Kerry Washington's Best Moments in 'Django Unchained'

"Django Unchained" is possibly the year’s most intense movie that will undoubtedly keep people talking for a very long time. In it, Jamie Foxx plays a slave-turned-bounty hunter named Django desperately in search of his wife Broomhilda, also a slave. The all-star cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio as slave master Calvin Candie and Samuel L. Jackson as the distrustful slave, Samuel. The talented and beautiful Kerry Washington plays the role of Django’s wife with poise and strength.

Here are some of Kerry’s most memorable moments in the film.

Sprechen Sie Deutsch?
One of the most unique aspects of Kerry’s Broomhilda is that she’s a slave in pre-Civil War Mississippi who speaks German. This trait comes in handy when she meets Dr. King Schultz and ultimately her husband. Schultz and Broomhilda carry on a conversation in German specifically so that her masters won’t understand their plan to escape.

Broomhilda’s Back
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Calvin Candie is both simultaneously genteel and disgustingly reprehensible. This duality is most evident in the scene in which he rips off Broomhilda’s dress so that that he can show his guests, in the middle of a candlelit dinner, the amount of lashing she can withstand. Jamie and the audience collectively watch in horror.

The Hot Box
After being separated for an eternity, Django finally lays eyes on his wife for the first time as she is being punished by her masters for running away by being confined in a hot box. It’s a cringe-worthy scene as Broomhilda’s naked body, which has been in solitary confinement for days, is inhumanely doused with ice water and then dragged into the main house.

Silence is Golden
Despite being a central character, Kerry’s dialogue is minimal overall. Her powerful performance is said more with a movement of the eye or a slight smile. Her sweet, pained face balances the ultra-violence and gives Django the motivation to continue on this journey throughout the film.

Reunited…For Good
After all of the pain and hardship, Django and Broomhilda are finally reunited in the end “Hey there, troublemaker,” Django jokingly says to his wife after he’s literally massacred the entire plantation. They’re definitely two of a kind.

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