Some Notes on Django Unchained
I stopped doing script reviews a while ago (and the motives behind that decision are a different argument all together), though I still do read scripts regularly. However, every once in a while, I read something so cool, or interesting, or unique, that I wanna talk about it in some form. Consider this a venue for that. Last night I came across the 168-page script for Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming “southern” (read: spaghetti western by way of the deep south), and after tearing through it over the course of a few hours, I’ve put together a few thoughts I’d like to share.
It is and is not what you’re expecting.
There’s a point about a quarter through the Django Unchained script where Tarantino specifies that a title card must come up one letter at a time, ala Rocky, and I started realizing where he was going with all this madness. You see, much like Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained reads as a big, sprawling meal of a film — a genre-hopping social issue picture by way of the grindhouse. There are at least a dozen major roles (see my casting picks below), but unlike any other Tarantino picture, this is not an ensemble piece all the way through.
You see, the first act of Django Unchained is a good ol’ buddy picture, with German bounty hunter/ex-dentist Dr. King Schultz teaching freed slave Django how to quick draw a pistol, hunt men down, stay in character (think Pulp Fiction), and collect a bounty. Schultz and Django rarely stay in one place for more than a few pages, and there are a ton of montages in there at that; yet nevertheless, this section of the script strikes me as one of the most intimate things Tarantino’s ever written. Think The Bride and Pai Mei, only… loopier. The Rocky influence is there though.
And then QT goes all Inglourious on you, as the second act turns into a tension-fraught men-on-a-mission flick, as Schultz and Django infiltrate the compound housing Django’s slave bride, Broomhilda. There’s a dinner table sequence in here that rivals the already-famous tavern scene from Basterds in terms of skillful escalation, all conveyed through dialogue.
But then… well I don’t wanna spoil anything, but Tarantino definitely reveals his inner romantic in the final third of this fairly epic story.
So it’s a revenge movie, a buddy movie, a thriller, a romance, and above all, a spaghetti western (complete with specified spaghetti western style flashbacks). Structurally it’s a lot more basic than Basterds, but tonally the films should make great companion pieces.
Is it self-indulgent? Absolutely. But will that be a problem? I doubt it.
Let me reiterate – this script runs 168 pages. Yet Basterds ran significantly longer on the page, and was less than two-and-a-half-hours when it finally hit theaters. Tarantino scripts are notoriously verbose and dense with prose, and while that’s not a bad thing (for me, it makes the script feel like a separate product to be enjoyed), it throws the traditional one-minute equals one-page ratio wildly out of whack.
Regardless of length though, is there stuff here that could be cut? Maybe. As I said before, this is a sprawling take on a fairly simple story, rich with great character moments and some terrific exchanges. I thought Basterds felt borderline lean at 180-odd pages though, so what do I know?
It’s not as uncommercial as the hype would lead you to believe.
A tonally eccentric neo-spaghetti western about the slave trade in the Antebellum South does not sound like it’s gonna break box office records. But neither did a tonally eccentric WW2 movie that played fast and loose with history and had about two-thirds of its dialogue subtitled. This concept is gonna be easier to digest for the moviegoing public than Grindhouse because (like Kill Bill and Basterds) for all the meta-shenanigans of Tarantino world, there’s a very primal and human component to the storytelling which I can see resonating.
Will the race material be controversial? Absolutely. Slave-owners are depicted similarly to the Nazis in Basterds here, and while you’d think this wouldn’t be a problem, I can almost guarantee it will be. As awful as Tarantino makes the slave trade look, Spike Lee will have a problem with the deliberately exploitive nature of the flashbacks to Django’s abuse as a slave, and Bill O’Reilly is gonna have a field day with lines where Django professes the joy he takes in killing white men (albeit ones who are slave-owners).
Tarantino might take a tongue-lashing in the media over this, but that’s never stopped him before. And I highly doubt the Weinsteins will pass on this, considering QT is the goose that laid their golden egg almost seventeen years ago. Besides, Harvey and Bob aren’t exactly ones to shy away from controversy.
A Couple Guesses/Ideas Regarding Casting
Django - A freed slave, a blossoming bounty hunter and a man who just wants to find the woman he loves
Who Do I See: This one may be decided already, as The Hollywood Reporter claims that QT is already courting Will Smith for the role. As genuinely interested as I would be in seeing that happen (so long as Will doesn’t shoehorn in a role for Jaden), my first thought was that I really want to see Anthony Mackie here. However, I’d bet money that Will Smith winds up headlining this movie.
Dr. King Schultz – A verbose German dentist-turned-bounty hunter with a flair for the dramatic, who teaches Django the nuances of the latter profession
Who Do I See: Come on. There’s nothing to add here. It’s Christoph Waltz. The part reads as though it was written for Christoph Waltz (right down to his trademark line – “Wunderbar!”). I’ve heard Christoph Waltz’s name around this project from the beginning. And when he inevitably takes it, Christoph Waltz is gonna knock this role outta the park. Variety claims that the part was written for Leonardo DiCaprio, and as much as I’d love to see that director/star pairing, I doubt this will be the film where they pair up. (If you recall, Tarantino also originally wanted DiCaprio to play Hans Landa in Basterds way back when.)
Broomhilda - Django’s wife, and the woman he spends the majority of his quest attempting to rescue from the evil clutches of Calvin Candie (but more on him momentarily)
Who Do I See: Broomhilda is not quite as well developed as The Bride or Shosanna, but I feel like there are enough notes under the surface in the script that the right actress could make this something interesting And I’m thinking that right actress is Kerry Washington, but I have no idea what direction Tarantino is gonna go with this one.
Calvin Candie - The owner of both The Cleopatra Club (a Mississipi hangout for white men and their slave girlfriends) and Broomhilda, a slave-wrestler trader, a Francophile, and an all around manipulative S.O.B.
Who Do I See: The script leaves the door open for Calvin to be anywhere from forty to sixty, but personally, I’d love to see Tarantino reunite with Death Proof star Kurt Russell. Jeff Bridges would also be great if they’re going older. If Candie is supposed to be younger, I’ve seen Josh Brolin’s name thrown around in a few places, and he’d be great here. Considering we’re talking about a character who names his estate “Candyland,” I’m sure all these guys would have a lot of fun making this character a really charmingly despicable heavy.
Spencer Bennett - The plantation owner who utilizes the three hillbillies that first sold Django into slavery, and the major antagonist of the first act
Who Do I See: I’m liking Coen Brothers favorite Stephen Root for this part, but as with Candie, the age gap is wide open.
Stephen - Calvin Candie’s longtime slave since he was a boy, and his second-in-command — as QT himself puts it, “The Basil Rathbone of house n*****s” (I told you this script would be controversial)
Who Do I See: Samuel L. Jackson. He’s old enough, mean enough, talented enough, and close enough with Tarantino. No contest.
Leo Moguy - Candie’s old boarding school buddy and lawyer, who opens negotiations between Candie and our heroes (who are posing as men interesting in purchasing slaves for bloodsport)
Who Do I See: It’s a small part, but I really wanna see Bryan Cranston in a Tarantino movie. Sue me.
Ace Woody - A slave appraiser, one of Candie’s goons, and a generally nasty human being (he’s only got two major scenes, but they’re both pretty great)
Who Do I See: Shea Whigham as a sadistic enforcer in a Tarantino picture? Be still my heart. Seriously though, get Whigham’s phone number from your buddy Robert Rodriguez, Quentin. Dude was crushing it on “Boardwalk Empire” last year as Eli.
Scotty Harmony - A chubby and awkward white boy in his mid-20s who gets Broomhilda as a gift from his father, before facing off against Candie in a poker game — probably the second most sympathetic white character in the script after Doc Schultz
Who Do I See: The Playlist offered a convincing and plausible explanation for why Jonah Hill should and probably will get the part, and upon reading the script, I definitely saw him fitting into this small but integral role. Besides, we all know how QT loves his wacky casting calls – he did get Ryan from “The Office” to play a badass Nazi killer…
Lara Lee Candie-Fitzwilly - Candie’s widowed sister, a strawberry blonde Southern belle in her forties
Who Do I See: There’s not a whole lot on the page for this one, but how about giving Michelle Pfeiffer a Pulp Fiction-esque comeback? Granted, it’s probably gonna go to Uma, but… still.
