Django (film)

Django
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Sergio Corbucci
Produced by	Sergio Corbuccii Manolo Bolognini
Written by	José Gutiérrez Maesso Piero Vivarelli
Screenplay by	Sergio Corbucci Bruno Corbucci Franco Rossetti
Story by	Sergio Corbucci Bruno Corbucci Franco Rossetti
Starring	Franco Nero Loredana Nusciak Eduardo Fajardo José Bódalo
Music by	Luis Bacalov Franco Migliacci (Lyrics)
Cinematography	Enzo Barboni
Editing by	Nino Baragli Sergio Montanari
Distributed by	BRC Produzione (Italy) Tecisa (Spain)
Release date(s)	6 April 1966 (1966-04-06) (Italy) 21 September 1967 (1967-09-21) (Spain)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	Italy Spain
Language	Italian
Box office	$25,916 (2012 re-release)[1]

Django is a 1966 Italian Western film directed by Sergio Corbucci and starring Franco Nero in the eponymous role.^[2][3]

The film earned a reputation as being one of the most violent films ever made up to that point and was subsequently refused a certificate in Britain until 1993, when it was eventually issued an 18 certificate. Subsequent to this, the film was downgraded to a 15 certificate in 2004.

Although the name is referenced in over thirty "sequels" from the time of the film's release until the early 1970s in an effort to capitalize on the success of the original, none of these films were official, featuring neither Corbucci nor Nero. Nero did reprise his role as Django in 1987's Django 2: Il Grande Ritorno (Django Strikes Again), in the only official sequel to be written by Corbucci.^[4]

[edit] Plot

Django and Nathaniel burying Jackson's men

Django is a drifter who drags around a closed coffin. He rescues a young woman, María, from being murdered by bandits led by Major Jackson (Eduardo Fajardo), a man on whom Django is seeking revenge for the murder of his wife.

After killing most of Jackson's men, Django makes a deal with a Mexican bandit general, Hugo Rodriguez, who is in conflict with Jackson, and the two steal a large quantity of gold from a Mexican Army fort (where Jackson is doing business with a government general). When Rodriguez drags his feet in giving Django his share, he and Maria steal the gold. Unfortunately, the gold falls into quicksand. When Rodriguez catches up to them, María is shot (though she survives) and Django's hands are crushed by Rodriguez's men as punishment for being a thief. Rodríguez and his men are massacred by Jackson and the Mexican Army when the bandits return to Mexico. Jackson then goes looking for Django in a cemetery after killing Nathaniel. However, Django, who has bitten the trigger-guard off his pistol, kills Jackson and his five surviving men by pressing the trigger against a cross (on the grave of a female acquaintance of Django earlier killed by Jackson) and repeatedly dropping the hammer.

[edit] Cast

• Franco Nero as Django
• Eduardo Fajardo as Major Jackson
• José Bódalo as General Hugo Rodriguez
• Loredana Nusciak as Maria
• Ángel Álvarez as Nathaniel
• Rafael Albaicín as Rodriguez's Man
• Jimmy Douglas as Brother Jonathan
• Simón Arriaga as Miguel
• Ivan Scratuglia, Luciano Rossi, and Guillermo Mendez as Klan members
• Eric Schippers as Riccardo
• José Terrón as Ringo
• Lucio De Santis as Whipping Bandit
• Cris Huerta as Mexican Officer
• Silvana Bacci as Mexican Prostitute
• José Canalejas as Hugo Henchman

[edit] Production

Sergio Corbucci had originally wanted to cast Mark Damon in the lead role, but Damon experienced a conflict in his scheduling and had to withdraw. Corbucci then turned to a reluctant Franco Nero, who eventually accepted the role.^[5] Filming began in December 1965^[5] at the Tor Caldara nature reserve, where a specialist set had been constructed for use in Western movies. Despite the winter conditions leaving the set in extremely muddy conditions, Corbucci rejected set designer Giancarlo Simi's proposal to clean up the set, as he felt it added to the atmosphere of the film. With no real script in place for filming, Corbucci turned to his brother Bruno to draft out a story; over the Christmas period, Bruno Corbucci wrote out a scaletta, which Nero identifies as being "like a synopsis, but more detailed, [yet] still not a full screenplay".^[5] Filming also took place in several locations around Madrid, whilst interior scenes were shot at Elios Studios outside Rome;^[6] the filming concluded by late February 1966.

Upon its network premier on BBC Two's Moviedrome in 1993, Django was preceded by an introduction by series-presenter Alex Cox, during which Cox stated that the film was,"to the best of [his] knowledge", the only spaghetti Western to be shot in the 4:3 aspect ratio, rather than the usual widescreen Techniscope format.^[7] Cox also attempts to clarify the name Django, stating how it appears to be "a sick joke on the part of Corbucci and his screenwriter-brother Bruno" as it seems to make reference to jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt who was able to play the guitar despite, Cox erroneously states, "lacking several fingers on one hand"; Reinhardt actually had several fingers paralyzed on his left hand, but was able to overcome this disability, in a similar way to how the titular character is able to operate his gun in the final shootout despite his hands being crushed.

[edit] Release

Django received an 18 certificate in Italy due to its then-extreme violence. Bolognini says Corbucci "forgot" to cut out the ear-severing scene when the censors requested he remove it and in Sweden it was banned outright.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Critical reception

Django received generally positive reviews, with an 89% "Fresh" score on Rotten Tomatoes based on nine reviews. Critic Jeffrey M. Anderson of the San Francisco Examiner called it "One of the greatest of all Spaghetti Westerns."

[edit] Sequels

There are rumored to be over a hundred unofficial sequels, though only thirty-one have been counted. Four were made in 1966.^{[citation needed]} Most of these films have nothing to do with Corbucci's original, but copy the look and attitude of the central character. An official sequel, Django 2 was released in 1987 with Franco Nero reprising his role as Django. Internationally, the film's success spawned several dozens of releases that were re-titled to ride its success, only few were similar to the original in style and theme.^[8]

[edit] Legacy

The lead character's iconic coffin arsenal has been paid homage in several movies and TV series, including several Japanese cartoons. Fist of the North Star features a plot device wherein the lead character, Kenshiro, drags a coffin behind him into a wasteland town. In the Cowboy Bebop episode, "Mushroom Samba", a bounty hunter runs around with a coffin behind him. The character Wolfwood in Trigun has a cross-shaped arsenal case called the Punisher which he carries frequently that is reminiscent of Django's coffin. The character Beyond The Grave (formerly Brandon Heat), of Gungrave, carries a metal coffin-shaped device which houses a variety of weapons. The fantasy movie Death Trance features a protagonist dragging a sealed coffin around for much of the film. In the Brazilian pornochanchada film Um Pistoleiro Chamado Papaco (A Gunman Called Papaco), the title character spends the whole film carrying a coffin and the opening scene is inspired by Corbucci's film.

Additionally, Django is the subject of the song "Django" on the 2003 Rancid album Indestructible. The music video for the Danzig song "Crawl Across Your Killing Floor" is inspired by the film and shows Glenn Danzig dragging a coffin.^[9]

In Quentin Tarantino's 2012 film Django Unchained, Nero plays a small role as Amerigo Vassepi, an owner of a slave engaged in Mandingo fighting with a slave owned by Leonardo DiCaprio's character. Upon the loss of that fight, Vassepi goes to the bar for a drink and encounters Django, played by Jamie Foxx. As a nod to Nero's film, Vassepi asks Django his name, asks him to spell it, and, upon Django's informing him that the "D" is silent, says "I know."^[10]

[edit] See also

• Few Dollars for Django
• The Last Killer
• Django Kill
• Preparati la bara!
• Sukiyaki Western Django
• Django Unchained

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Django at the Internet Movie Database
• Django (2012 re-release) at Box Office Mojo