Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained (a Spaghetti Western) scheduled for release Christmas 2012

[deleted]

i don't recall any white people participating in any of the numerous slave rebellions that really happened, but okay

John Brown? Or is that what you mean by "really" since his raid was a failure?

 

[bleach]

Either way the movie is a bit far fetched but this was the only remotely plausible way to make the script. I mean I suppose Django coulda gotten up one day and found some guns and practices and gone to mississippi himself on some catcher freeman ish.

not really, but i guess it was the safest option

 

[antonlavey]

i don't recall any white people participating in any of the numerous slave rebellions that really happened, but okay

A lot of the slave rebellions in this country ended horribly. Which got me thinking, Django was hella selfish in this movie. He saved his girl but what was the fate of all the slaves in that plantation. In the deep south it may be difficult to run away, or is dude gonna come back in Django 2 and save everyone?

 

[Jordan8]

Yeah John Brown was thea white guy that tried to arm slaves with guns to revolt which inspired nat Turner.

His name even inspired an negro spiritual that blacks song in the civil war

i wouldn't be surprised if waltz character was loosely based off of brown

 

[bleach]

John Brown? Or is that what you mean by "really" since his raid was a failure?

i forgot about him, but yeah that was his intention.

my point though, was that the idea that there couldn't be a slave rebellion without the aid of a white man is false, as it happened numerous time

 

[big j 33]

hollywood's favorite

That's a common convention of the western. Maybe that's another reason not to make it a spaghetti western, but within the genre, it's a very common occurence.

I feel like one group that should have legitimate gripes about this movie are women, I wish they would've made Broomhilda less of damsel in distress type character. Shes seemed so helpless, I wanted to see her cut somebody's manhood off. 

Kerry Washington on her character

“How often do you see black women rescued by the man they love on screen?” asks Washington. “I’m a womanist and that’s real but there is a beauty in knowing that the man you love will do anything to find you and will do it at any cost. We all want to be that princess and know how that feels and want to believe it’s possible for anyone. Black women deserve to see that and believe it too.”

I think a lot of times people in the past may have felt nervous about playing a slave because so many of the narratives told in film and television about slavery are about powerlessness and this is not a film about that. This is a film about a black man who finds his freedom and rescues his wife—he is an agent of his own power, he’s a liberator, he’s a hero. And so there’s nothing shameful about that; it’s really inspiring and hopeful. I was very moved by the love story, especially at a time in our history when black people were not allowed to fall in love and get married because marriage, that kind of connection, got in the way of the selling of human beings. So to have a story between a husband and a wife at a time when black people were not allowed to be husband and wife, was not only educational but again, hopeful. We’ve seen this love story a million times about star-crossed lovers—its just that they don’t come from two different Italian families like Romeo and Juliet, the thing that stands in the way of them being with each other is the institution of slavery. So Django is out to get his woman. I said to Quentin in our first meeting that I want to do this movie for my father because my father grew up in a world where there were no black super heroes and that’s what this movie is.

 

[Maximus Meridius]

This was a great movie. Some stuff was extreme but it felt like a accurate depiction of that time.


Jaime and Christoph were great from beginning to end. Samuel L was a MFer and Leo stole the show.

 

[mronegative]

I don't understand the backlash that is coming Spike's way...here you have a director with knowledge of self and he directed Malcom X which has been added to the Library of Congress, preserved as part of the National Film Registry.

Chill...

Only on Niketalk can a director who has been regarded to be at the forefront of black cinema for the past few years/decades be considered a "hater" in the eyes of some.  For some of these dudes, it's not even about Spike Lee, it's about somebody black speaking out against somebody white that has these dudes heated.  Gotta protect the white man at all cost, they are no better than Stephen from Candieland regardless of their color.

You're really reading into anything I say wrong. I don't have a problem with Spike's opinion. I think it's fair and could've started a real conversation about the film, slavery and racial poltics in film today, but he decided to roll his opinion out like a 5-year old. He's the face of black film in America and he still handles the media like a punk kid. They're gonna bait him every time anything remotely racial comes up. It's been 25 years. 25 years.

Yall are stuck on protecting his legacy, I'm looking out to what he's gonna be able to do in the future. Do you really think he's gonna make another big budget film with a mostly black cast again? Do you think how he handled Django helped or hurt that? Do you think his 2 or 3 sentences on Django before it came out helped or hurt the national conversation? Do you want me to find the headlines?

Ask yourself this question. Would this be a better conversation if Spike Lee's name never got involved in this thread? Would it be easier to talk about this if idiots didn't fall back on "you're just being small-minded and petty like Spike?" That's what washed over America a couple days before Christmas, because Spike Lee gets trolled by the media at every opportunity.

Spike handles the media the same way he handles Knicks games and he needs to grow up. Or hire a PR agent he's willing to listen to.

This has nothing to do with Spike the filmmaker. This has everything to do with the poor dude who can't understand why the media twists his words everything time he lays them down and belittles his opinion whenever he gives it. But I'm looking at guys like Lou Gossett, Jr., Tariq, The Spill Crew, and Spike did not a damn one of them any favors AT. ALL.

All you're caught up in is him hitting on some of your feelings about Django. All I'm caught up in is the letter of what he said and how that simplifies any words the black community can have on the topic and how every media outlet just runs out Spike's little "Why Quentin have to say the n-word like that? Slavery ain't a joke. I'm not seeing it." And say "the black community has spoken," period.

I'll just leave these, cuz this topic.

That's all well and good, but Spike Lee was asked a DIRECT question by a reporter.  Spike didn't just get up on Twitter or something and start blasting QT, he was asked a question and he gave his response, simple as that.  Also, which director between the two do you or anyone else think would have a vested interest in black people or in Spike's ancestors as he stated in his response??

Yea, he did.

Half of the quotes you see from him are from his twitter.

Am I the only one who remembers what happened to Miracle at St. Anna? And how that should've taught Spike something about how to deal with the media and the way people accept his persona?

Django didn't even kill any white men of powers dr Schultz did in what western does the main bad guy get killed by the sidekick mentor while the main character only mops up goons .

Now, I wish Django would've been the one to kill Candie, because that would've been more iconic than "you sure do die good, boy." But I can take a step back and look at what's there instead of what isn't. A different filmmaker might've been fixed on having that moment, but you can see where the meaning would get lost in it. People are pathological and they bend towards the path of least resistance. You have that moment and it boils down to "angry black slave gets revenge." But having Schultz be the one...he's not some hick. He's not some "count my teeth," born into this, slave-owning bigot. And Candie knows that. And he's not American...and Candie loves that. He doesn't have a dog in this fight. (no pun) That's why Candie has the big show and tell with the skull. He wants Schultz to think he's intelligent and cultured and that this little slave thing is just a part of natural culture.

That's why he wants Schultz to come shake his hand. Because to Candie, Schultz is trying to con him in a business deal and he got caught redhanded, but it's alls well that ends well. Candie could've had Django, Schultz and Broomhilda killed and all that, but he's a gentleman and a businessman. And Schultz's validation means something. That's what he wants from him and that's why Schultz would rather die than give it to him.

What does it mean that the big slave empowerment film has such a big important centerpiece between two white people? I don't know.

But people are pathological, and the choices Quentin made...to have the white foreigner kill the big bad white slaver and the black hero to kill the black sellout make us think more deeply about them. Stephen could've just stayed the comic relief, but he amounted to much more...in the kitchen scene and when he dropped the cane.

It means more, because we're having this conversation.

this fool here really quoted that terrible two types of black people by Chris Rock even he admits it was a big mistake what he did.

You just have to let em live and there's no sense in arguing with dude's,I equate it to arguing with a brick wall,you could use a sledge hammer to bust a hole in it,you could even use dynomite to have it all come tumbling down but after thinking about it, it's much easier to just walk around the wall and leave it standing right where it's at.

Once a cat start's to see themself's separate or divided from their own people based off of a comedian's routine,their already defeated.Thank god for history,we've been bless to have had some great men and women who have achieved and done great thing's for black's.But on the flip-side of that, the one's who chose to adopt such a divided mentality,usually ended crashing burning quickly or elderly with a much more broader state of thinking just without the age and ambition on their side,but by then it's to late,they've passed that nonsense along....

Ms.Ida b.Wells is a good example but she learned and turned it around before her voice became obsolete to the youth of that time.

And Stephen knows. He knows what black people are and he doesn't care, because what's the point in measuring yourself against black folk? The ugliness is that the shackles could be gone, but his mentality never will be. And to this day, that mentality is still there. Those are the lines that divide black people from the different black immigrants to section 8 black people, to college-educated black people, to black entertainers to country black people to nerdy white-sounding black people to hood black people. It's like the tower of Babel.

But look in Django Unchained...Australian, Southern-gentleman, no-tooth inbred looking, German, blue-collar...it's all the same. They all speak the same language and there's no tension or animosity between them. But black people...we get a sampling of every type and none of them speak or act the same. And all of them take on the labels white people have given them as if to create their own caste system. The uppity black chick, thinks she's god's gift...thinks she's not even black. The house slaves are better than comfort slaves...the comfort slaves are better than the field slaves...the field slaves are better than the runaways. The mandingos are better than most of them, so long as they don't die or run.

That's why Big Daddy has to explain how to treat Django. That slave girl had to ask him where he was on the caste system, because it ain't up to black people to decide the worth of other black people is. It's up to white people. And guys like Stephen...well they're the cream of the crop. And that's the face of self-division. That's anti-solidarity and self-hate at its worse.

Spike has too much respect for the gravity of slavery to paint it in this light he clearly holds the subject with respect to not make it into an action movie.Same way you won't see a movie where some jews escape from a concentration camp and go on a rampage making one liners about getting cooked in ovens.This fool QT wants to make a movie where black soliders go on a rampage in WW2 against white people named Killer Crows .Cmon son how is that acceptable and I can see fools saying yo this is the dopest ww2 movie ever because it uses the harsh treatment of Black Soldiers as a back drop for some kill ****** carnage that I can see folks accepting as cool .Reginald Hudland being attached to it and Samuel L Jackson ole tom self making excuses for it.

Yall wanna crticize Spike Lee and say he shouldnt speak out but alot of people are uncomfortable with django and the idea behind.Slavery should be treated with the same gravity as the holocaust but it doesnt because to humanize slavery and give it a face is to shame and make white people uncomfortable. To show Slavery as disgusting and cruel act instead of some silly backdrop would make alot of folks unhappy.Look at the original roots that show caused an uproar and level of consciousness in the black community and made alot of white people uncomfortable .They re did the show with white people helping slaves being kind to them to ease that and make them feel comfortable with the idea of a white savior or benevolent one saving slaves here and there.Same with the Lincoln movie.

I see you got real perspective and aint just trying to take shots at dudes. I remember when Tyler Perry started coming up with his stage shows, and looking into where black film was at. The fact that the best black thing going was The Wire, no one who had HBO watched it. Had Asians coming through the barbershop with 1 episode on a DVD and that's how everyone and their mom watched it. And I'm like, that's really it?

I'm like ok...what happened to dude who did Boyz N Tha Hood or the dudes who did Menace II Society? I'm not gonna get back into listing all the letdowns.

Tyler Perry comes up and it's like...that's really it? If it's black and good, no one will watch it. No one will pay for it. No one will put up the money to get it done. But this...this is what works for people? That's the compromise?

I'm a film fan, and I understand the petty ******** of how things don't get made. I understand hearing how ugly it is getting money for films. Like if your cast is mostly black, you better not depend on foreign sales. You shouldn't even bother putting it in German theaters, no one will see it, the Germans hate black films. If your black film doesn't have Denzel or Will Smith, God help you.

So you take Spike Lee in '06, give him all that momentum from When the Levees Broke and Inside Man gave him...and what happens? Nothing. No one wants to give him a cent for his all-black WWII epic that doesn't star Denzel or Will.

But he's Spike! He's that guy, what's the problem? He's an auteur. He's world famous, and every time a Spike Lee joint drops, everyone stops and takes a minute, right? Have you seen She Hate Me? That and Spike's relationship with the media are a part of why it's so hard for Spike. Studios are ********. Unless it's corny, got big stars or easy to sell to teenagers, they don't know what to do with it, don't want to pay for it and don't want to promote it. And it's even worse if your film has a mostly black cast. All you can do is scrape and get your films out however you can, the way you can. All you have control over is the quality of your film and your relationship with your fans.

Movies like She Hate Me are why it's so hard for Spike. That movie, imo, made it alright to just wait until Spike's movies come out on DVD or something, because that was a movie that wasn't well promoted, didn't really make it out to theaters, and it turns out there was a good reason why. You can defend the movie all you want, but cmon. Bamboozled was put down, because it was too in your face with it's messages, but that's classic Spike. This...this to me, was when it became alright to just brush Spike off for most people.

I just think there are a lot of similarities between Spike and Quentin's careers, but Quentin's just had it easier with the media and the fans than Spike. Spike's fans are more fickle and because he tries to be a black leader as well as a filmmaker, the two collide and hurt one another all the time. Unless you think it'd be better if he just put films out like Woody Allen. Spike sorta has to be everything to all people, because there's only 1 of him. Everyone else lost focus or fell into ******** or got chewed up and spit out by the system.

I know that every time Spike shows up in the media as a pinata, it makes it harder for him to get anything done. The best I've heard the media treat him was in '06 and '07. Then he went for Clint's head, to what? Highlight how important his own film was? And that'd be fine if Miracle at St. Anna was great, but that was ehhhh. It was 4 movies squeezed together in the choppiest and most dragged out way possible. The script wasn't ready, the editor didn't nail it. And now, 5 years later, Spike's back at the mainstream well, maybe hoping to get that Inside Man hype back.

What does that have to do with Django? Django's at least half of the film Spike should've made by now and almost definitely never will make. And it gets away with stuff Spike wouldn't have. And it was successful. Since quoting's whats good right now...yall want it one way and it's the other. It's a white man's idea of black empowerment. But black cinema is begging right now and beggars can't be choosers. I think it helps black film. It's a mostly black casted R-rated drama about slavery, centered around black love that was practically #1 in America. It might be the reason why some studio executive stops and thinks for a second before passing on a black film.

And it's more empowering than Amistad which for some stupid "we can't speak ill of Spielberg" reason always gets a ******g bye.


But here's my question to yall. Seriously. Do you wish this film never existed?

 

[Kimchi Papi]

Django hasn't premiered in the UK yet. It's scheduled for release in about a week. QT is doing press there & had this interesting interview.

The interviewer asked about Spike's & other criticism. He responds by saying he's fine with it & glad there is dialog.


The interviewer also asks about links between movie violence and real life violence. That's where QT takes umbrage & kinda goes off on the interviewer. Happens at the 4.30 mark....

 

[deuce king]

You're really reading into anything I say wrong. I don't have a problem with Spike's opinion.

Thanks for your reply but my initial statement wasn't really directed at you.  I do appreciate and hear everything your saying however.

Also, I had a chance to hear Dr. Frances Cress Weising at Howard University last night and some of her talking points from her lecture were about Django.  Basically talking about how the movie still helps teach racism for those that don't have their eyes open to it, or to those that don't have a conscious spirit. 

 

[sonunox34]

Just saw last night. An incredible immersion into that time period. Brought up so many situations and feelings that I've never considered before...

Also some of those scenes were just shockingly brutal. Couldn't believe the dog thing and the mandingo fight at the fireplace. Tarantino sure does love ripping out eyes.

Anyone crying about the language or anything else is denying history. Not saying this film is 100% accurate, but it's highly educational in the social sense. IMAGINE being a free black man in 1859 Texas. IMAGINE being a slave woman turned into a comfort girl. IMAGINE the interaction between a slave and the owner. Unbelievable.

9/10, ending dragged a little and was slightly too sensational for me.

 

[gatzbygordon]

 

[CP1708]

^
Great interview, but hey, I am not ready for Tarantino to talk about retiring from filmmaking. Naw, naw, I'm not with that. No.

 

[andoneflip]

im gonna watch this again love this movie

 

[thenewjs23]

Tarantino is cool dude. I saw him cruising Hollywood Blvd. in his yellow P$#%Y Wagon years ago. He pulled up on side of me and asked me about my 24's. This was back when Missy Elliot's video "I'm Really Hot" dropped that had his "P#$%y Wagon in it.

We kept catching the lights together and he kept inquiring about my rims. I treated like a normal person. He told us he was down there the same reason we were, yambs. He busted a right and I kept straight. One of my many celebrity run-ins while stationed in Cali.

 

[Bend_The_Knee]

Saw it today,



Movie was great, Tarantino never disappoints.


The scene with the white men complaining about the holes in the bags




Foxx & SLJ were great on screen together.

 

[scotthallwithapick]

A loooooooot of truth in here. I don't agree with his critic of Malcolm X having a zoot suit and red hair in Spike's movie cause well at one time that's what he looked like but everything else tho is on point

 

[senorroboto2k5]

Christoph won the Golden Globe for Dr. Shulz.

Well deserved.

 

[bleach]

more controversy?

 

[powerballin]

maybe he sucked her toes and jerked off too. Clown

 

[antonlavey]

more controversy?

Dude loves him some black women. Who is that in the pic, she looks familiar?

 

[powerballin]

Maybe you were too busy staring at Candi's sister or trying to figure out what was behind the red bandana but that was the sexiest woman in the whole movie.  Sheeba.

Spoiler: Warning%3A%20Spoiler!

just jokes

 

[antonlavey]

Maybe you were too busy staring at Candi's sister or trying to figure out what was behind the red bandana but that was the sexiest woman in the whole movie.  Sheeba.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

just jokes

I couldn't be any less offended. She was attractive but the black chick is smoking hot as well.

 

[gllahone84]

Dude loves him some black people. Who is that in the pic, she looks familiar?

Fixed that for you. 

I'm not cosigning that...but ya'll can have it. 

F **** Gregory for that too...

Talking about Spike put Malcolm in a zoot suit...the dude was Red at the time...he had to go through the transformation to become Malcolm. It's like **** Gregory didn't even read the autobiography. 

 

[quincy powell]

A loooooooot of truth in here. I don't agree with his critic of Malcolm X having a zoot suit and red hair in Spike's movie cause well at one time that's what he looked like but everything else tho is on point

Enh.