Django

I understand Tarantino. It’s impossible not to love a film in which a taciturn character in a long black coat pulls a machine gun out of a coffin and mows down thirty bad guys in a matter of minutes. (In addition to that, an “ear-cutting” scene appeared in this film long before Reservoir Dogs.) Cinephilic value wins out over craftsmanship here, but not by a wide margin. Corbucci knows how a spaghetti western was supposed to look, though he adheres perhaps too conscientiously to the advice that Leone gave him during shooting, and the story – like the earlier A Fistful of Dollars – is just another variation on Yojimbo. With his pragmatic goals in a one-horse town, where only a gravedigger has a steady job, the protagonist unleashes a miniature war between two clans. In the meantime, it suffices for him to fool around with the only “available” woman in the general area (a prostitute, naturally), get brutally tortured and throw out a few lines that are drier than the throat of a cowboy lost in the middle of a prairie. The extreme depth of some shots (often dolly shots) and the building of tension for the sake of tension are not exactly evidence of a distinctive creative signature. Likewise, the soundtrack is reminiscent of Morricone and Nero looks like Eastwood, but the film is still incredibly stylish and, for its time, an incredibly brutal treat for the eyes and ears of every viewer whose creed is cynicism. 75% (03.12.2012)

Take the worst elements and genre clichés from westerns, add the innocent face of Franco Nero and his blue eyes, mix thoroughly, shake well, and you have Django. Corbucci's Django belongs to the category of films that would be very difficult to parody because it is so bad that it is an unintentional parody of itself. I understand the positive reactions as guilty pleasures, but any defense of Django as a significant western film is beyond reality and ordinary human judgment. To understand how terrible the film actually is, you only need about 2 minutes when you start seeing the overacting and desperate non-acting of the supporting actors, unfortunately including the main female role. For Django to be presented as fun entertainment, it would have to have purposeful work with parody elements. Django lacks a meaningful script, or any motivation explaining the characters' behavior - actually, it lacks everything. By the way, the spaghetti western in its essence was a purely consumable B-movie product of Italian cinema, lacking the ambitions of producers, and it is only thanks to the genius of Sergio Leone, who managed to cross the boundaries in several cases and give the spaghetti western a positive dimension, that we owe the fact that the spaghetti western is not synonymous with film rubbish. Overall impression: 20%. (01.04.2022)

Of course, I couldn't resist watching the movie that Tarantino drew inspiration from for his Western epic "Django Unchained". Well, he took inspiration. He took the character's name, the theme song, and Franco Nero, whom he cast in a minor role. It doesn't make sense to look for plot connections, maybe just in the sense that both films can be found with some romantic line that is not always a requirement for a Wild West film. Franco Nero carved out a speechless killer who doesn't do much acting and doesn't show us many emotions, but that's where his beauty lies. He is definitely not a positive hero in the true sense of the word. He is a person who behaves quite rudely towards a woman who obviously fell in love with him, and instead of emotions, he chooses gold. However, his behavior has one crucial reason, which needs to be found in the past. But I won't reveal too much. Django is a hero who drags a coffin through the inhospitable landscape, and for a good half an hour, you can imagine what is inside. Then you soon understand why QT took inspiration exactly from here and also named his hero Django. By the way, I only now realize the confrontation between Jamie Foxx and Franco Nero in Tarantino's film. It is evident that a person simply must have a basic knowledge of movies to fully enjoy Tarantino's films. "Django" doesn't require much knowledge, you just have to be satisfied with the fact that there is a hero standing against you who can mow down his enemies in great style, although he is after gold, but in the end, he chooses the right side and ends everything in a stylish manner at the cemetery. Yes, I love Westerns, and no, I don't know why I have avoided them for so long. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2013/01/little-ashes-nezapomen-na-me-butter.html (05.03.2013)