Django Film News!

Jonny

I meant to say: that independent companies' films make it to the big screen..

a

this will be a depp vehicle. look at how well bio-pics about musicians have been doing lately. they're all pretty much the same. as cool as it would be to see django 'come to life,' i don't really see the point in making a movie about django. what cinematic value is there in representing something that can be read about in a book or actually experienced through music that already exists? and besides, aren't there too many django imitators out there already? just kidding. sort of.

it would be cool if they unearthed/released some more footage of django.

"time of the gypsies" is worth checking out.

Jonny

I agree, however; if such a film was to be made, I don't doubt we'd get our hands on it. And in reference to A's comment, about there not being a reason in making a movie about django; I tend to disagree. There have been made loads of bio-pictures about people with lives far less interesting than Django's, and I would think there being quite enough material regarding his life, given by those close to him(joseph, stèphane etc) to make a script interesting enough..I would go as far as to say that it might have been a better idea for Woody Allen to make a film about Django, instead of the fictional character of Emmet Ray. I've even come to understand that Django had quite a similar personality(flamboyant, charismatic etc.), so why he didn't choose to do so is beyond me. And my main concern regarding this particular film; why did he not choose a real Gypsy to play the backing..? As much as I like the film in general, I just can't stand the stiffness of whomever is playing. And the sync..yuck. Ahm, damn, that was long..

a

i think django's story is great, i just don't think there's any reason to dramatize it.

V-dub

I'm more concerned about the soundtrack. They had better do their homework and not end up with Frank Vignola or something (no disrespect to him!).

Jonny

My point exactly

Elliot

OH MY FREAKIN' GOD!

I can't believe what I'm reading! Listen, I really hate to disagree with anybody, especially online, primarily because I don't want to seem contrary, so please forgive me, I can't help myself this time.

First consider that any treatment of Django if done with respect would do more to catapult our 'movement' than anything else, especially in this phase, resulting in greater audience attendance and attention for everyone involved. The reason to make a movie like this is the reason any movie is made - the story is just so great! Epochal, in fact. And like any great movie, it would ask as many questions as it answers.

This character Emmet Ray was NOTHING like Django, by all accounts. Ray is the typical also-ran - a shallow, bragging egotist dogged by the fact that he didn't really have the goods. Neither he, (nor Penn for that matter), have an ounce of charisma - he was only concerned with proving how great he knew he wasn't. This is why after all, he keeps saying that he is "The greatest guitar player in the World"(with the exception "of this gypsy guy.....") - could anyone imagine Django saying this, even though true? Like Jimi Hendrix, with whom he compares on more than one level, someone like Django would know he was given the gift of drawing from the well of creativity, and that the more one knows, the more there is to know, perhaps the secret behind that smile he always seemed to have.

In fact, let me state that I'd give my left NUT to get a shot at writing the screenplay, and probably would try if there was even a slim chance of being able to get it in front of Depp's face for consideration. The story has everything you could want! The reason Woody Allen DIDN'T just do the story about Django, I believe, is because he recognized that he couldn't give it the scope it would demand, Allen's specialty being the small vignette between a few characters as he does with this movie and every other one he has made, not to mention the money he would need to invest.

Just look at the theme - the divinely inspired genius who rose up from the mud among one the most reviled subcultures who wins the love and respect of his closely knit brethren, then Paris, only to be fairly rejected for being what he was by the (idiotic) Americans. We have points of drama all over the place: first, the realization of the meaning behind his name ("I am becoming" - perfect!), his relationship with Babik, who recognized his ability first and helped him get up to speed only to serve as a faceless backup, endlessly carrying Django's guitar, the fire and his struggle to persevere, the conflicts and contrast with Grapelli, and DR's lack of "professionalism", the inspiration of Nuages and the hope it gave war-torn France contrasted with being a source of entertainment for the Nazis while his greater family were being herded to the death camps, and lastly the trip to America where one critic dismissed him as a "clown with a Mandolin", and his hero Armstrong barely aware of him, the Carnegie Hall near fiasco. Did any of this bother him? We'll never really know. Plus, there is humor - him and his 'family' plus monkey moving into Delaunay's (?) apartment, the red sock incident, showing up at studio dates without a guitar (!), casually laying out streams of improvisation while his more ego oriented competitors want to commit suicide, a story that doesn't seem real, except for the fact that it was.

I ask you, how could you NOT want to make - or see - this movie? The first scene opens over the chimneys of a thousand caravans, Gypsy music playing everywhere, until the camera moves down to one of them where a woman is sitting on the floor of the tiny kitchen clutching her stomach. Is she in pain? No, she's giving birth to DJANGO REINHART!

Jack

I agree, mostly; however many quibbles we'd all have with it, I'd like to see the film get made. I think you mean Joseph, though, above, not Babik...

Best,
Jack.

a

i agree... great story. great images and sounds. i can picture it all in my head and can hear it on my ipod. so, why the need for a movie? what could a movie about django say? we know what happens. what would be the point of watching?

Jack

If you're replying to my post, I think you misunderstood; I'd actually like to see it happen. I mean, we all have a good idea of what happened during WWII, or what have you, but that doesn't mean a good film can't come out of it nonetheless. Sure, there are a lot of pitfalls with Django's story, and it could turn out far too romanticized, but I'm not going to say it shouldn't happen...of all the musicians of the twentieth century, Django has a great, cinematic story, like you say. It could be great!

And while the 'cognoscenti' might find a lot of fault with it, it would almost certainly bring a bigger audience to his music.

a wrote:

... great story. great images and sounds. i can picture it all in my head and can hear it on my ipod. so, why the need for a movie? what could a movie about django say? we know what happens. what would be the point of watching?

Like you say...great story, great images and sounds-that's the point. While many of us can picture it in our heads, most of the world has never heard of Django, and THAT'S why it would be a good thing to have this made, I think. Even the Woody film woke people up to some extent; to have a film about the man himself could do even more, no?

Best,
Jack.