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.