Review of Django (1966) by Anders H — 11 Mar 2011

Django Movie Review.

When people think of or talk about Spaghetti Westerns they immediately think of Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood. In the first scene of Fistful of Dollars when you see Clintâ(TM)s â~Man with no Nameâ(TM) riding into the town and then ending up shooting four guys for shooting at his horse, he immediately became a star and the Spaghetti Westerns were born. Westerns had James Stewartâ(TM)s â~Man with a Pastâ(TM) and Spaghetti Westerns had Clint Eastwoodâ(TM)s â~Man with no Nameâ(TM). Sergio Leone followed Fistful of Dollars with For a Few Dollars More and the classic The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and nowadays it is known as the Dollars Trilogy. Sergio Leone followed the Dollars trilogy with Once Upon a time in the West. Possibly one of the best westerns ever made with one of the best opening scenes ever. Itâ(TM)s amazing. Sergio Leoneâ(TM)s last movie was the epic Gangster film â~Once Upon a time in Americaâ(TM). The film is good but towards the end you have no idea what the hell happened. Its four hours is a little bit tiresome but it has some amazing moments and Ennio Morriconeâ(TM)s score is brilliant and really adds feeling to the film. Sergio Leone was an amazing director and gave way for the Spaghetti Westerns that have influence many directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Sam Peckinpah. In the sixties and seventies there was a massive boom of Spaghetti Westerns, Sabata, Death rides a Horse, Keoma, The Hellbenders, Bullet for a General, The Great Silence and Fistful of Dynamite another Leone film. The film Iâ(TM)m going to talk about now is one of the best Spaghetti westerns I have ever seen and it is Sergio Corbucciâ(TM)s blood soaked masterpiece Django.

Django is one of the most successful Spaghetti Westerns of all time and possibly the most violent one I have seen lately. It has a higher body count then Total Recall and Rambo 4 combined. But Spaghetti Westerns are like that and most of them do have a high body count. There like a new breed of westerns. Thatâ(TM)s why I love them so much. Death Rides a Horse was the first Spaghetti Western I have ever seen that wasnâ(TM)t directed by Sergio Leone and it is so much fun. Itâ(TM)s a typical revenge story that has many elements that Tarantino has made tribute to in Kill Bill Vol. 1. Django was the second one I saw and I got interested in it due to the theme song I found on YouTube before I had seen the film. The theme song is really good and it starts the film off where we see Django played by Franco Nero walking through a mud filled desert carrying a coffin behind him. He hasnâ(TM)t got a horse and he is covered in mud and he is wearing a tattered Yankee uniform. Already there is mystery about the main character, which is the best thing about the main characters of Spaghetti Westerns. They come riding into town carrying a gun and looking menacing. The main gunslingers always have this supernatural quality about them. They can shoot faster then anyone else and they canâ(TM)t be beat. You can bring them down but they bounce back quickly. Thatâ(TM)s why in every Western with Clint Eastwood he kills everyone. The other thing about the main gunslingers is that they are always out for something. They are either looking for someone or just passing through. For whatever reason they stop off in a town they always come up against one or two head honcho villains that everyone in the town fears. The villains take an interest in him and he cuts them down to size and you realise towards the end that this mystery man is out for revenge against one of the villains or both. He has a stand off against the big baddie and rides off into the desert like Alan Ladd at the end of Shane. This is the basic jist of Django.

Django starts off with Django dragging a coffin in the middle of the muddy desert where he comes across a woman being tortured by some Mexicans. The Mexicans end up getting killed by a bunch of Ex Confederate soldiers with red Klu Klux Klan type hoods wearing over their faces. Mexicans donâ(TM)t seem to get any justice in Westerns. They kill the Mexicans and they are about to burn the girl for switching sides but Django steps in and saves her. Django takes her into a rundown town where the only inhabitants are a lonely old man and his prostitutes. The town has been torn apart by a war with the Red Hoods led by Major Jackson played by Eduardo Fajardo fighting against the Mexican bandits led by Hugo Rodriquez played by Jose Bodalo. Django ends up getting involved possibly due to the fact that he has a grudge against Major Jackson. He plays both side to get back at Jackson and in the process gets his hands on some gold. The movie ends with a showdown in a cemetery where Django makes his last stand against Major Jackson. Itâ(TM)s possibly a very tense moment due to Django being wounded and outnumbered. Itâ(TM)s a great scene and Corbucci does it splendidly.

Django is famous for its bloody violence. The most notable moment of horrific violence is the ear-slicing scene. This was the reason it was banned in Sweden and it was due to Corbucci forgetting to cut this scene. Itâ(TM)s like the ear-slicing scene in Reservoir Dogs. You see the aftermath of the slicing and you donâ(TM)t see the knife cutting into the ear. Thereâ(TM)s nothing bad about it. The film has a very high body count and the gunfights are very bloody. One scene where Django gets his hands crushed by having horses ride over them is a bit horrible and puts him at a bit of a disadvantage for the showdown at the end of the movie. Most of the Spaghetti Western films are quite violent. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Death Rides a Horse in particular. But then again thatâ(TM)s the fun part of them. Theyâ(TM)re exploitation films. There like Grindhouse movies except you donâ(TM)t see them after the Witching Hour with the midnight crowd. Slasher films from the eighties are exploitation films because they push the boundaries by showing sex, nudity, bloody violence and the movies were very cheaply made and some of them were good while the majority were extremely shit. Most people from the Seventies and Eighties do remember those Grindhouse films. I have seen a few Grindhouse type movies and they are quite fun. Itâ(TM)s stuff people donâ(TM)t really make that nowadays and even if they did, they donâ(TM)t capture the original magic.

Django is one of my favourite Westerns and should be added to any film loverâ(TM)s collection. The 82-minute running time may bother you but itâ(TM)s a fun ride and it is a film not meant to be taken seriously. Go buy if it you can find it. Itâ(TM)s a film quite hard to find. Take care and good luck. Next review will be The Crow.