Django Unchained
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of vengeance.
Django Unchained (2012)
Production
Budget
$100 000 000
Revenue
$425 368 238
Director
Scenario
Producer
Actors
Jamie Foxx
Django Freeman
Christoph Waltz
Dr. King Schultz
Leonardo DiCaprio
Calvin J. Candie
Kerry Washington
Broomhilda von Shaft
Samuel L. Jackson
Stephen
Walton Goggins
Billy Crash
Dennis Christopher
Leonide Moguy
James Remar
Butch Pooch / Ace Speck
Short description
Set in the American South two years before the Civil War, Django Unchained follows a slave named Django who is freed by Dr. King Schultz, a German-born bounty hunter. Schultz needs Django to identify a group of wanted men, and in return he promises to help Django find his wife Broomhilda, from whom he was separated by the slave trade. The pair travel the plantation South together, with Schultz training Django in his trade, until their search leads them to Candyland, the estate of the brutal Calvin Candie, where Broomhilda is held. There the two must conceal their true purpose while Candie's trusted house slave Stephen grows suspicious of them.
Quentin Tarantino wrote and directed the film, the thirteenth of the sixteen features he has directed, arriving between Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair and The Hateful Eight. Jamie Foxx plays Django, Christoph Waltz plays Schultz, Leonardo DiCaprio plays Candie, Kerry Washington plays Broomhilda, and Samuel L. Jackson plays Stephen, among a credited cast of 136. Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone produced.
Made for about 100 million dollars, the film took roughly 425 million dollars worldwide, a strong return on its budget. Audiences rate it highly: 8.5 out of 10 on IMDb from 1.9 million votes, and 8.2 out of 10 on TMDB from more than 28,000 votes. A critics' rating of 8.1 out of 10 from 295 reviews is close to those audience scores, indicating broad approval across both groups.
What's left behind the scenes
- Will Smith, Idris Elba, Chris Tucker, Terrence Howard, Michael K. Williams, and Tyrese Gibson were considered for the role of Django. Quentin Tarantino envisioned Smith in the role, and Smith's agents wanted him to accept it, but he ultimately declined. Tarantino then offered the role to Jamie Foxx, who agreed.
- Zoë Bell was considered for the role of Lara Lee Candy-Fitzwilliam.
- Sid Haig was considered for the role of Mr. Stonecipher and was even subsequently invited to an audition, as was communicated to the actor’s agent. Initially, the director agreed with Haig’s candidacy, but canceled two of the actor’s auditions at the last minute. The director is known for his specific sense of humor. However, this “joke” was most likely due to Sid Haig’s refusal to play Marcellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction 17 years prior. Two months later, actor David Steen was invited to play Mr. Stonecipher.
- Quentin Tarantino specifically wrote a role for Michael K. Williams, however, the actor was forced to decline participation in the film due to filming on the series Boardwalk Empire.
- Lady Gaga was considered for the role of Lara Lee Candy-Fitzwilliam, which was ultimately given to Laura Cayouette.
- Filming began on November 28, 2011, in a location with an ideal exterior for Westerns: the Melody Ranch in Santa Clarita, California. This western town once belonged to Gene Autry and frequently served as a backdrop for classic films and television series, including Stagecoach, High Noon, and Gunsmoke.
- Kevin Costner could have starred in this film, but left the project due to scheduling conflicts.
- The first feature film by Quentin Tarantino not edited by Sally Menke, who passed away in 2010.
- During filming in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, director Quentin Tarantino rented a local cinema to show samurai films and Westerns from his personal collection.
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt was cast as Zhano but had to decline due to scheduling conflicts with a film where he makes his directorial debut.
- During filming, Jamie Foxx used his own horse named Chita.
- Sacha Baron Cohen was cast as Scotty, and Kurt Russell as Woody, but both left the project due to scheduling conflicts.
- The final script was approved on April 26, 2011.
- The film was shot in 130 days. This was the longest shoot for a single film by Quentin Tarantino.
- Christoph Waltz was injured during training for his role.
- For the first time in 16 years, Leonardo DiCaprio is not listed first among the actors on the film’s posters and billboards.
- Leonardo DiCaprio, who was playing a villain for the first time, didn’t particularly like the fact that his character was so terrible and overtly racist. However, Quentin Tarantino convinced him to be as menacing as possible.
- Calvin explains that, thanks to the study of phrenology, he can find three indentations on Ben’s skull representing submission. Phrenology was a failed stage in the real history of psychology, when people genuinely believed that bumps in different places on the skull reflected various traits, such as creativity, athletic ability, and others.
- Schultz and Django’s horses are named Fritz and Tony. The same names were given to the horses of the heroes in Westerns by William S. Hart and Tom Mix.
- After Michael K. Williams, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt left the project, their characters were removed from the script.
- Many actors played roles that were originally written specifically for them. These actors include Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Samuel L. Jackson.
- Christoph Waltz's character mentions having experience managing traveling circuses. Christoph Waltz played the owner of a traveling circus in the film *Water for Elephants* (2011).
- Calvin Candie's (Leonardo DiCaprio) boutonniere is the same as that of the main villain played by Jack Palance in Sergio Corbucci's *The Mercenary* (1968), and it appears in the frame in a similar way in one of the scenes.
- In the scene where Calvin Candie, Leonardo DiCaprio's character, slaps the dining table with his palm, the actor broke a glass with his hand and actually started bleeding. DiCaprio ignored it, stayed in character, and continued playing the scene. This take was ultimately used in the film. Quentin Tarantino called this moment 'mesmerizing'.
- The white men playing poker towards the end of the film use severed slave ears as currency.
- While it is implied that Calvin Candie and his sister Lara have an incestuous relationship, this is debatable because he is a Francophile, and kissing is customary among French people as a greeting.
- Mandinga fighting takes place at Calvin Candie’s Cleopatra Club, which uses a bust of Nefertiti as its club symbol. This was done deliberately to emphasize Calvin Candie’s lack of refinement.
- “Wilhelm’s scream” can be heard as the riders retreat after the carriage explodes during the night raid, and one of them falls from his horse.
- In his cameo role, Franco Nero wears white gloves, possibly a reference to the original 'Django' (1966) film, where Mexicans break his character’s hands for stealing at the end of the film.
- Calvin Candie's villa features a decorative copy of the bust of Nefertiti. The film is set in 1858, while the bust was discovered after 1912.
- The film uses dynamite, but it was invented only in 1867, nine years after the events of the film.
- Michael Parks' straw hat is too modern, as it features air holes and a plastic drawstring lock.
- When Schultz and Django first set up camp, Schultz is seen putting on his trousers and suspenders. In the next scene, the trousers are already on him, but he puts on his suspenders again.
- On the way to Calvin Candie’s villa, Django knocks down a horse along with one of Candie’s henchmen. In the next shot, the rider is still lying on the ground, while the horse stands as if it hadn't fallen.
- When Django learns he is allowed to dress as he pleases, he throws his hat onto a stand, where it hangs with the front brim drooping downwards. In the next shot, it hangs straight, like the other hats.
- When Django and his company arrive at Candyland, the sugarcane in the fields is no higher than knee-level. By the end of the film, the same sugarcane is already at human height, despite the action taking place the day after their arrival.
- When Schultz and Django are sitting in the bar, the amount of beer in their glasses first decreases, then returns to the level it was when Schultz brought it.
- At the 65th minute of the film, Django is wearing sunglasses, but such glasses did not exist in 1858. They only became widely available in the first half of the 20th century.
- The saloon that Django and King Schultz enter is called "Minnesota Clay" – in honor of one of Sergio Corbucci's early Westerns.
- Although the film technically belongs to the Western genre, Quentin Tarantino prefers to refer to it as a "Southern," due to the film's setting in the southern United States.
- This is the second time Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington have played a married couple. Previously, they played Ray Charles and Della Bea Robinson in the film "Ray" (2004).
- The title and events of the film were based on the spaghetti western "Django" (1966). Actor Franco Nero, who played Django in that film, received a small role in "Django Unchained" (2012).
- Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays the villain Calvin Candie in this film, was originally considered for the role of the antagonist Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino's previous film "Inglourious Basterds" (2009). However, Tarantino decided to give that role to a German-speaking actor, and the role went to Christoph Waltz, who played Dr. King Schultz in "Django Unchained" (2012).
- Director Quentin Tarantino revealed at Comic-Con that the characters of Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington are the great-great-great-grandfather and great-great-great-grandmother, respectively, of a character named John Shaft from the film "Shaft" (1971). This is also confirmed by Kerry Washington's character's name — Broomhilda von Shaft.
- Russ Tamblyn, whose character in this film is called "The Son of a Gun," starred in the film "Son of a Gun" (1965). Tamblyn's daughter, actress Amber Tamblyn, also appears in "Django Unchained" (2012), and her character is called "The Daughter of a Gun."
- This is the first film (not counting "Grindhouse" (2007) and "Death Proof" (2007)) directed by Quentin Tarantino that was not produced by Lawrence Bender.
- Dr. Schultz (Christoph Waltz) reminds Monsieur Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) that his slave, D'Artagnan (Ato Essandoh), is named after the hero of Alexandre Dumas' novels. Both Waltz and DiCaprio have appeared in adaptations of these novels: Waltz played Cardinal Richelieu in "The Three Musketeers" (2011), and DiCaprio played King Louis XIV and his brother Philippe in "The Man in the Iron Mask" (1998).
- Mandinga fighters are mentioned in the film as a reference to Richard Fleischer's "Mandinga" (1975).
- Dr. Schultz refers to Samson as the "Black Hercules." This nickname was used by actor and boxer Ken Norton, who appeared in "Mandinga" (1975).
- Django's blue suit is based on the famous painting "The Blue Boy." This painting inspired F.W. Murnau to create "The Boy in Blue" (1919). Murnau is well known for pioneering the so-called "Unchained camera technique" (freed camera technique).
- During the auction at the beginning of the film, Dr. Schultz originally exclaims, “Sold, American!” However, this phrase only became popular in the 1920s when auctioneer 'Speed' Riggs used it at the conclusion of a Lucky Strike radio advertisement. Furthermore, “American” is a reference to the American Tobacco Company, which only appeared in the 1890s.
- In Candy’s house, the harpist plays Beethoven’s “Für Elise,” first published in 1867, nine years after the events of the film.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
