Django (1966)

nTitle: Django (1966)

nDirector: Sergio Corbucci

nCast:nFranco Nero, Jose Bodalo, Loredana Nusciak, Eduardo Fajardo

nReview:

nNow that Tarantino is about to release his new western ‘DjangonUnchained’ he’s got everybody watching Django movies. What’s a ‘Django’nmovie you might be asking yourself, well, here’s where you’re going to learn,nread on my friends. By now, most of us are familiar with how directornQuentin Tarantino makes a film; we understand his modus operandi. Basically,nTarantino takes a couple of films he likes, takes certain elements from themnand then does his own thing. When he made Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2, it wasnobvious he was influenced by films like Lady Snow Blood (1973) and ShogunnAssassin (1980), amongst many others. These films garnered a whole lot ofnattention when Tarantino’s Kill Bill films came out because people wanted tonknow why Tarantino thought they were special, I know I did. To me this is anpositive thing because some of the movies that Tarantino borrows from are cultnclassics that wouldn’t be seen by a lot of people otherwise; but thanks tonTarantino being inspired by them, a lot of the films he draws from suddenly getnnew releases, and so a whole new generation discovers them. The same thing is happeningnwith the Django movies. I recently had a chance to finally see the first Djangonfilm, and I have to say I was genuinely impressed; I loved every secondnof it!

n The first and most important of the Django movies is thenfilm I’ll be reviewing today, simply titled Django (1966) written and directednby Italian director Sergio Corbucci. This film was so successful in its timenand considered so controversial for its graphic violence that many films afternit used the Django name in their titles just to cash in on the original filmsnsuccess. Reportedly there are more than 31 westerns that have used the Djangonname in their titles, but it’s rumored that there are more than 100 films that havenused the name ‘Django’ in their titles! Truth be told, the only official sequelnto Corbucci’s film is a film called Django Strikes Again (1987), directed by NelonRossatti and written by Corbucci himself. It had Franco Nero reprising his rolenas Django. Sufficient to say then that Django is an extremely influential film.nHell, even Japanese director Takashi Miike made his own Django movie entitlednSukiyaki Western Django (2007)! What other films has Django influenced you might ask? How’s about Robert Rodriguez’s El Mariachi (1992) and Desperado (1995)? That ear slicing scene in Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs (1992)? Straight out of Django thats where it came from! So this isn’t any old movie, a lot of important filmmakers love this one, and chances are you will too.

nA lot has been said about the violence quotient in Django;nand it’s true, the film is pretty violent. Maybe by today’s standards this filmnisn’t all that graphic, but back in the day having a character impaled on ancross, or having someone get their ear sliced off and fed to them was a bit toonmuch for some, and so, the film was banned in many countries. I can definitelynsee why though, the film does have a body count of 138! A character does getnhis hands crushed to smithereens by a pack of wild horses. Hundreds of Mexicansnare shot to death. So yeah, I think it’s safe to say that this movie can benconsidered violent and graphic. This isn’t surprising when we take innconsideration that this is a ‘Spaghetti Western’ which means, it’s a cowboynmovie made by Italians, and Spaghetti Western’s same as Italian Horror films,ndo not have a ratings system, these guys could just shoot whatever the hellnthey wanted because they didn’t have to worry about a ratings system, in fact,nin all of Europe they still don’t have a ratings system, which of course Inthink is fantastic. This is why Italian horror movies and Spaghetti Westernsnare more violent than your typical Hollywood films.

nThe story for Django is simple enough; Django arrives at ansmall town so he can avenge the death of his wife. He walks in carrying ancoffin with him; nobody seems to think much of it. Django soon discovers thatnthe town is at war, two factions are at each others throats. The Mexicans andnanother band of red hooded misfits led by a man named ‘Major Jackson’. This tonme was the biggest reference to Akiro Kurosawa’s Samurai Epic Yojimbo (1961), anfilm in which a Samurai named ‘Sanjuro’ stumbles onto a town with the samendilemma; the people of the town are suffering because two factions are at war. Thencharacter of Django functions in the same way that Toshino Mifune’s ‘Sanjuro’ functionsnin Yojimbo; he comes to set things right. He’s not a true blue good guy,nbecause you’ll notice right off the bat that Django has no problems in blastingnaway anyone who gets in his way. He is for all intents and purposes the epitomenof the anti-hero. On the one hand he treats the ladies with the proper respectnthey deserve, but on the other he has no quarrels with killing people to steal theirngold. So Django is that kind of character, a loner, a rebel who lives by thenbeat of his own drum.

nDjango was a film made in response to Sergio Leones famousnwesterns, primarily A Fist Full of Dollars (1964). When you see Django younimmediately notice some similarities with Leone’s films, the scruffy lookingncharacters with ugly, almost cartoonish faces. The main character is a loner,nwaltzing into town to set things right. He is good with a gun. Same as in manynLeone’s films, characters are backstabbing each other all the time, so this isnthe kind of film where nobody really, truly trusts each other. One secondnsomeone is your friend, the next they betray you, and then they become yournfriends again? That sort of thing. In that sense it reminded me of Sergio Leone’snThe Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966). Actually, it was this last film that Inthought Django had the most in common with, both films deal with a treasure, bothnfilms end up in a cemetery; Franco Nero himself looks and acts a heck of a lotnlike Clint Eastwood, the cool, silent type. I have to say, Nero looked great onnthis film! He’s got that tough guy thing down flat; it’s all about thenattitude. He’s smart and cunning, always looking out for number one: himself.

nThe film has a pretty cool atmosphere, the town in which thenstory takes place in is dreary, cold, wet, muddy…the landscape seems to beneternally drenched in grays. The wind is howling most of the time…I loved thatnabout the film, it had lots of atmosphere. The score was surprisingly good asnwell, the wardrobe was in my opinion detailed, in short, there’s lots of thingsnto like about Django. It surprised the hell out of me because I have to be honest;nI’m not a huge lover of Westerns. I’ve seen a lot of them, but for me a westernnhas to be really, really special in order for me to truly like it. I love The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, Unforgivenn(1992), The Quick and the Dead (1995), The Wild Bunch (1969), Magnificent Sevenn(1960), and of course now I will be adding Django to my list of favoritenwesterns; I suggest you give it a shot even if you don’t like westerns, it’snthat good.

nRating 5 out of 5