Below, the trailer (in shitty Fandango-exclusive quality, sorry) for Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained;” which stars Jamie Foxx as a pre-Civil War slave who teams with a bounty hunter (Christophe Waltz) to hunt down and kill his former masters and free his still-enslaved wife. And in case any doubt was left as to whether or not Tarantino has just lobbed a slavery-revenge pop-culture cluster-bomb into one of the most racially-divisive periods (i.e. NOW) in recent American history; one of the money-shots is blood splattering all over a fluffy field of cotton. Sez Django: “Kill white folks and get paid to do it? What’s not to like?”
Ooooh… this is gonna be fun to watch – and the movie, too, most likely…
http://www.fandango.com/fplayer/player.aspx?mid=145508&mpsguid=2242676575&dm=3&genre=Action/Adventure,Drama,&rt=&title=Exclusive:_Django_Unchained_-_Trailer_Premiere&w=620&h=349&emb=user
MOVIEBOB CENTRAL 
For some reason the video isn't playing for me, so I went here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0GO2u8BCpQ
Still, ME WANT NOW!
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NOW is one of the most racially devisive periods? Really, Bob? oh yeah, the Civil Rights moment ain't got nothing on us. The end of slavery was just a pussy fart compared to our troubles.
Son, I don't know what world you live in, but it's a far flight from reality, that much is certain.
Still, the movie looks damn fine. Cant' wait to see it. Had a real Kill Bill feel to the music, I noticed. Jamie Foxx never fails to impress, and it's nice to see Christophe Waltz getting another epic role. Combine this with Black Dynamite's cartoon and we've got a combination for the most epic year ever if you count Avengers, Dark Knight, and all the other great movies coming out this year.
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“Fun to watch”?
This is at the end of the day a white savior movie. Hollywood churns these out year after year and there's no fun in watching another one. In fact, it's damn insulting.
Interesting that in Inglourious Basterds that Shosanna got her revenge against the Nazis all on her own. Interesting how Tarantino didn't feel the need to give her a white person that wasn't Jewish to save her and get her on the road for revenge.
Now a story with a person that isn't white? No, no. We need a white person to show the black man the correct way. Cause otherwise, he wouldn't be able to manage it on his own.
Screw this movie.
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Are you sure? It could turn out to just be a white savior movie, and if it is that would be disappointing, but the trailer makes it look like a buddy movie.
This kind of reminds me of a slavery-era Men in Black, honestly.
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meh… All I can say is where are the voices who bitched out the Resident Evil 5 trailer? This IS basically the same thing.
Oh, and Bob, this isnt a racially decisive time… trust me. it's a POLITICALLY decisive though, and possibly as much so as it's ever been, but that's the divide of today.
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I have to agree with Phil on this one. I had really high hopes from this film, but it is essentially a “white savior” film. Django doesn't free himself and he's still essentially enslaved until he can fulfill the needs of of a white character.
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Admittedly, it is a little disappointing that they felt the need for a white secondary lead. But on the other hand Jaime Foxx is clearly the protagonist, with Christophe Waltz talking the mentor role that was for many years the place for the token “Magic Negro” in films. So ya know, baby steps.
P.S. Considering Tarantino's well documented adoration for obscure spaghetti westerns, if the theme song from Django does not show up at some point I will be VERY disappointed.
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@ Joshua,
I dunno about the song, but that's Franco Nero at the end of the trailer.
Regarding the “white saviour” aspect, I had the same concerns initially; but they were allayed by the breakdowns of the footage shown at Cannes – its clear that Django consistently undercuts that part of the narrative, and that Waltz's role is more about logistics – without a white partner, Django couldn't get close to the people he needs to, and it also solves the issue of how a recently-freed field slave learned to be a master gunfighter.
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Looks really good. I'm a huge Tarantino fan since “Death Proof”, i'm looking forward to see this the next December.
I'm hoping new Ennio Morricone score made for this flick.
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I don't know anything about supposedly Foxx undercutting any white savior aspect. The issue though is that Waltz is literally the one who does the saving. Look at the trailer. It is Waltz that saves Foxx. If it weren't for that moment then Foxx would've been screwed.
Why couldn't it have been Foxx that somehow made contact with Waltz and then get Waltz to help him get closer to what he needs to do if he really needed a white man at all to get his business done?
Tarantino bent history just so that Shosanna can get her revenge. I don't see why nothing could've been worked out to have Django be at the forefront the entire time of his revenge story. In history there were many, many slave rebellions in the U.S.. Yet, Tarantino couldn't have made this without it having a white savior?
Typical Hollywood.
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Lets all play the 'make radically harsh judgements on a film none us as have even seen yes game!', the internet forum pastime.
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Phil: While I understand your concerns and they certainly could turn out to be valid, I think it is just a tad too early to jump to that conclusion just from a 2 minute trailer. I have faith in Tarantino until he proves otherwise.
Others: Bob may have overstepped himself by stating the racial tensions are some of the greatest in history. But I think the rampant belief within the white populous of this country that racism is no longer a problem, or is almost obsolete is a serious issue. Racial tensions while not as great as they once were are very much present in this country still, and much worse than before they are hidden under the surface.
We are blessed to live in the most diverse nation on earth in not only racial diversity, but geographic, ethnic, religious etc. However, this also creates a great divide and makes it difficult for unity. When we act as though we have solved racism, or its not worth discussing, we are essentially burying our heads in the sand. When people wonder why congress can't compromise and why our country over 150 years since the civil war STILL seems to be largely divided between north and south, urban and rural etc etc and then turn around and say oh we have transcended all of those societal woes that plagued our past even as the divisions in this country widen every day.
To act like racism isnt that big of an issue anymore is no different than saying that their is no longer a class divide in this country, or there are no prejudices against muslims in america. It is a big deal. Just because things have improved doesn't mean everything is all right.
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I like how the music and the style make this thing border on blacksploitation. Then again, that's probably how a Western starring a vengeance-seeking black man would be coming from Tarantino.
That being said….
yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes….
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@Anonymous
I've heard from some that have read the script that have confirmed this movie as such.
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as a white south african i am legitimatly afraid of when this movie plays here, don't know if many know how completly fucked up the crime+politics is here but this movie is gonna inspire some bad things here. and before you argue with me remember ours is the country that has a majority of the population believing that if you rape a virgin it cures you of aids.
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It is clear to me that Waltz is in the “token/mentor” role in this film and that Jamie Foxx is the main character. I have complete faith in Tarantino when it comes to this stuff. In fact I would say that he has allied himself very very closely with Black Americans case in point, just watch Jackie Brown.
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You clearly haven't heard of Nat Turner, have you Moviebob?
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Fuck off James.
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The whole thing could turn out to be an inversion of the “Magical Negro” trope, with Waltz as the white mentor figure whose only role in the plot is to facilitate the black hero's quest.
Unfortunately, the continued double standard of race relations means whenever you have a mentor-apprentice or guide-hero relationship with a white character and a person of colour, if you make the POC character the apprentice/hero, the narrative is interpreted as “those other people couldn't lift themselves up without help from Whitey” while if the relationship is reversed, the interpretation is “why is that wise, experienced POC helping the white kid, why aren't they just doing the job themselves?” You have to be extremely careful to avoid either interpretation.
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@Wendy said…
NOW is one of the most racially devisive periods? Really, Bob? oh yeah, the Civil Rights moment ain't got nothing on us. The end of slavery was just a pussy fart compared to our troubles.
Bob said recent American history. I suspect he means less than 50 years ago.
Now while I'm not sure I'd put the current tensions at the level of the 1992 L.A. riots, I think a period where an unarmed black teenager gets gunned down by some Bernard Goetz-wannabe, only to be cast as a thug by the mainstream media–the same mainstream media who give a megaphone to an extremely loud but stupid minority of dumbasses who insist the President wasn't born in America despite having not a shred of evidence, while there are continued cries to keep Latin American immigrants out of the country even though the slave wages they're paid are one of the main things keeping big US companies financially solvent–things are pretty divisive.
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“The whole thing could turn out to be an inversion of the “Magical Negro” trope, with Waltz as the white mentor figure whose only role in the plot is to facilitate the black hero's quest.“
So, that would make him somehow an Obi White Kentucky (Stupid pun of the day)
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Anyone else getting flashes of that episode of The Boondocks?
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/06/anders-behring-breivik-no_n_1573979.html
How long did it take them to find this out now?
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@Joe
I don't really see him being cast as a thug, but as you described him, a unarmed black teenager. Other than that I think you're right.
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@Jake
You're clearly a normal level-headed guy and this is why you don't see him as a thug.
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I'm so glad to see Leonardo DiCaprio playing a silly fun villain instead of his usual “I'm so intense that my skull is going to pop out of my head” roles.
No matter what occurs, I will never give up believing that Django should have been played by Samuel L. Jackson.
And I really must be the only one hoping for a giant robot spider at the end of this. I feel no shame about this.
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I keep thinking Wild Wild West when I see this film. Anyone else see that?
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I long for the day in the future when moviemakers can simply tell a story without having to consult a diversity checklist.
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@Anubis: What do you mean by that? Are you talking about the inclusion of a white mentor character, or the fact that a “Slavesploitation” film is getting made?
If the former, you have my agreement. If the latter, kindly sod off.
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@ McKinney: I mean simply that I'd like for writers and movie producers to tell stories with characters' race not really mattering to people at all.
Slavesploitation films? Fine by me; I don't mind.
My issue is the idea that a writer has to consult a racial checklist:
Case study A: Too many white people in the cast–quick, add a (insert minority here) for diversity!
Case study B: Oh, noes! There aren't any white people for the audience to relate to! Quick–add a white protagonist!
I hate BOTH of these trends in Hollywood. Just make a good movie and trust that the audience isn't a pack of complete dullards. (Bay's Transformers notwithstanding: that film series' main problem was that it could've culled all of HUMANITY and made a better series of movies.)
In sum: I think the idea of a “white mentor character” is dumb, I don't mind that a “Slavesploitation” flick is being made, and I find the idea–that films must be made specifically to cater to any ethnic group like it's some sort of collective blob–to be insulting.
Make a good movie–I don't care if the characters are Smurfs.
(And for that matter, I could probably cough up a better Smurfs movie than what we DID get.)
I'm black, by the way. 😉
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Short question: You say in your review that King makes “the most fateful decision of his life” with his back to the camera. Which scene?
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Yes, which scene was the most fateful decision of his life with his back to the camera?
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