Review of Django (1966) by Paul D — 02 Mar 2013

It's quite an odd viewing day for not only I viewed "Django" but also "Django Unchained". It was even more unexpected that I ended up like this more than Tarantino film.

Django is about on a coffin-dragging gunslinger who enters a town caught between two feuding factions, the KKK and a gang of Mexican Bandits. That man is Django, and he is caught up in a struggle against both parties. The plot is similar to "A Fistful of Dollar" in which two separate gangs get played by our hero. The two party even meet and has a similar structure to "A Fistful of Dollars". Thankfully it does not chooses to copy the entire film. It contains an original story of its own and the two protagonists are different. The protagonist here doesn't work solo all the time giving him more interactions with plenty of minor characters. It contains some memorable scenes of it's own and one scene that involves an ear getting cut is reminiscent to a famous director debut. If it was not for the plot similarity to "A Fistful of Dollars" I would have rated it higher. Sorry I can not elaborate more on the plot, but "A Fistful of Dollars" keeps coming to my mind.

Franco Nero goes Eastwood in his physical stature. He looks similar to the "Man With No Name" with the beard, smoking cigar, and the outfit to some degree. The differences is small since Django does not have a poncho and the clothing is slightly different. Franco Nero performance is very different too. Unlike Eastwood, once Nero is broken he stays a broken man for the duration of the film. I would like to say Franco Nero did in fact appear in "Django Unchained". Nero played a small role as Vassepi who in the film 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." A nice nod that hopefully doesn't over viewers head. The production value is very solid. Granted I would like to see some indication of who got shot, but it's still impressive. The music kickass so much that Tarantino used the theme song in "Django Unchained". It contains plenty of gun fight and very high body count that can match "The Wild Bunch" death count. Terrific direction makes good use of it limitations and plays of it story to great success.

Django is basically a low budget version of "A Fistful of Dollars", but is still a well made Western and stand on its own. Django should satisfy any movie fan for it has the making of a great western. Great atmosphere, a well pace plot, plenty of gun fights, and escapism into a different era.