The Analysis Of Cinematric Techniques In Django Unchained
Quentin Tarantino is an infamous American director, writer, and actor whose oeuvre is recognizable and molds ideological conventions through a developed authorship. Tarantino embodies the term hyphenate auteur as Tarantino takes on multiples roles that include directing, screenwriting, and acting in various of his films. Tarantino’s auteur consists of many elements that reflect modern society and his place in society with the use of stylistic components to portray modern pop culture, the use of cinematography and production elements to enhance societal meaning, character storylines that are unconventional, and the incorporation of specific genres.
Style within a film is a major component of a director’s auteur as it assists the viewer in distinguishing which authors film is being watched. In the case of Tarantino, his films and style align with popular culture as it is mentioned in the book, Fifty Contemporary Film Directors Tarantino is “obsessed and in love with pop culture” which highly influences the stories and characters of his films and contributes to the authorship (White 396). In the film Pulp Fiction (1994), numerous pop culture elements are included such the use of violence being mainstreamed and not given the image of a negative perception. The setting of the film takes place in Los Angeles where pop culture is massively consumed. The drug use of two characters, the dancing in the club, going out, and partying symbolize the characteristics of modern culture. There is a scene where Uma Thurman’s and John Travolta’s characters are sitting in a booth talking about awkward silence and not constantly having to converse shows that they are secluded from the culture for a moment, but end getting up to dance later thus symbolizing rejoining modern culture and society. To include, American society is highly individualistic and in majority of Americans lives the attention is focused on multiple situations happening at once. Thus, showing the involvement Tarantino has in his films such as the film being directed, written, and containing a character which he is the actor, metaphorically illustrates not only his self-perception but the individual in Society.
Tarantino’s use of cinematography and production elements contribute to the uniqueness and characteristics of his auteur. A “corpse point of view” as if the viewer were dead, shot in a low angle is a specific characteristic of Tarantino’s authorship as it is illustrated in various of his films (Holshausen, “Is Quentin Tarantino an Auteur?”). For example, in Kill Bill Vol 1 (2003) the Deadly Vipers looking down at the almost dead bride, in Pulp Fiction the camera is placed in the trunk of the car looking up Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta. Also, in Inglorious Bastards (2009) where Lt. Raine and Smithson kill Hans and stand over his body to give Hans’s point of view of his last moments.
Language contains a key role in the authorship of Tarantino as it is used to mirror aspects of reality. Many films include heavily harsh dialogue that consist of sexist and racial remarks in order to give a more realistic approach to not only the film but the characters as well. Yet, the harsh tone in the dialogue at times contradict the mood. For example, in Pulp Fiction an argument between the two criminals occurs as they discuss whether to throw off a man off the balcony for massaging another man’s wife foot (Holshausen).
Violence is very heavy in a Tarantino film, in which is a major and common aspect of his film director auteur. Many films consist of bloody fight scenes, shoot outs, or a character with a weapon. An example, in Kill Bill Vol 1, The Bride fights Gogo and the Crazy 88’s which is an intense fight scene and a bloody one where characters are getting punched, stabbed, and killed. In addition, the beginning of the scene includes Sofie getting her arm chopped off with a sword and lots of blood being squirted out to add to the gore. Django Unchained (2012) has a violent shoot out incorporated in the end of the film where everyone in the scene is being shot at or killed. Lastly, in Pulp Fiction the criminals always have a gun on them, The Bride in Kill Bill has a sword, and Django in Django Unchained nearly always carries a gun throughout the movie.
The theme of revenge is incorporated constantly in a Tarantino film and sets a distinctive quality to his auteur. In Kill Bill Vol 1 & 2 the whole plot is The Bride getting her revenge by killing her assassins. To include, in Django Unchained Django’s revenge is the death of his wife’s owner, in Inglorious Bastards the Jews are getting their revenge on the Nazis by murdering them (Holshausen).
Tarantino’s unconventional methods of characters storylines is a significant factor to his authorship. Stated by Glyn White, “Tarantino upsets narrative conventions by either placing ‘the bad guys’ center stage or examining the lives of those who would usually be peripheral characters” (397). For example, in Pulp Fiction the main characters are killers or hitmen that are the center focus and even includes the unconventional following of the cover up of a murder they committed. Nazis are being killed by the Jews in Inglorious Bastards and in Django Unchained a black male is getting revenge on white slaveowners (Holshausen). Also, those at center stage are hoped to gain a sense of sympathy from the audience as Tarantino does not follow the standard “hero” but highlights ‘the bad guys’ to even at times make them appear as heroes. In Django Unchained, Django is helping a bounty hunter but the audience roots for him to receive a happy ending in which he kills Calvin and reconciles with his wife. In kill Bill, although the bride is violently killing many people she is not portrayed as a villain but is captured as a glorified figure.
The blending of genres embodies the creativity of Tarantino’s auteur in which he exploits cultural mainstream media. For example, From Dusk ‘til Dawn (1996) the first half of the movie is a crime thriller then it switches to a horror movie as the characters start to get attacked by vampires (White 395). Django Unchained is an homage to spaghetti western and is mixed with blaxploitation western as it is set in the south of America with many outdoor scenes and elements that fulfill the western genre of cowboy hats, guns, and horses. Kill Bill is a hybrid of action that references Hong Kong cinema and includes eastern martial arts that help distinguish the characters (White 396).
Overall, Quentin Tarantino’s ability to contain recognizable aspects in the films he is involved in all contribute to his oeuvre and auteur. Tarantino’s style of filming in which he uses to illustrate popular culture enhance the authorship. The use of cinematography and point of view shots, production elements, and unconventional methods of highlighting certain characters all build on his oeuvre, thus adding to his auteur. Lastly, the incorporation of multiple genres to a single film shows the skills of an artistic director that Tarantino embodies in order to define the creativity in his authorship.
Works Cited
- White, Glyn. Fifty Contemporary Film Directors. London: Routledge, 2011, 392-398 https://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2147/10.4324/9780203844342
- Holshausen, Jennifer, and Jennifer Holshausen. “Is Quentin Tarantino an Auteur? – Beyond Words – Medium.” Medium.com, Medium, 20 Apr. 2017, https://medium.com/beyond-words/the-autuer-polemic-as-applied-to-quentin-tarantino-b18b7f740fd7
