Quentin Tarantino has reached a new level of audacity with Django Unchained, the story of a slave-turned-bounty hunter out for revenge against the slave owner who has his wife. With side splitting laughs, incredible performances, brutal violence and a nasty, biting social commentary brimming near the surface, Tarantino’s first foray into the spaghetti western is also one of his best.

What Tarantino did for the Holocaust with Inglorious Basterds he does for slavery here, as he gives the titular Django, played with heroic power by Jamie Foxx, an empowering and incredible story arc. We meet Django literally in shackles, when Dr. King Schultz, a brilliant Christoph Waltz, arrives. A dentist-turned-bounty hunter (he rides a horse wagon with a tooth on top), who frees Django in return for his services in hunting down three of Django’s former slave-masters.

Django’s response, “Kill white men and get paid for it? What’s not to like?”, perfectly captures the nature of Django Unchained. The film revels in revenge much in the same way Inglorious Basterds did, Tarantino pumps in a mean-spirited social commentary on America’s tarnished history and then unleashes it in gleeful violence at just the right moments. Django and Schultz’s unlikely pairing leads to Calvin Candie, a top-notch Leonardo Dicaprio, who bought Django’s wife, Broomhilda (played with a quiet, gentle power by Kerry Washington), and has her on his cotton plantation, affectionately called Candyland.

Dicaprio is riotous as “Monsieur Candie,” relishing in the character’s eccentricities and brutality much in the same way Waltz did in Inglorious Basterds. Waltz is marvelously likable and eccentric himself as Schultz, and Samuel L. Jackson fiercely marks his own territory in a crowded cast as Steven, the bitter head servent at Candyland. Terrific character performances from the likes of Don Johnson, Wolton Goggins and James Remar, not to mention some fantastic cameo performances, add to the color of the film.

Django Unchained is a shocker of a film. With moments of absolute brutality to match scenes of utter hilarity, a scene in particular featuring a precursor group to the Klan stands out among these. Technically the film is masterful, as Tarantino and cinematographer Robert Richardson incorporate an infectous style of filmmaking with quick-zooms puncturing an exquisitely lensed film. This is an immaculately created Western, which Tarantino creates his own by using a fantastic, modern day soundtrack featuring original songs by the likes of John Legend, Rick Ross, and a 2Pac and James Brown Mashup, just to name a few.

Perhaps most delightful of all is Tarantino’s ability to capture facial expressions. Quick-zooms onto Dicaprio’s wily, inquisitive face and Foxx’s infectious grin stand out on their own right. Arguably Tarantino’s most linear narrative to date, Django Unchained nonetheless features his usual masterful script. Capturing the horrific absurdity of such a thing as slavery with scene after scene of brilliant dialogue and undertones, the film is a mosaic of perfection.

Harsh and foul-mouthed bordering on the extreme, Django Unchained is a brilliant, howlingly funny, but brutally violent look at an ugly side of American history. With one hell of a mean streak, Quentin Tarantino tackles American slavery with a ferocity unmatched in modern mainstream cinema. Terrific performances and a script that will leave you rolling with laughter are merely the tip of the iceberg in a fully-realized, sardonic take on the spaghetti western.

Grade: A+

Rated: R (for strong graphic violence throughout, a vicious fight, language and some nudity)

Django Unchained opens in theaters on December 25, 2012.