Film Analysis - Week 18
Django Unchained (2012) - Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz & Leonardo DiCaprio
Django Unchained (2012) - Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz & Leonardo DiCaprio
This western/adventure film is a twist on the classic genre, basing the traditional cowboy role, made famous through films starring Clint Eastwood in the mid-20th century, the film is based on a freed slave Django (Jamie Foxx) who teams up with Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) as bounty hunter, killing criminals for rewards in the old west. The film takes place in 1858, throughout various states in the south of America. Django after helping Schultz murder 3 of his former owners, joins him in the business in order to rescue his wife from a plantation owned by Mr. Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), the dynamic of the classic western is turned into a gruesome and powerful peace, with a twist delivered through the director, Tarantino’s own style. The film explores themes of crime, revenge, hate, return, passion, friendship and slavery.
A key feature of the film is its soundtrack. Periodically throughout the film, various tracks written specially for the film re played, they are used in order to help inform the audience about the characters, through the lyrics, the audiences gains information about their personality and characteristics. The film opens after the credits, with a song about the protagonist Django and then later about the supporting-protagonist Schultz. These forms of characterisation are important because it avoids needing to use arbitrary dialogue or scenes in order to help give necessary information.
The film uses various cinematography techniques that are unique to Tarantino’s directing style, his films use these specific camera movements or technicalities, these are a staple of his films and helps bring his closer to being a true auteur in his art form. These forms of cinematography include fast pans between characters when in a discussion, this usually happen in a conversation with multiple people and over a horizontal plain, motion blur in between pans and each character gives the illusion of immediacy and helps create a more fluid feel to the film. Another technique, also common to films in the western genre, is quick zooms, both in and out. When focused on a specific character or object, the camera can quickly zoom in or out in order to give an emphasis on the subject matter. This is often used to introduce characters and is used in this film to establish wide open spaces, therefore showing the audience that the protagonists are quite isolated.
A key feature of the film is its soundtrack. Periodically throughout the film, various tracks written specially for the film re played, they are used in order to help inform the audience about the characters, through the lyrics, the audiences gains information about their personality and characteristics. The film opens after the credits, with a song about the protagonist Django and then later about the supporting-protagonist Schultz. These forms of characterisation are important because it avoids needing to use arbitrary dialogue or scenes in order to help give necessary information.
The film uses various cinematography techniques that are unique to Tarantino’s directing style, his films use these specific camera movements or technicalities, these are a staple of his films and helps bring his closer to being a true auteur in his art form. These forms of cinematography include fast pans between characters when in a discussion, this usually happen in a conversation with multiple people and over a horizontal plain, motion blur in between pans and each character gives the illusion of immediacy and helps create a more fluid feel to the film. Another technique, also common to films in the western genre, is quick zooms, both in and out. When focused on a specific character or object, the camera can quickly zoom in or out in order to give an emphasis on the subject matter. This is often used to introduce characters and is used in this film to establish wide open spaces, therefore showing the audience that the protagonists are quite isolated.
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