Django Unchained: A Classic Drama and Blaxploitation Film

Django Unchained is a classic drama and Blaxploitation themed film which beautifully depicts the struggle of the African Americans against slavery and the story of a protagonist fighting against all odds to unite his family.

Running head: DJANGO UNCHAINED
Django Unchained
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Film: Django Unchained
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Year of release: 2012
Genre: Historical Drama/Blaxploitation
Introduction:
Django Unchained is an American film that was released on 2012, written and
directed by Quentin Tarantino and stars famous Hollywood actors such as Jamie Foxx,
Christopher Waltz, Leonardo De Caprio, Kerry Washington and Samuel L Jackson. The film
is set in the old west as well as the Antebellum South of the United States. The film is seen as
a tribute to classic spaghetti western film such as Django. The film retells the story of a group
of black slaves, one among who is Django who has been separated from his family and sold
off. The group of slaves along with their owners were apprehended by a bounty hunter, who
killers the slave owners and frees the slave. The bounty hunter then partners with Django,
seeing his raw power, and training him to use guns and free his wife from slavery (Charania,
p 58-60; Coetzee p 62-72, Fagan).
Discussion:
-3 criteria used to evaluate the film of this genre
The films are a classic historical drama showing exploitation of the African American
people as slaves in America and their struggle to gain freedom (Keyser p 143-153). The film
can be evaluated using three important aspects which show the film belongs to the selected
genre:

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Historical Context: The film loosely refers to the period in America when Slavery was still
legal, but with an increasing opinion that slavery is immoral and all humans are created
equal. This rift in popular opinion intimately became the main reason for the American Civil
war. Even through the film does not refer to any actual historical characters, the events in
themselves such as lynching, antagonizing; torture, exploitation and even murder of the
slaves were historically relevant (Ralph p 154-161).
Struggle of the African Americans: The film also portrays the struggle the African
American people had to go through before they were given equal rights. The film beautifully
depicts how African American families were torn apart by the slavers and plantation owners,
made to fight in grueling battles for their amusement and use people from their own
communities to control them and impose punishments for them (Robbins p 280-290).
A story of the protagonist trying to unite his family: One of the biggest factors that can
categories this film as a classic drama is the story of struggle of the protagonist to unite his
family and free her wife from the slave owner. The story in itself can be compared to that of
David and Goliath, as the protagonist had to face an almost undefeatable foe to achieve his
goal (Urban p 81-86).
-One example from scene in the film that supports the above classification of the film
One scene that perfectly supports the above classification is when Django confronts
Calvin in his own estate called Candy land, where his wife is working as a slave. Django tries
to negotiate a deal in which Calvin would sell Django wife to Django’s partner Shultz. The
scene was an intense one, since Calvin was unaware of Django’s true identity and intention of
rescuing Bromilda, which soon escalates into an aggressive confrontation between Calvin and
his employees with Shultz and Django (Tarantino; Charania, p 58-60; Coetzee p 62-72,

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Fagan).
Responses of three peers:
Response to peer 1:
The person is correct in the assessment that the film cannot be considered as a
documentary or a biopic as the events are fictitious, but still are based on real events that took
place in America during that time. I agree that the film is both a tribute to great western
spaghetti films such as Django as well as a story on the exploitation of African Americans in
America.
Response to peer 2:
I do not agree with the review of this person, as I do not belief the film is overhyped.
This is mainly because of the excellent direction and acting of the stars as well as the strong
emotional appeal of the film, which makes it one of the best in its period.
Response to peer 3:
I do agree with this person’s opinion that the film could not use the full potential of
Samuel L Jackson in the film and his role could have been more significant in the film, than it
was already. Also, I believe that selecting Kerry Washington for the role of Broomhilda was
an excellent choice for the director Quentin Tarantino.
Conclusion:
Thus it can be concluded that Django Unchained is a classic drama and Blaxploitation
themed film which beautifully depicts the struggle of the African Americans against slavery
and the story of a protagonist fighting against all odds to unite his family.

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References:
Charania, Moon. "django unchained, voyeurism unleashed." Contexts 12.3 (2013): 58-60.
Coetzee, Carli. "Django Unchained: A Black-Centered Superhero and Unchained
Audiences." Black Camera 7.2 (2016): 62-72.
Fagan, Abigail. "Interpellating Django: The Functions of the Gaze in Tarantino’s Django
Unchained." International Journal of Žižek Studies 7.3 (2016).
Keyser, Catherine. "The Sweet Tooth of Slavery: Django Unchained and Kara Walker's A
Subtlety." Transition 115.1 (2014): 143-153.
Ralph, Michael. "Theoretical Ramifications of Django Unchained." American Anthropologist
117.1 (2015): 154-161.
Robbins, Hollis. "Django Unchained: Repurposing Western Film Music." Safundi 16.3
(2015): 280-290.
Tarantino, Quentin. Django unchained. Giunti, 2014.
Urban, Andrew. "Art as an ally to public history: 12 Years a Slave and Django Unchained."
(2014): 81-86.