Django Unchained (2012)
Django Unchained (/ˈdʒæŋɡoʊ/) is a 2012 American revisionist Western film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson, with Walton Goggins, Dennis Christopher, James Remar, Michael Parks, and Don Johnson in supporting roles. Set in the Old West and Antebellum South, it is a highly stylized, heavily revisionist tribute to Spaghetti Westerns, in particular the 1966 Italian film Django by Sergio Corbucci (the star of which, Franco Nero, has a cameo appearance). The story follows a black slave who trains under a German bounty hunter, with the ultimate goal of reuniting with his long-lost wife. Development of Django Unchained began in 2007 when Tarantino was writing a book on Corbucci. By April 2011, Tarantino sent his final draft of the script to The Weinstein Company. Casting began in the summer of 2011, with Michael K. Williams and Will Smith being considered for the role of the title character before Foxx was cast.RELATED:
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Principal photography took place from November 2011 to March 2012 in California, Wyoming, and Louisiana.
The premiere of Django Unchained took place at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City on December 11, 2012, and was theatrically released on December 25, 2012, in the United States, grossing over $425 million worldwide against its $100 million budget, becoming Tarantino’s highest-grossing movie to date. The film received acclaim from critics, mainly for Waltz’s performance and Tarantino’s direction and screenplay, though the film’s usage of the word “nigger” and its depiction of violence drew controversy. The film received numerous awards and nominations, winning two out of five nominations at the 85th Academy Awards. Waltz won several awards for his performance, among them Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes and BAFTAs. For his screenplay, Tarantino won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA.
Plot.
In 1858 Texas, brothers Ace and Dicky Speck drive a group of shackled black slaves on foot. Among them is Django, sold off and separated from his wife Broomhilda von Shaft, a house slave who speaks German and English. They are stopped by Dr. King Schultz, a German dentist-turned-bounty hunter seeking to buy Django for his knowledge of the three outlaw Brittle brothers, overseers at the plantation of Django’s previous owner and for whom Schultz has a warrant. When Ace refuses to sell Django to Schultz and levels his gun at him, Schultz kills him and shoots Dicky’s horse in order to pin him to the ground. Schultz insists on paying a fair price for Django before leaving the other slaves to kill Dicky. Schultz offers Django his freedom and $75 in exchange for help tracking down the Brittles. Django and Schultz kill the Brittle brothers at Spencer “Big Daddy” Bennett’s Tennessee plantation. Bennett lets Django and Schultz leave due to the warrant, but later tries attacking them with a posse.
Schultz ambushes the posse with explosives and Django kills Bennett. Feeling responsible for Django, Schultz agrees to help him find and rescue Broomhilda. They return to Texas where Django collects his first bounty, keeping the handbill as a memento. He and Schultz rack up several bounties before spring, when they travel to Mississippi and learn that Broomhilda’s new owner is Calvin J. Candie, the charming but cruel owner of the Candyland plantation, where slaves are forced to wrestle to the death in brutal “Mandingo” fights. Schultz and Django hatch a plan: deciding that Candie will price Broomhilda beyond their reach if they try to buy her upfront, they will instead offer $12,000 (equivalent to $376,000 in 2021) for one of his best fighters as a pretext to acquiring Broomhilda for a nominal sum.
Development
In 2007, Tarantino discussed an idea for a type of Spaghetti Western set in the United States’ pre-Civil War Deep South. He called this type of film “a Southern”, stating that he wanted: to do movies that deal with America’s horrible past with slavery and stuff but do them like Spaghetti Westerns, not like big issue movies. I want to do them like they’re genre films, but they deal with everything that America has never dealt with because it’s ashamed of it, and other countries don’t really deal with because they don’t feel they have the right to. Tarantino later explained the genesis of the idea: I was writing a book about Sergio Corbucci when I came up with a way to tell the story. … I was writing about how his movies have this evil Wild West, a horrible Wild West. It was surreal, it dealt a lot with fascism. So I’m writing this whole piece on this, and I’m thinking: ‘I don’t really know if Sergio was thinking [this] while he was doing this. But I know I’m thinking it now. And I can do it!’RELATED:
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Casting.
Among those considered for the title role of Django, Michael K. Williams and Will Smith were mentioned as possibilities, but in the end Jamie Foxx was cast in the role. Smith later said he turned down the role because it “wasn’t the lead”. Tyrese Gibson sent in an audition tape as the character. Franco Nero, the original Django from the 1966 Italian film, was rumored for the role of Calvin Candie, but instead was given a cameo appearance as a minor character. Nero suggested that he play a mysterious horseman who haunts Django in visions and is revealed in an ending flashback to be Django’s father; Tarantino opted not to use the idea. Kevin Costner was in negotiations to join as Ace Woody, a Mandingo trainer and Candie’s right-hand man, but Costner dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. Kurt Russell was cast instead but also later left the role. When Kurt Russell dropped out, the role of Ace Woody was not recast; instead, the character was merged with Walton Goggins’s character, Billy Crash.
Filming.
Principal photography for Django Unchained started in California in November 2011 continuing in Wyoming in February 2012 and at the National Historic Landmark Evergreen Plantation in Wallace, Louisiana, outside of New Orleans, in March 2012. The film was shot in the anamorphic format on 35 mm film. Although originally scripted, a sub-plot centering on Zoë Bell’s masked tracker was cut, and remained unfilmed, due to time constraints. After 130 shooting days, the film wrapped up principal photography in July 2012. Django Unchained was the first Tarantino film not edited by Sally Menke, who died in 2010. Editing duties were instead handled by Fred Raskin, who had worked as an assistant editor on Tarantino’s Kill Bill. Raskin was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Editing but lost to William Goldenberg for his work on Argo.
Marketing
The first teaser poster was inspired by a fan-art poster by Italian artist Federico Mancosu. His artwork was published in May 2011, a few days after the synopsis and the official title were released to the public. In August 2011, at Tarantino’s request, the production companies bought the concept artwork from Mancosu to use for promotional purposes as well as on the crew passes and clothing for staff during filming.