Watched it again yesterday. It’s definitely a movie that grows on you with every viewing, however, it’s still not a Top 20 material for me, not sure why, but it’s like it lacks this extra push. First and foremost, it’s like the film has too much story to tell and feels kind of rushed and too short even with its running time of almost 2 hours. I guess you could argue that it’s supposed to be this delirious, frenetic incubus of a motion picture, but then I’d like more of these succulent, scrumptious Arcalli’s cuts and while we’re at it, make it even more bizarre.
You can tell you have a very talented young director at the helm here who does not have too much experience and a kind of diegetic discipline as to what to leave out and what to include. I wish some scenes would last longer so that the film could acquire some kind of resonance, depth and have an even more dreamy quality to it. I like when movies take some time to tell their tale instead of dashing forward at such a swift pace, this is why I invariably prefer longer cuts of movies, with the exception of Profondo Rosso perhaps. Yes, there is a number of outlandish elements, but all of these narrative inventions are thrown in there without leaving much of a long-lasting impression. They do not last long enough, they’re all wedged in the movie without much regard for how they work within the context of the motion picture.
With regard to its distorted depiction of the fascist regime, yes, there are greed, depravity, double-crossings and whatnot, but at the same time, the film lacks a concrete critique of fascism in the sense that it does not scrutinize the power structure in the same way that Faccia a faccia does for instance. Notwithstanding, it’s hard not to appreciate how visually striking this film is. With an array of extreme close-ups and a multitude of odd camera angles, it’s gorgeous to look at and remains one of the most stylistically developed works in the genre. Combined with the batshit crazy editing by Arcalli, the film does have a very quaint vibe to it and makes up for a one-of-a-kind mind fuckuppery. Oh yeah, they really don’t make them like this anymore. I wish the movie was even more surreal, but at the same time it was released prior to El Topo which only attests to how ahead of its time it truly was. I love the score as well, even if it does get a little repetitive towards the end. 7/10
Before June this year I probably had not seen many more SW movies than the 4 first by, Leone, but since then I have consumed over 20 selected other and I now definitely rate Django Kill in the upper half of those 20, even a little bit before the first more famous Django.
Of the similar more weird SW Django Kill seems more of class (and FAR from THAT weird) than Matalo which I watched for the first time on YouTube yesterday.
The main music theme is good enough for being repeated a lot.
I think Tomas Milian (and his caracter) is a lot better than for example in one of the very weakest movies I have seen lately Run Man Run (which I found rather boring, but I have only seen it once yet).
Generally I like the mood of this movie which goes on with the music (as I do with another rather special SW Cemetery Without Crosses - their mood please me more than for example in some Corbucci SW which I feel often are a bit too straight forward even if I like Django).
Django Kill is a weird movie. Its kind of boring and seems not so great, but at the same time it has some strange quality that makes me like it & enjoy repeated viewings
Nice. I am probably even more enthusiatic about Django Kill since it has climbed to number 8 on my SW Top 60.
But even if I have watched it many times ( 8 ?) in 3 years, I don’t quite understand the possible meaning or message in the end regarding the children, not that it matters much.
Been meaning to give this one another shot for a while but couldn’t bring myself to do so until just last night. I’d watched it a couple of years ago and did not particularly enjoy it, and couldn’t, for the life of me, understand why it was included in the official top 20 alongside the greats.
I will say my view on it has softened, though I still do not have much love for it and would not consider it a ‘top’ spaghetti western at all - though it is by no means bad either, more, for me, in that middling grey area where I am somewhat left unsure of what to think of it. the best thing it has going for it is, in my opinion, the cinematography, as it is wonderfully shot - and the music too, also works great for the film. I want to like it more as I really do love Milian, but he is as un-Milian-like as possible in this role. In the end, I suppose I give it more credit now than I had done previously, but I doubt if it will ever be a true favourite of mine. It, undoubtedly, has its moments, but is overall too darn weird for my liking.
I like Django the Bastard far better - and I say this because I believe the two to share a lot of similarities.
I was of the same opinion … but I now think the problem for me was judging this against other favourite SWs when it’s really a unique film, rather than one that can be categorized or lumped into a genre.
There are aspects of it that still don’t work for me, but my suggestion is don’t make comparisons with other classic westerns - at it’s core, it’s not really a western at all.
I think its more that I am surprised at how highly it seems to be rated. No that I hate it, or even really dislike it too much - I wouldn’t have kept my copy of it if that were the case.
Again, I agree …I don’t think it should be anywhere near the top 20 ! But it’s readily available on DVD etc and has been for some time, plus it got ‘Talked Up’ by Alex Cox, and there’s the gore element that may have intrigued some fans. When it first made the hit parade, there weren’t nearly as many SW releases as we thankfully have today … so therefore it was easier to qualify for a T20 position.
Django Kill is an anti western, at least the only Spag I would call so. And maybe the only Spag which really has an anti-hero (or comes close to such). And that alone makes it unique, but of course not necessarily good. But this uniqueness may help to get the film more attention than it maybe deserves. It is maybe a film more respected than loved.
The Great Silence works inside the genre rules, inside the possibilities of the western genre, but pushes some of the rules to their extremes, but Django Kill was made to work against the rules, against the genre (and also against other political Spags). Interviews with Questi clearly indicate these “anti” ambitions.
Well, I do respect it more than I love it, but it is an entertaining film, and it is one which got better for me over the years. 8/10
Very well said, and still it is not your favourite Spag according to your top 20 …
And that’s the reason why he is a true anti-hero, cause passivity is one of the main defining characteristics of the anti hero.
While thy typical SW protagonist are rarely passive and in then end always does what the hero does (only with other methods). The hero is the one whose actions determines the storyline, the anti-hero’s actions are determined by the storyline.
But I think Django Kill is not the first film with such a protagonist, not even the first western. That first one is maybe The Ox-Bow Incident, in which the protagonist fails to prohibit a hanging by a vigilant group to which he belongs.
As for ‘Django Kill, If You Live Shoot!’? It’s so mysterious, surreal, and ‘way out’ that it really should be in a class of its own. Brilliant, yet intense and disturbing…at times difficult to comprehend, but eminently watchable in a masochistic sort of way. Very Gothic in nature and style…
Watched it when I first got into the genre well over a decade ago and hated it. Should probably give it another go. Sometime over the last few years I watched Questi’s Death Laid an Egg and Arcana and didn’t care for the latter while despising the former so I’m not sure that’s a sensible idea
Ha, no trouble here, sir. It’d be a pretty f***ing dull place if we all agreed about everything. For what it’s worth I can absolutely see why it mightn’t be everybody’s cup of tea.
