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Django Unchained - The Hero's Journey

The document provides a detailed narrative and film analysis of Quentin Tarantino's 2012 film "Django Unchained". It summarizes that the film follows a freed slave, Django, who teams up with a bounty hunter to rescue his wife from a plantation owner. It analyzes how the film can be interpreted as having two hero's journeys - Django's journey to freedom or his mentor's personal journey. The narrative is broken into three acts, with the first focused on Django's revenge, the second on his mentor's journey, and the third on Django emerging as the hero.

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2K views4 pages

Django Unchained - The Hero's Journey

The document provides a detailed narrative and film analysis of Quentin Tarantino's 2012 film "Django Unchained". It summarizes that the film follows a freed slave, Django, who teams up with a bounty hunter to rescue his wife from a plantation owner. It analyzes how the film can be interpreted as having two hero's journeys - Django's journey to freedom or his mentor's personal journey. The narrative is broken into three acts, with the first focused on Django's revenge, the second on his mentor's journey, and the third on Django emerging as the hero.

Uploaded by

Jake Bryant
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Django Unchained

Dir. Quentin Tarantino,


(2012)

Film Review

Narrative

Django Unchained
Director: Quentin Tarantino Django Unchained is both bold and bloody, and is a creative masterpiece from director Quentin Tarantino. Set in the antebellum era of the Deep South and the Old West, the narrative follows the journey of a freed slave who treks across the US, with a bounty hunter, on a mission to rescue his wife from the cruel ownership of a cotton plantation owner. Django Unchained fits into the Heros Journey film category as it essentially follows the chosen individual, Django, as he goes through a series of trials until he reaches the point of evolution after he overcomes the struggle through persistence. Upon analysis, Django Unchained can be interpreted in two ways within the light of the heros journey. Does the narrative follow the journey of Djangos release from slavery and the breaking of his bonds, or is the narrative focused on the journey of the mentor figure in Dr. King Schultz? Breaking Django Unchaineds story down into a simple act structure, the narrative is built up from 3 story arcs; Djangos Revenge, Schultzs journey, and finally Djangos journey. Djangos Revenge (Act 1) begins with the introduction of Django to audiences where his introduction is juxtaposed with inducing music that fundamentally tells a story of the hero which implies, that as a character, Django hasnt reached his full potential and has yet to be unchained. From the point when you are introduced to the heros call to adventure and the acquaintance of his mentor simultaneously, it becomes recognisable that the first act centres on the sole need for the heros revenge. The ending of this act indefinitely comes to a close once Django has crossed the threshold after dispatching of the three Brittle brothers, grasping the revenge he desired so badly. This is where Schultzs reveals to Django they are going to Candyland and Schultzs heros journey essentially begins. From here on Schultz steps into the limelight and controls the next act of the story, as the narrative becomes more personalised about his character, as well as the development of his own persona which has been a mystery up to this point. Throughout the mid-section of the film, Schultz appears to have a poker face where nothing seems to faze him, however with the introduction of Calvin Candie, his persona begins to crack which further supports the idea that act 2 follows his personal journey instead of Djangos.

This is more apparent after graphic scene where he witnesses a slave, owned by Candie, get mauled to death by a pack of dogs. Visually, this memory reoccurs multiple times which appears to haunt Schultz, fuelling his own journey to put his mind at rest. For the best part of this act Schultz commands the audience attention and continually controls the direction of the story providing exposition which furthermore suggests his physical control over Django promoting the idea that the character is still bound and sitting underneath Schultz in the hierarchy of power and heroic attributes. This whole contrast lets the viewers know that we are not in Djangos story anymore, and that the narrative has changed to follow Schultz in a very subtle way after Djangos initial revenge has been dealt. The journey of Waltzs character comes to an end at the peak of the narratives turning point where Candie meets his demise at the hands of the Schultz after being killed by the concealed weapon. Schultz cements himself in a place that gives him the hero archetype when he faces his villain having a just reason to kill. This then allows Django to take up the full mantle of his hero status once again when his mentor and friend is killed, triggering a heroic shootout allowing the rebirth of the narrative and driving Django forward as the now hero of the story. With Djangos journey still needing to be unveiled and with Shultz dead, Django is no longer in the shadow of his mentor and is finally unchained. This allows the film to really excel into the unrealistic realm of Tarantino violence with ridiculous amounts of blood and action, where Django can walk on stage as the hero he is billed to be, effectively becoming the fastest gun in the west, where he can begin making decisions for himself. With this diversion in plot, the film is then allowed reach different heights, and begins to explore different areas of glorious violence. Djangos journey comes to an end when he faces his villain in Stephen, dispatches him in Tarantino celebratory fashion and reunites with his wife and effectively returning with the elixir. The contrast in tone throughout supports the theory that Django Unchained tells to story of two heros journeys, having Djangos story involving the unrealistic animated violence with the typical heroic action lines push through eventually after being fed Schults juxtaposing realistic heart-felt graphic violence which psychologically affected a mysterious character through the best part of the film. This inventive use of narrative and the innovative combination of contrasting hero s journeys make us as an audience believe into a combination of character conflicts and journeys all together.

Review Bibliography

Images Film Poster: http://www.impawards.com/2012/posters/django_unchained_ver9.jpg

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