Review of Django (1966) by Ben D — 15 Feb 2013

I suspect many people will come to this film, following the success of Quentin Tarantino's Django remake, Django Unchained. What they got in that film was QT's usual mix of hyper-comedic dialogue, unrealisitic violence, and a dependence on 'cool'-looking images to stand in for anything resembling true depth. What they get here: pretty much the same. With one vital difference: this knows its a B-Movie, and doesn't want to be anything more, QT was clearly aiming to make a serious movie that was also entertaining.

Here Django is played by Franco Nero, a man whose expression oozes sex appeal. He is rugged, violent, and mercurial. There is something elemental about his actions: he does them because he has to, and because nobody else will. It is no wonder that the character was a hit, appearing in many, many more knock-offs, but only one official sequel.

Loredana Nusciak plays Maria, the girl he saves, and she is the only other character in this who makes an impression. Everyone else, they're cannon fodder.

The final, with a broken and bruised Django in a graveyard, is a thrilling denoument to a fine, brutal b-movie that will now, with the success of QT's film, gain a greater recognition.