Django Unchained

Started by MacGuffin, March 27, 2011, 10:14:40 PM

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Alexandro

Well, just to clarify, Neil, that part when you're quoting me is a little wrong. I said "film as an agent of power and as a weapon in war"...not "against" war...

That film is all about cinema's power and it makes total sense that it takes place in WWII because that's when cinema was first used as a weapon. In the film, cinema is an agent of power: starting off as a place of hiding and rebuilding life for the french girl, propaganda used by the nazis in their own films to give the impression of more victory, actors, directors and "film people" working in the resistance and using their talents to those ends, film itself is used as a weapon in the climax, not only physically but intellectually as well. It's also the engine of the whole story. Characters meet their faiths because of some relationship in their lives to cinema, they start up film conversations and film related actions that lead to the climax in the movie theatre. And of course in a meta super obvious touch, the movie IB is used to rewrite history itself. This is a combination of ingredients that only a nerd like Tarantino, who obviously never leaves his movie bubble for too long could come up with. You have to breathe cinema and find true peace and solace only in cinema to conceive a film like this.

I don't have them right here, but I remember some of the essays Jim Emerson wrote on IB were pretty neat. Here's one: http://blogs.suntimes.com/scanners/2009/08/some_ways_to_watch_inglourious.html#more

I'm sure there are more and a lot will come with Django because at this point, his work is highly discussed in those terms.

Also about him not being "serious", I meant in the classical, let's get serious way. Let's grow up and make adult films, subtle, understated stuff so everyone can say I'm mature...that's what I meant...And that's my point precisely, that just because some director chooses to let himself go creatively with conviction in a style like his, doesn't mean that by default, his work carries no weight or is just a wank...In this case is Tarantino, but I've heard people give similar opinions on people like Michael Mann, David Cronenberg and Christopher Nolan (for different reasons) and I just think that's kind of bullshit.

jenkins

Quote from: Alexandro on December 19, 2012, 11:43:57 PMit makes total sense that it takes place in WWII because that's when cinema was first used as a weapon.

It's not my intention to distract yourself or others from larger points by nitpicking, it's just that this caught my attention, as I'm a fan of many wonderful Russian filmmakers from the silent era, and they used film as a tool of revolution. Battleship Potemkin is nodoubt the most famous example. Curious about why you chose to call WWII the beginning.

Neil

Not to mention that hollywood in the early days was funded by government in many cases in order to promote messages like, "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps," and USA being good guys etc. That's in like 1910-20, if i remember correctly

i apologize for the misquote.  you're right and i've been pwned in most instances here because reading over my previous post, there's a lot i'd take back. I type most of my shit on the fly and that's why i'm a thread killer and hated on lots, i get that.

I've read that link you posted and that's great, i enjoyed that. But, there's just still something about the parrellels in the film that just don't do it for me. I think it's neat. But i'll have to meditate on it for a while and see what i can come up with

it's not the wrench, it's the plumber.

Alexandro

yeah, you guys are right. I was just thinking of the massive effort deployed by germany just before and during the course of the war to use film as propaganda. there's a reason goebbles is studied around the world for this. with triumph of the will, I would say they really rewrote the book. Film was one of the main tools that the Nazis used to spread their doctrine, and I don't think it had been done on that scale and with such "positive" results until then.

I was under the impression that Potemkin and other russian revolution films were made once they were in power, not in the middle of the battles (maybe I'm wrong). In the case of hollywood I would argue that they started to really follow on germany's footsteps once the nazi party rised to power. one of my favorite stories is about how the us government asked disney to make "the three caballeros" and "saludos amigos" as a way to achieve good relations with the people of latin america before the germans could get to us.

jenkins

Potemkin was an anniversary film, yeah, and although I know it was somehow relevant to politics when it was released (as a people's revolution, was it important to keep the people interested?), the truth is my knowledge of Russian history leaps from Bolsheviks to stone-washed jeans.

Just Withnail

Quote from: Alexandro on December 19, 2012, 11:43:57 PM
I don't have them right here, but I remember some of the essays Jim Emerson wrote on IB were pretty neat. Here's one: http://blogs.suntimes.com/scanners/2009/08/some_ways_to_watch_inglourious.html#more

Emerson is excellent! And so is that essay. This quote here sums up a lot of my view on Tarantino:

Quote from: Jim Emerson
He provides textural and intellectual pleasures, but little in the way of complex emotion. I suppose it is possible for, say, a Warhol silkscreen or a Schwitters collage or a Lichtenstein comic-painting to get an emotional response from you, but that's not really what they're particularly good at. Like them, Tarantino is a conceptual talent, an abstract pastiche pop-artist, and that's primarily how his films function.

Alexandro


jenkins

My roommate writes movie reviews, sometimes 'cause people ask him to, and I guess I'd introduce that aspect of him by saying he doesn't read books and he subscribes to Entertainment Weekly.

Anyway, I think he already cracked the subtext, guys, don't worry:

Quotestinging satire on slavery as dehumanizing series of business transactions.

If he's right, this could be the movie that destroys slavery's good reputation, once and for all.

Reel

Take off the Jackie Brown hat when Charlie Rose is interviewing you, dummy





Frederico Fellini

Just like I'm not gonna see his "remake" of OLD BOY...   Talk about being disrespectful.
We fought against the day and we won... WE WON.

Cinema is something you do for a billion years... or not at all.

ono

Sheesh, Spike's a crotchety old man now.  As full of hot air as ever, though.

matt35mm

I think his opinion is perfectly reasonable. That doesn't mean I have the same thoughts about it, but no one is under any obligation to watch any movie. Someone asked him about it and he said that he's choosing not to go see it. The concept of this movie is clear, and if the thought of a Leone-style piece of entertainment set around slavery pisses you off, then it's smart to just not go see this movie.

I love Spike Lee.

pete

to my knowledge, Spike Lee's always been ambivalent towards Tarantino, as opposed to antagonistic. He seems more baffled by Tarantino's take on race than vindictive.
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

Alexandro

hopefully, just like when clint eastwood made his two WWII films, this compels him to make his own film about slavery in the 1800's. hopefully of course, it will be better than fucking miracle at st. anna.