Christoph Waltz wowed American audiences with his outstanding performance as Colonel Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds (2009). Back by popular demand, Waltz appears in Tarantino’s latest film Django Unchained (2012) as Doctor King Schultz. Waltz, now 57, plays an endearing dentist-gone-bounty-hunter in America’s pre-civil war South. Schultz is quite the oddball, having mannerisms unlike that of any “ordinary” hit man, a goofy carriage with a massive tooth atop it, and a peculiar way of speaking—both in accent and in syntax. I find Schultz’s quirky character to be the exact reason audiences do not confuse him as the protagonist. He is too aloft and well situated in his self-identity to be the protagonist of a modern spaghetti western. It is this lofty character—brilliantly acted, I might add—that juxtaposes the star, Django, played by Jamie Foxx. The relationship between Schultz and Django is not the normal mentor / student relationship; in-fact, Schultz occupies the two-fold position of mentor and sidekick. The narrative of Schultz’s life—as a bounty hunter trying the best he can in a world of evil—plays second-fiddle to Django’s narrative of love and freedom. Schultz, however, is not simply a sidekick to Django, offering periphery help when needed. Schultz functions as the necessary mentor to Django, as well as his brilliant sidekick. He does not only frees Django, Schultz also teaches him how to be a bounty hunter, to save his first bounty’s bill (which later saves Django’s life,) and even comments on his sense of obligation to Django since he’s the first human he has ever freed. As the movie progresses Schultz moves further and further into the realm of sidekick as Django comes into his own as a bounty hunter and strategist. Unlike most sidekicks Schultz is not an unnecessary appendage to Django. At every turn Schultz is there helping Django as mentor, sidekick, and—perhaps I am too sentimental—friend. The crux of the movie’s plot, the recapture of Broomhilda, is orchestrated by Schultz and not Django. The complexity of Schultz’s character is found in his relationship with Django, as teacher and sidekick. I cannot think of a better person for Tarantino to have casted for such an endearing, quirky, and multifaceted character.
© 2014 Aaron Slater
