Django comes to town and takes advantage of two rival gangs. Although he benefits from the feuding, his manipulation is more subtle compared to the man with no name from A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS. With that being said, Django, our hero, is still a ruthless and calculating character. He taunts his enemies by carrying around a coffin - Inside is a machine gun used to lay dozens of men down into their graves. Although stoic like Eastwood, he’s more of a lady’s man. He can certainly entrap women with his deep blue eyes.
In contrast to the sly theatrics, the town takes place in one of the dirtiest sets I’ve ever seen in a spaghetti western. Instead of dust and tumbleweed, we get wet mud - it sticks to everything. However the brown mess makes a good contrast to the Southern Boy Gang. Wearing vibrant red sacks over their heads (essentially a fictionalization KKK), the mud really makes their appearance pop off the screen.
It’s been several years since I’ve rewatched this film. Upon this viewing (from the recently released Arrow Video Blu-Ray), I decided to raise my rating by half a star. Corbucci frames some really beautiful shots in a really ugly setting. I also love the production design, including the collapsing bridge over quicksand. Finally, whenever I hear the score, I can’t help but smile - I get really excited knowing decades later, Tarantino composed his own scenes featuring these powerful musical themes.
Follow me on Letterboxd at https://letterboxd.com/jshardin86/
No comments:
Post a Comment