Django Unchained - Part 2

[redhawk23]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jermaine-spradley/django-unchained-controversy_b_2457739.html

I found this to be a pretty fair analysis and criticism of the film.

 

[redhawk23]

This was quoted in the other article and although I disagree on several point, I think its a well written consideration of the film.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blo...portrayal-of-slavery-in-django-unchained.html

I just think its weird that the writer criticizes Tarantino for "responding and subverting the myths of history instead of the history itself." That's basically the point of the movie in its entirety. Its fine to not like the movie, but I'd say its quite successful in its aims.

 

[lime]

Tarantino never tells history. He re-tells it his own way. He did it with Inglorious Basterds, and he did it with Django. This is his style.

 

[redhawk23]

If anything he is far more commenting on cinema than the history that cinema portrays. This film has a lot more to do with Gone with the Wind and Birth of a Nation than it does with the actual 19th century.

 

[jmc]

It's not really my area to comment about US history and slavery but it seems to me the crux of the issues people have is that some are uncomfortable that a Caucasian man is tackling a tough racially themed subject matter.

 

[Tequilla]

Rambunctious cinema at its finest. Just a great movie all around. Quentin Tarantino might not be the most profound filmmaker , but he sure as hell knows how to make entertainment.

The only disappointment...visuals. I expected something a little different. This just followed the same pattern of the previous collaborations of bob richardson and quentin.

 

[terry78]

Well, no other black directors have attempted to go into slavery aside from just making references to it. And it's still somewhat of a sore spot with a lot of us even if we didn't live through it. Just the fact that it even happened bugs us.

 

[redhawk23]

There would be even more of an uproar if a black director made a movie about a freed slave "Killing White folks and getting paid for it."

What other director other than Tarantino would be willing to make such a movie? Who else would be able to pull in an 80 million dollar budget?

Tarantino may draw from many sources but his strength is that he is the only person who would ever, and often could ever, make his films.

 

[RockSP]

Well, no other black directors have attempted to go into slavery aside from just making references to it.

Not quite. Steve Mcqueen's upcoming "Twelve Years a Slave".

 

[terry78]

Yeah, I know about him. I should say African American directors then. Black people from overseas are aware and have feelings regarding slavery, but don't have the baggage I don't think.

 

[RockSP]

I don't think a black american director would stay away from it, necessarily. I agree with redhawk23:

There would be even more of an uproar if a black director made a movie about a freed slave "Killing White folks and getting paid for it."

Hollywood wouldn't give a black director tons of cash to make that type of movie. Hell, Danny Glover still can't get the $$$ to make his Toussaint Louverture film.

To me it's a similar case to Mcduffie on JLA: there was all kind of complaining when his roster included several black people, even though the team was majority white. No such complaints when Johns does the same thing, or Hickman includes several black characters on his Avengers.

 

[terry78]

We always have an agenda apparently.

 

[jmc]

Well, no other black directors have attempted to go into slavery aside from just making references to it. And it's still somewhat of a sore spot with a lot of us even if we didn't live through it. Just the fact that it even happened bugs us.

May I ask what your feelings were toward this film?

 

[Bruce Malone]

I don't think a black american director would stay away from it, necessarily. I agree with redhawk23:



Hollywood wouldn't give a black director tons of cash to make that type of movie. Hell, Danny Glover still can't get the $$$ to make his Toussaint Louverture film.

To me it's a similar case to Mcduffie on JLA: there was all kind of complaining when his roster included several black people, even though the team was majority white. No such complaints when Johns does the same thing, or Hickman includes several black characters on his Avengers.

That's BS. You get what you work at. There is no conspiracy out there saying "no if the guy is black we won't support him". Spike Lee is a hypocrite because he's actually called out another successful black director tyler perry multiple times.

Spike Lee is just a hater who if he doesn't like your films will try to bring you down.

Steve Mcqueen is a great example of a rising black director not complaining about his race "holding him back".

 

[RockSP]

That's BS. You get what you work at. There is no conspiracy out there saying "no if the guy is black we won't support him". Spike Lee is a hypocrite because he's actually called out another successful black director tyler perry multiple times.

Spike Lee is just a hater who if he doesn't like your films will try to bring you down.

Steve Mcqueen is a great example of a rising black director not complaining about his race "holding him back".

No one said anything about a conspiracy. It's reality. Black filmmakers do not get huge movie budgets from hollywood the vast majority of the time, especially if the film will feature lots of black people. Your Spike Lee speech doesn't have anything to do with what I said.

 

[terry78]

That's BS. You get what you work at. There is no conspiracy out there saying "no if the guy is black we won't support him". Spike Lee is a hypocrite because he's actually called out another successful black director tyler perry multiple times.

Spike Lee is just a hater who if he doesn't like your films will try to bring you down.

Steve Mcqueen is a great example of a rising black director not complaining about his race "holding him back".

Steve McQueen is not dealing with Hollywood.

 

[terry78]

May I ask what your feelings were toward this film?

I enjoyed it, very Peckinpah. QT didn't gloss over anything, hyper realistic it may have been.

 

[Bruce Malone]

No one said anything about a conspiracy. It's reality. Black filmmakers do not get huge movie budgets from hollywood the vast majority of the time, especially if the film will feature lots of black people. Your Spike Lee speech doesn't have anything to do with what I said.

You have to look at what most black filmmakers tend to focus on. There just aren't right now many black film directors out there doing blockbusters that warrant big budgets.

Is that because of their race limiting them from that? i don't know? but it's way to simplistic to peg it down to just that.

I mentioned steve mcqueen because he is a rising black film maker and he is making the upcoming film "12 years a slave" which can probably be seen as the real life counterpart to django. It's starring Michael Fassbender and Brad Pitt and a bunch of other big name actors.

He's built up his career working from the indie scene to now mainstream without issue or regards to his race. Like i said if you put in the work it will happen.

 

[terry78]

A black slave movie starring Fassbender and Pitt. Totally makes sense in context I'm sure.

 

[Bruce Malone]

Chiwetel Ejiofor is playing the main slave.

 

[redhawk23]

You have to look at what most black filmmakers tend to focus on. There just aren't right now many black film directors out there doing blockbusters that warrant big budgets.

Is that because of their race limiting them from that? i don't know? but it's way to simplistic to peg it down to just that.

I mentioned steve mcqueen because he is a rising black film maker and he is making the upcoming film "12 years a slave" which can probably be seen as the real life counterpart to django. It's starring Michael Fassbender and Brad Pitt and a bunch of other big name actors.

He's built up his career working from the indie scene to now mainstream without issue or regards to his race. Like i said if you put in the work it will happen.

No one was talking about blockbuster films with regards to race.

But you can't deny that even with as much dispute as there has been with Tarantino making the film a black director making a film about a black man hunting white men and shooting white women would draw a lot more ire and would be far less likely to draw the 80 million dollar budget that Django did.

Now you're right, a major part of this film's budget is the result of Tarantino building a relationship with the Weinsteins for many years and the boatload of cash that Basterds made them, but the fact remains that QT was fairly uniquely placed.

And as for Mcqueens' film, its budgeted at about 20 million and was only later picked up and by smaller studios like Summit and Brad Pitt's company.

 

[jmc]

It's funny how much creative freedom Tarantino has really, here's a guy who's not afraid to tackle tricky subject matters and put his own spin on them. European movies tend to be much more open to tough subject matters, on paper films like Basterds and Django shouldn't be made by Hollywood yet Tarantino can get them made. He's in such a unique position, it makes me wonder where he's capable of going in terms of subject matter and at this point, can anyone really justify saying to him he can't do this or that type of movie?

 

[redhawk23]

Plus there's the fact that Basterds and Django have both made bank. Even the studios wouldn't finance one of his films, he would have little trouble finding other people to bankroll his films. Its not as if he doesn't know how to work on a budget when he needs to.

He is also just a recognizable personality himself. When he has a new film out, he basically makes more media appearances than the actors.

Tarantino is the master of marketing Tarantino. He's quite adept in feeding into his own myth in the making "Former Wunderkind Director whose filmschool was was a video store with an endless selection of classics."

He's very self aware and frankly self conscious about how his career is perceived and takes an active role in manipulating that.

Its not a criticism, as he generally makes the films to back up the image he has built for himself. The man knows at this point that he's likely to be remembered in some capacity and wants to be remembered in a certain way.

 

[jmc]

He's certainly etched his name in cinema history that's for sure. I'm just curious to know what he's going to be doing in the coming years. Clearly no subject is taboo for him and I love that he's willing to take on difficult themes and attempt to make them entertaining. It's such a unique juxtaposition to have films that are based on very serious subject matters be made with the purpose of entertaining people. I can understand why people are uncomfortable with his films sometimes, but at the same time I think it's great someone is pushing the boundaries. I guess what Tarantino's films are showing is that it's ok to take a very serious subject matter and make it entertaining, I think there's a difference between making light of a serious subject matter and making it enjoyable.

 

[terry78]

He's been criticised for years, yet hasn't fallen off.