode.
[06:41] During his moment apart, we see that Steven is more intelligent than Kelvin Candy.
[06:45] Them [ __ ] ain't here to buy no mandingo.
[06:49] When Candy realizes he has been played for a fool, he gets furious and it's time for vengeance.
[06:55] But instead of rushing back to the table and bursting out in anger, he returns with a smile and a lot of confidence.
[07:00] Because he now knows more than Dr. Schultz and Django think.
[07:04] This is an example of how Tarantino lets the tension marinate just a little bit longer.
[07:06] Not only that,
[07:08] Calvin has brought with him a bag.
[07:10] And when he opens it, he takes out a skull.
[07:12] Who is your little friend?
[07:18] This is Ben.
[07:19] We don't know whose skull it is yet, but we know something.
[07:21] This ain't Finn and Whale.
[07:23] DiCaprio's skull monologue is a classic example of masterful Tarantino writing.
[07:28] Tarantino is known for layering references and subversions into his stories.
[07:32] It's like the big kahuna burger scene from Pulp Fiction where Samuel L. Jackson is using the burger as a way to assert dominance and after that holds his iconic monologue.
[07:42] What country you from?
[07:44] What?
[07:44] What?
[07:44] What?
[07:46] Ain't no country I ever heard of.
[07:48] They speak English and what?
[07:51] What English mother do you speak it?
[07:51] Now, in the case of Django and given Tarantino's literary knowledge, this feels like a very intentional dark and twisted Hamlet reference where the skull becomes not a symbol of humanity, but of dehumanization.
[08:02] Candy starts a whole pseudoscientific speech holding the skull of Ben, a black man who worked on a plantation for a long time and raised.
[08:08] him.
[08:08] Took care of my daddy and my daddy's daddy.
[08:13] He starts sewing into the skull of a former slave and trying to prove scientifically that white people are better than black people.
[08:19] Instead of mourning the man named Ben who raised him or reflecting on his mortality like done in Hamlet, he starts using the skull to deliver a grotesque racist monologue about why black people are meant to be slaves.
[08:31] trying to justify his operation and racism.
[08:33] You would have the same three dimples in the same place as old Ben.
[08:41] But as soon as he threatens to crush Django's skull with his hammer, Django reaches for his gun and the figurative bomb explodes.
[08:49] Lay your palm flat on that tabletop.
[08:51] Most of you will probably know by now that DiCaprio actually sliced his hand in this scene and just kept performing.
[08:56] Now, Brumhilda gets sold for $12,000.
[08:59] Consider yourself a free woman.
[09:01] And in theory, we're done now because Django gets his resolution, his wife is free, and Calvin Candy happens to get away with everything.
[09:08] But just because the figurative bomb has exploded doesn't
[09:10] Mean the real bomb has.
[09:12] And that's where Tarantino shows his genius.
[09:14] Throughout the movie, Tarantino plants small moments that show us how Dr. Schulz is growing more and more disgusted, not just with candy, but with slavery itself.
[09:22] I despise slavery.
[09:26] On the other hand, I need your help.
[09:28] If you're not in a position to refuse, all the better.
[09:30] We have mostly been following Django's journey, but in the background, Tarantino has been building Schultz's character arc, and it all comes together right here.
[09:38] Calvin is smiling because he knows he's turning the tables, and it feels like evil has won.
[09:42] He is inviting everyone to join him to sign the deal and have some white cake.
[09:45] We will be serving white cake.
[09:46] As Candy brags about his little victory, Schultz starts to expose Candy as a fraud while standing amidst the many books that Candy most likely hasn't read.
[09:54] The moment he sees the novel of the three musketeers, he rhetorically asks what the writer of the book would have thought of Candy's operation and slavery in general.
[10:02] You doubt he'd approve?
[10:03] Yes.
[10:05] Soft-hearted Frenchy.
[10:07] Alexandre Dumas black.
[10:09] Schultz is clearly disgusted by Candy.
[10:09] And before he walks away, he drops one.
[10:11] More roast.
[10:12] Normally I would say Vidazine, but since what a vidazine actually means is till I see you again.
[10:19] And since I never wish to see you again to you, sir, I say goodbye again.
[10:27] This could have been the end, but Candy's ego won't let go.
[10:31] He calls him back and demands a handshake.
[10:33] Business dealers concluded that the two parties shake hands.
[10:37] One last way to show his dominance.
[10:39] Some people would think Schultz made it this far, just shake the damn hand.
[10:43] But to Schulz, shaking that man's hand would be like bowing down to the devil.
[10:47] So, he refuses.
[10:47] I'm not from the south.
[10:48] Because he cannot hide his despise for candy any longer.
[10:52] Suddenly, it's not about survival anymore.
[10:54] It's two men with massive egos staring each other down.
[10:56] And Tarantino lost this kind of tension.
[10:58] I think you are a bad loser.
[11:01] And I think you're an abysmal winner.
[11:03] Candy deserves to go down.
[11:05] And Tarantino knows what the audience desires.
[11:07] So, he stretches the moment just a little bit longer.
[11:10] Schultz looks at Django, then at Candy.
[11:13] And then with the tiniest smile, he asks, "You really want me to shake your hand?"
[11:17] And that's the moment we get our resolution.
[11:26] And just when Schulz gets blasted to pieces, he gives us his final line.
[11:30] I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.
[11:32] That's when the scene erupts and the slow burn becomes a full-on explosion.
[11:42] Jules knew it would cost his own life and the consequences for Django and Brim Hilda.
[11:47] But in that moment, the satisfaction of taking down Candy was just too good to pass up.
[11:51] What follows is a full-on Tarantino blood bath that wasn't actually in the script.
[11:55] All of a sudden, you know, out of nowhere, Quinton's like, "We need another gunfight cuz that gunfight was not there."
[12:03] When Leo dies in the arms or whatever, somebody then grabbed Django.
[12:05] Then Quinton decided it was going to be a gunfight.
[12:09] Now, there still needs to be catharsis for Django because throughout the movie, we assume that Kelvin Candy is Django's ultimate enemy.
[12:12] The man who
[12:14] He took his wife, who flaunts his power, and who takes pleasure in slavery.
[12:18] But the moment Candy drops to the floor, the power shifts, and Tarantino reveals the final twist.
[12:25] Steven was the true villain all along.
[12:26] Steven is the freest slave in the history of cinema.
[12:31] He has all the powers of the master and literally is the master during the times when Calvin is off mandingo fighting.
[12:38] He makes the plantation run.
[12:40] Everybody on that plantation knows him.
[12:41] Everybody on the plantation fears him.
[12:44] And I wanted everybody to understand that when Django shows up, that's a negro we've never seen before.
[12:53] Not only is he on a horse, he got a gun.
[12:56] And he speaks out.
[12:57] And the first thing I have to do is let all the other negroes on the plantation know that's not something you can aspire to, you know, so let me put him in his place as quickly as I possibly can.
[13:06] Steven is like Candi's shadow and arguably the most morally corrupt figure in the film because unlike Candi who was born into privilege and ignorance, Steven is a black man.
[13:13] He has lived this oppression.
[13:15] And instead of resisting it, he became part of it and betrayed his own people.
[13:20] He upholds the system.
[13:22] He doesn't just survive it, he thrives in it.
[13:24] For Django to truly win, he can't just buy Broom Hilda's freedom.
[13:28] He has to burn down the system that kept them apart.
[13:31] And Steven represents that system.
[13:33] He is the rod inside of the house.
[13:34] I count six shots, [ __ ]
[13:37] I count two guns, Nick.
[13:39] Tarantino finally gives us what we've been building towards the whole movie.
[13:43] Django takes on the entire plantation.
[13:45] Candyland goes up in flames and finally the real bomb explodes.
[13:49] And in one of the most poetic moments in the film, he gives Steven what he deserves.
[13:53] God, mother,
[13:58] you open it, son of a
[14:02] Makes the dinner scene a masterpiece is that it shows that the biggest violence isn't the shootout itself.
[14:07] It's what came before.
[14:09] Because that dinner table wasn't just a place to eat.
[14:11] It was a battlefield of intellect, ideology, and power.
[14:14] Tarantino has shown that dialogue
[14:16] Is violence, the words are weapons, and the dinner table is the arena.
[14:22] So we were off the next two weeks while they tore that [ __ ] house up.
[14:26] That big ass gunfight that's not in the script.
[14:28] You know, sometimes it's like in the heat of the moment, you know, something happens.
[14:32] Now, if you want to watch another Master at Work, I highly recommend checking out the legendary movies of War such as Fallen Angels, Junken Express, and In the Mood for Love, which are currently streaming on Movie, not only in my country, the Netherlands, but in many other countries.
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