"If anybody tries and touches that boys coffin, I'll have him shot"
Django Kill aka Django Kill!...If You Live, Shoot! aka Oro Hondo aka Se Sei Vivo Spara is director Giulio Questi's 1967 film debut starring Cuban actor Tomas Milian (Traffic). Technically not a sequel to Sergio Corbucci's 1966 classic Django. It was made with absolutely not connection to the film (It's original title is Se Sei Vivo Spara - If You Live, Shoot!) and is simply a victim of overexcited producers trying to cash in on Django's success. However, I like to think of this as a prequel to the original and for simplicity sake I'll be referring to Tomas Milian's character as Django. (He's called "The Stranger" and is never given a name)
The film opens with Django's hand bursting out of the grave. Read that again. What a fucking awesome way to introduce your main character. Django is found by two native Americans who make him golden bullets from gold Django "died" for. A series of flashbacks detail how Django got to the grave - a robbery and of course, a betrayal. The guides then lead Django into town, a place they have dubbed "The Unhappy Place" and the rest of the film chronicles three factions fighting for the stolen gold with Django in the middle.
Tomas Milian's Django/The Stranger is great. Probably my second favourite Django next to Nero. He has great screen presence, some cool one-liners and one badass bandanna/headband. It's obvious one of the Star Wars costume designers enjoyed this because Han Solo is the fucking double of Django. Except Django has golden bullets and Django always shoots first.
The editing has been described as "psychedelic" and well that's one word for it. At times it is directed wonderfully, with shots framed so well even Leone would smile. At other times, there is a rapid fire of half second shots that look like Michael Bay's salvia dreams. Sometimes the shots are just upside down, at one point Django literally rolls up a hill. Questi obviously didn't enjoy westerns and steered this as far away from convention as possible. It's honestly more of a horror or nightmare than a western.
The score by Ivan Vandor is simple but very effective and memorable. It reminds me at times of Django Ultimo Killer's theme, which is very fitting. Also, considering the budget, the ending is fantastic and actually rather impressive.
67/100 - "Django Kill is a fucked up ride but one everyone should try."
The film opens with Django's hand bursting out of the grave. Read that again. What a fucking awesome way to introduce your main character. Django is found by two native Americans who make him golden bullets from gold Django "died" for. A series of flashbacks detail how Django got to the grave - a robbery and of course, a betrayal. The guides then lead Django into town, a place they have dubbed "The Unhappy Place" and the rest of the film chronicles three factions fighting for the stolen gold with Django in the middle.
Well this can't end well
I'm not going to go into too much detail about the plot. It's not that important in this film, the characters and visuals are. First up, this is a low, low, low budget Spaghetti Western. A construction site doubles for a desert, tire marks are visible for the dolly and they straight up don't finish a torture scene. Django is crucified in a cell and left with various animals, vampire bats, rats and a giant lizard. Obviously they intended for the animals to start eating Django but for what ever reason, they ran out of budget and what we are left with is Django screaming (silently, the audio goes off the rails here) and the animals kind of idly laying about. I swear the big fuck-off lizard just smiles. That is the thing with this film - it is fucking crazy. I mean that in a positive way, it's bizarre, surreal and insane but never pretentious. It is so unique and it's an experience everyone should try at least once.
The towns inhabits are all selfish, cruel, horrible people. There is a scene where Django fills his betrayer full of bullets and when the town discover they are made of gold, they descent upon the still living man and literally pull the bullets out of his body. They hang outsiders and they also scalp one of the Indians. It is a grim, un-easy and pessimistic place. To it's credit, the movie follows the formula for a good Django film: Django = Good, Everyone else = Bad. Despite everyone being an enemy, the main (and best) antagonist is Mr Zorro/Mr Sorrow (the name changes, others do too) played by Roberto Camardiel. He is gloriously over the top and doesn't just chew the scenery, he devours it. He heads a gang of homosexual outlaws dressed in all black. They kidnap the son of the town merchant/saloon owner/bartender and hold him ransom, demanding the father give up his share of the stolen gold. Of course, in this world everyone is a prick so the father doesn't give up his gold and the gang (implied) rape the son. And then the son shoots himself. Folks, welcome to the fucked up world of Django Kill.
Han Solo, C3PO and R2D2 with budget cuts
The editing has been described as "psychedelic" and well that's one word for it. At times it is directed wonderfully, with shots framed so well even Leone would smile. At other times, there is a rapid fire of half second shots that look like Michael Bay's salvia dreams. Sometimes the shots are just upside down, at one point Django literally rolls up a hill. Questi obviously didn't enjoy westerns and steered this as far away from convention as possible. It's honestly more of a horror or nightmare than a western.
The score by Ivan Vandor is simple but very effective and memorable. It reminds me at times of Django Ultimo Killer's theme, which is very fitting. Also, considering the budget, the ending is fantastic and actually rather impressive.
67/100 - "Django Kill is a fucked up ride but one everyone should try."
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