10 Best Movie Screenplays Since 2010

Tarantino's epic story of a slave uniting with an upper-crust German gentleman and a bounty hunter at that, was an even better screenplay than it was a film. For those who need a recap, Dr Schultz, played with flair by Christopher Waltz, is looking for Django's former owners and he will pay Django a hefty sum if he can point them out to him. Django agrees, partly for revenge and partly to use the money to find his own wife, Brumhilda.

So begins the story of a blossoming, if unlikely partnership, which provides the engine for the script's narrative and the opportunity to make offbeat, social commentary on issues of race and greed in the American Old West. Django Unchained succeeds despite the fact that, as a Tarantino script, it breaks every screen-writing rule out there.

It was almost 170 pages long, populated with a cast of characters that could rival War and Peace, had scenes that were relentless in their length, sometimes just to display Tarantino's skill for dialogue, and had it been written by anybody else would surely have been in danger of going into the slush pile.

But Django was a compelling story with a bucket load of heart. We all rooted for Django, how could we not root for a man looking for his wife in the racist deep south? Django's personal story acted as a crux for the collective slave experience of the Deep South. We rooted for the cathartic reversal which took place in Schultz's character by the end, and we rooted for the villain Calvin Clandie's demise. A great screenplay gives you something to root for. It's what makes you stick around until the very end, to find out whether this character and story you are so invested in finally ends in triumph or disaster.

The only regret with Django's screenplay was that many scenes in the script were omitted from the final film due to censorship or length issues. Tarantino has suggested a much longer Director's Cut could one day surface and I look forward to that immensely.