7/25/2019 Django Essay.word

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How can Django Unchained be viewed as a postmodern film?

Post modernism is the rejection of modernism which offers the truth, improvement, hierarchy and

order. In addition, its also he belief that something is always there to relate to something of

importance - sometimes becoming a copy of a copy. Industrialisation is the thought that nothing is

original and that everything looks and sounds the same. Django Unchained follows the conventions

of postmodern by combining the characteristics of a spaghetti-western; a low budget Italian

Western or Macaroni Western that is a sub-genre of western films that emerged in the mid-1960s

stereotypically set in Italy, a western; often containing a white lone ranger set in the wild west and

also a blaxploitation; a film containing a predominantly black cast. Quentin Tarantino managed to

incorporate all of these factors into the critically acclaimed Django Unchained to create an

ingenious example of a postmodern mash-up.

To understand why Django Unchained can fall into this niche category of films, firstly we must look

at the plot of this film title. The film starts with former German dentist, Dr. King Schultz (played byChristoph Waltz) buys the freedom of a slave named Django (played by Jamie Foxx). Schultz trains

Django up with the intent to make him his deputy bounty hunter and eventually grant him his

freedom. However, he is led to the site of Djangos wife who is under the hands of Calvin Candie; a

ruthless plantation owner (played by Leonardo DiCaprio). Schultz and Django claim to be in

Candyland to by a mandingo (an African-American fighter) - but actually intend on buying back

Djangos wife who is under the hands of Cnadie. Once Candie unveils their scheme and finalises

the deal to sell Djangos wife, Schultz refuses to shake Candies hand and therefore shoots him

before being shot himself. This results in a huge shootout with Django being captured and sold off

as a slave. However, Django manages to escape and return and freeing his wife.

Django Unchained can undoubtably be classed as a mash-up as it derives from a combination of

existing film titles, such as the 1966 film Django and also the 1959 Italian fantasy film Hercules

Unchained. By purposely using the combination of these two titles, Quentin Tarantino is creating

something that is known as Meta. This is when a piece of media refers to itself in order to remind

the audience that they are watching a fictional film and something that is not based on real life.

Furthermore, Django Unchained continuously breaks the conventional rules in film-making and

solidifying itself as a postmodern film, firstly through its unfitting choice of music, which is incessant

throughout the entirety of the film. For example, the songs chosen range from modern day hip-hopin the shape of Rick Ross to niche Italian ballads from Elisa. These two songs are clearly

something that you would not tend to hear in an authentic western film - which adds to the

postmodernist feel to the film.