Sergio Corbucci’s character Django, initially portrayed byFranco Nero, is the best but most underrated cowboy ever to grace the silver screen. Originally appearing inDjango(1966) and much later inDjango Strikes Again(1987), the character would go on to appear unofficially in an additional thirty-one films, beforebeing adapted into the 2023 TV seriesstarringMatthias Schoenaerts, cementing him as one of the most popular and enduring Western characters ever. The enormous popularity of the original films and loose Italian copyright laws made the character prolific, along with Franco Nero’s steely portrayal of the rugged anti-hero.
This character’s long and storied history gives him mythological status, a constant in an evolving Western universe. Something typically reserved for pulp novels and comic books. His journey from dismissed soldier to gunslinger to monk to legend is profoundly endearing, and it stands to reason that Django will be with us for a long time. What makes him so appealing is the vast story world he is a part of, something Django shares in common with franchises like the MCU. Cinematic universes give audiences something to sink their teeth into and feel a part of. Django does precisely that, providing audiences with dozens of films to dig into and explore. Each film adds to the legend and legacy of the character, making him larger than life. Django is the best but most underrated Spaghetti Western character because his story is the biggest.
Franco Nero Brought The Character To Life In ‘Django’
Django is the story of a brooding, imperturbable gunslinger. Dismissed from the Union Army, he drags a coffin containing a huge Gatling gun around through the mud, eventually getting caught up in a race war between Mexican revolutionaries and ex-confederate officer Major Jackson. Jackson and his gang of racists extorts the townspeople, raping, pillaging, and hunting down Mexicans for sport.Django’s ferocity and morality immediately appear in the film’s opening scenes, defining the character and distinguishing him from the cowardly thugs employed by Major Jackson. Jackson’s men hide their faces behind red scarves and hoods. A stylized riff on the Ku Klux Klan that seems so near and dear to Jackson’s cold, confederate, dark heart. They are fiendishly evil but no match for the handsome, mysterious hero.
Django comes across some of Jackson’s men preparing to crucify and burn alive the beautiful Maria (Loredana Nusciak). Maria’s mixed ethnicity and willingness to lie with non-white men offends their deeply racist and tyrannical sensibilities. Django turns his steely blue eyes toward them, confronting them and goading them into a fight. Jackson’s men holler back, severely underestimating Django. They draw their guns, but Django shoots them down instantly. Two essential points about the character are revealed here:Django is decisive and deadly (he never misses), and Django knows the difference between right and wrong. Right then and there, he makes a vow to Maria that as long as she is with him, no harm shall come to her. This is a noble vow to make to a total stranger and gives insight into the nature of Django’s character in those first few precious moments of the film.
Nero brings an intensity to the character and a cool factor that has to be seen to be believed. His portrayal of the rugged individualist American male archetype is, on the surface, really no different fromSergio Leone’s Man With No Name(Clint Eastwood) character. Both are good guys with a gun. Both have a steely resolve and a tenderness that makes them moral characters. This stands to reason, as in 1965,Fist Full of Dollarswas riding high in the saddle. It makes sense that Corbucci would want to capitalize on the success of that film with a character of his own. What makes Django different, however, is he seems to be less opportunistic than The Man With No Name.Django does harbor a desire to liberate Jackson from his gold, but it is not his only motivator and certainly not the most important. If it was, why make the vow to Maria? Being a killer is a lot easier with no worldly attachments. Instead, he appears driven by a sense of justice as he is willing to put himself in harm’s way at the film’s closing to save Maria again from Major Jackson. Django, with his hands bandaged and bleeding and standing almost no chance against Jackson’s men, waits for them in a graveyard. They mock him, knowing that Django is at a severe disadvantage, but Django kills them before they can fire a shot.He’s almost like a superhero, able to push past his physical and mental boundariesin ways no other character can. Nero’s passion and stoicism elevate the character above such base things as gold. The Man Who Doesn’t Have A Price has much more substance than The Man With No Name.
Franco Nero Didn’t Think ‘Django’ Would Make History
In an interview with theHollywood ReporteraboutDjango, Nero said, “When we started, I wasn’t sure if we’d ever even finish the film. " The script was base and the budget small. It was difficult for anyone to think that Django would resonate with audiences the way it did, and when asked about it, Nero still doesn’t have an answer; “I don’t know the answer. It’s one of the things that cannot be explained.” Perhaps Nero is too close to the project, but the reason is apparent enough: Django is a real hero.What makes a hero is that they sacrifice themselves for the greater good. They put themselves in harm’s way because a deep sense of justice drives them. Superman refuses and fights Zod because he knows it’s right to do, even if it will kill him. Batman does the same, and so does Django.
Most Western cowboys are profit-driven sociopaths, crude men compelled to do the right thing out of a sense of guilt or money. Django doesn’t do anything because of his haunted past.He isn’t acting out of a sense of trauma but rather the desire to see good triumph over evil. This is why Corbucci made him a Union soldier who fought against slavery and pitted him against Jackson, an amoral psychopath who guns down people for fun. No two characters are more opposed than these two, save for, perhaps,Tarantino’s version of the character inDjango Unchainedand Calvin Candie.Django is a character who does what he does because it’s the right thing to do and not because there is a payday involved, which makes the character so endearing.
7 Snowy Westerns to Watch This Winter
Better hurry and check out these wintry Westerns, because Spring starts March 20!
Django the Character Would Appear in Thirty-One Films
Corbucci’s ‘Django’ would go on to be a huge success and, from 1966 on, would spawn an additional thirty films. These films were considered unofficial sequels, with neither Corbucci nor Nero involved in the project. But loose Italian intellectual property laws would allow other writers to take on the character, and burgeoning international popularity of the character would fuel demand and give audiences films like;A Few Dollars for Django(1966) starringAnthony Steffen,God Forgives… I Don’t!(1967),Django, Prepare a Coffin(1968) starringTerence Hill. Nero would reprise the role a final time in the only official sequel, ‘Django Strikes Again’ (1987). The film depicts Django, now a monk, twenty years later. Django is repentant for his murderous ways, but after the death of a lover, he is drawn back into the fray. Once again, Corbucci demonstrates the character’s highly moral nature, whose peace can only be disturbed by injustice. The only thing that can make Django kill again is the need to right a wrong. This is precisely why the character is so endearing. He is just so good, albeit conflicted. He is the tough guy that audiences wish they were: decisive, deadly, calm, and collected. He acts out of love in ways filmgoers can only dream of.
Taken as a whole,Django has an entire cinematic universe for audiences to explore. Unofficial as these sequels are, they are all still stories about Django and his life. Curiously, Corbucci’s official sequel will come some twenty years and dozens of films later.Corbucci could build off this mythology, using the characters' broad arc and storied history to make Django’s choice to be a monk all the more powerful. A seasoned killer choosing a less violent path gives Django’s choice to re-enter the world of gun-slinging a lot more gravitas. With God now at his side, the embattled Django lives to thrill audiences again, furthering the legend. It’s no wonder that Tarantino chose to adopt the character and why the character has been revived again and repurposed for television in 2023. Cinematic universes are all the rage now because that character history engages audiences.
Django Unchained
With the help of a German bounty-hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner in Mississippi.
‘Django’ Is a Cinematic Universe
At first glance, it’s hard to imagine what Django and theMarvel Cinematic Universeor even the 007 Franchise have in common. However, they are all giant story worlds with the characters living full and adventurous lives. Multiple actors have played James Bond, Batman, Superman, and Django. Each character brings their swagger to the roles but is always the same.All of these characters live in a world that contains not just one story but many stories, and every single one serves to build the character’s legend, making for an engaging and immersive experience for audiences. Cinematic Universes give audiences something to discover, invest their precious time in, and become a part of. This is why fans will buy t-shirts with their favorite hero emblazoned boldly on the front. It lets others know which team you belong to: Marvel or DC, Leone or Corbucci.
Fans of the eponymous TV series orthe filmDjango Unchainedhave a rich world of thirty-some-odd films to go back to and explore.Spending so much time with Django imbues him with a three-dimensionalitythat other heroes of the genre lack. Audiences only get three moves with The Man With No Name, spanning only a few years, but with Django, they get his whole life. Audiences feel a part of something and are connected to the character in a way only possible when the story is big enough. And there is no story that is bigger than Django.
And yet, despite this massive backstory, Django is a character largely unfamiliar to audiences, living in an obscurity that seems outrageous. It seems impossible that a character with this many stories could be so notoriously underrated yet so massivelycrucial to the Western genre. No character is as big as him. No character lives so prolifically on so much celluloid. That alone is reason enough to dig into these films. There is so much to discover; they are legitimately fun films to watch. It’s exciting to see Django live again in the digital era, and fans will have a wonderful time exploring the character’s mythology. Django is a hero’s hero, and one audience will surely enjoy for many years to come.
