Oscars 2013: "It's me baby"- If you haven't heard, Django is unchained...

...and he is not dragging around a coffin this year.

*WARNING: THIS FILM IS VIOLENT. IT IS A MEAN, CRUDE, GUT WRENCHING, TOMATO KETCHUP SPILLING, FIST FIGHTING, ALL GUNS BLAZING, WESTERN. NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED.

I knew I would like this film. I mentioned it as one of the films I was most excited to watch in 2013, and discussed the origins of the original 'Django' here. Tarantino, for me, can really do no wrong. He essentially draws his influences from forgotten, lets face it, shit films of the 70s, predominantly from Italian cinema and passes them off as new masterpieces. He is an artist, with Django being one of his best yet most controversial pieces to date.

'Django Unchained' focuses on a  subject that has become almost a taboo to discuss in England, Racism, more specifically racism against blacks. If anyone comes out with the N word, the response is usually 'oh no you can't say that it's racist!' Well Tarantino does say it, he lays the word on so thick and fast throughout the film that it almost becomes acceptable to use it, and if it makes one feel uncomfortable they will just have to evacuate the cinema. The film deals with the tricky issue of the slave trade from many different angles and in ways that people (black or white) may not want to face in present day but the film should definitely not be taken as a true historical portrayal of the trade.

If the viewer is concerned about the 'racism' in the film they must remember that Westerns have never been the most PC of films anyway; think of the original Django with Mexicans being exploited and treated like bait used in a game as they ran away from a shotgun or having their ears cut off and being made to eat them. So expect Tarantino's Django to be explicit. As I previously said, Tarantino uses different ways to exploit the slave trade- one way is through the use of comedy, where the viewer is forced to laugh at a scene which really is PC at all for example the scene with the KKK trying to fix their hoods. The other is fear. No one expresses the fear quite as well as Samuel L Jackson does in his character. He hit the nail on the head when he stated in a recent interview that predominantly "slavery was perpetuated through fear and intimidation"- Tarantino certainly uses 'fear and intimidation' to ensure that none of his characters are ever safe from getting their insides splatted across a wall or eaten by a vicious dog. Before going to see it I was discussing with a friend just how violent Tarantino would go- we referred to "Inglorious Bastards" and the carving on the Nazi swastika on the scalps- but Django does not even compare. Even I, myself found one scene particularly difficult to watch, as it seemed to be a never ending fist fight with sound effects and extreme close ups, making the scene so uncomfortable. Although it might of been distressing to watch, this scene does well in illustrating the exceptional cinematography used throughout the film.

A lot of critics are focusing on the film as a Blaxploitation film. I don't believe it is. It is first and foremost a sort of Western, with side elements of comedy and romance. I describe it as a sort of Western because it does not technically adhere to the most fundamental requirement of the Western genre. The cowboy always has to be a figure who walks alone. Having lost his one true love he may find women along the duration of the film but the closing shot is usually of him riding of into the distance solo- he cannot be tied down. Tarantino's Django is a free man, free slave as they say, but he is most certainly tied down. He gets his revenge, but he is married and rides of with his wife at the end of the film- so independent lone cowboy he is not. Thus the film is more of a crossover of various genres rather than just one.

With the film being one of Trantino's best box office films to date and two Golden globes under his belt, time will only tell whether Django will receive any of those Oscar's. The film is up for:

• Best picture;
• Best supporting actor, Christopher Waltz;
• Best cinematography, Robert Richardson;
• Best sound editing, Wylie Stateman;
• and Best original screenplay, Tarantino.

Weinstein has already stated that his lack of publicity for Django may have lost Tarantino a Best director nomination, but regardless of this, Django is sure to pull at least one award. Best original screenplay for one and maybe best picture/ or best cinematography since Christopher Waltz already won Best supporting actor at the Golden Globes this year. Then again even if Tarantino doesn't win any more awards one thing is for sure, Django Unchained has definitely caught some attention.

You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention: The legend of Django

The trailer for "Django Unchained" was released recently. I had to watch the original Django film- Sergio Corbucci's, "Django" (1966)- as part of my degree course and was not expecting to hear the name 'Django' in any form Western again, believing it had been worn out over the years in the many other exploitation films that cashed in on Corbucci's success. Nevertheless, it seems the legend lives on. Here is Tarantino's trailer:

Any trailer for a Tarantino film is bound to be quite ambiguous and reading the criticism around 'Django Unchained' many are questioning whether Tarantino has stretched the boundaries to far in his new project. In my opinion the film is going to be keeping in line with many other of his films that also surpass delicate boundaries; such as the theme of the Holocaust in "Inglorious Bastards" (2009)- and with a star studded cast like Leonardo Di Caprio, Samuel L. Jackson, Christoph Waltz and Jamie Foxx, it's set to be a winner at the box office. Anyone who has seen the original 'Django' (1966), or any other Spaghetti westerns for that matter, would know that the genre was famous for competing to produce the most violent film: the amount of violence in the films is one of the aspects that drew audiences to watch westerns in the Spaghetti era- the main question was 'how far can that particular director/ actor/ producer stretch the boundaries?' Even if the viewer is unfamiliar with the Spaghetti western concept they have probably seen a previous Tarantino film and know that he is no stranger to violent scenes.  

What intrigues me most, is the films' title. The 'Django' name has been strongly associated with many westerns. Moreover, Tarantino has included Corbucci's original 'Django' actor, Franco Nero, in his film. Here is the 1966 'Django' trailer:

The creation of the Django character was inspired by two predominant sources. The first being Akira Kurosawa’s film "Yojimbo" (1961): a Japanese film that deals with a lone man who enters a town run by two opposing gangs and decides to rid the community of their corruption (this motif is the inspiration behind many other westerns: one man who has no affiliation to any other party but himself, as can be seen in films like Sergio Leone's "A fistful of dollars" (1964)). The second inspiration behind the name, is the jazz guitar player, Django Reinhardt, a Romany gypsy who is commended for incorporating the use of a guitar in jazz music and for proliferating jazz across Europe. When he was young, he was in an accident and was badly burnt, losing the use of several fingers on his left hand. He did not let this accident hinder his guitar playing, and thus he learnt all his guitar solo's using just two fingers. It is evident that Corbucci was inspired by the 'symbolism of hands' in 'Django', especially in the final scene were Django's hands are completely broken and bloody and yet he still manages to shoot his enemy.

"Every cowboy with a gun and a mission was called Django in those days." 

~ Spaghetti Western database

Corbucci's Django is  man with a mission- he's out to seek revenge on the man who killed Django's wife, the racist Confederate Major Jackson. The actor playing Django, Franco Nero, was only in his early twenties when he made the film and his voice was dubbed to make him sound more mature. As previously stated there have been many films all using the Django name, (or "Sotto-Djangos"- Under Djangos) but there was only one official sequel made where Nero returns to the Django character in "Django strikes again" (1987). Django is not like any other cowboy; he doesn't ride a horse and he drags his coffin around with him in which he carries a huge firing gun to help him defeat his enemies. He has no tie or affiliations to any particular parties and more importantly he can never love another woman ever again, as the lyrics to the theme song suggest:

"Django, have you never loved again?
Love will live on, oh oh oh...
Life must go on, oh oh oh...
For you cannot spend your life regretting."

~1966 theme song.

 

Critics have further debated whether the theme Tarantino has chosen, the 'union-soldiers-raped-and-killed-my-wife-now-I'm-out-for-revenge' motif,  is outdated. Also, if Tarantino is going to 'avoid the realms of bad taste' and whether he'll be able to handle the delicate issues he has laid out for the film- well it depends on what people find bad taste. The original Django is rife with explicit racism against Mexicans, prostitutes (the exploitation of women in general), civil war resentment, and the infamous violent ear slicing scene. Using the term 'blaxploitation' to categorise the film is slightly risky, just because Jamie Foxx is Django and the representation of the slave trade- but anyone who knows Tarantino's style will know that his films are not famous for their historical accuracy and for always twisting the outdated themes of revenge, love and honour. 

 

Exploitation films were never made to be taken seriously- they were made on cheap budgets, with unknown actors and really bad dubbing and special effects- yet they are a film niche in their own right taking on a variety of genres such as the Western, Horror and Comedy and they were made in their hundreds- thus the narratives of the films were not important at all and their scripts were weak. In this case, it is clear from the "Django Unchained" trailer that the only thing in common between this film and Corbucci's original classic is perhaps the quest for revenge on a man for killing/taking Django's wife. It is bound to be the strong reputation of the 'Django' persona and all he represents that drew Tarantino to make his own homage to the name but not necessarily the same story. The main questions that need to be asked  are not about whether the film will achieve success (no doubt it will gather an audience being promoted as the 'New Tarantino') but where to place this film on the endless Django films list? and more importantly will Jamie Foxx manage to pull off this iconic character? ...hmm to answer them I guess one just has to wait till Christmas.