Django (character)

Django
Franco Nero as Django in
Django (1966)
First appearance
Django (1966)
Created bySergio Corbucci
Portrayed by
Other:
In-universe information
OccupationDismissed Union Army soldier
SpouseMercedes Zaro

Django is a fictional character who appears in a number of Spaghetti Western films. Originally played by Franco Nero in the 1966 Italian film of the same name by Sergio Corbucci, he has appeared in 31 films since then. Especially outside of the genre's home country Italy, mainly Germany, countless releases have been retitled in the wake of the original film's enormous success.

Character biography

Franco Nero films

Django

Django is a 1966 Spaghetti Western directed by Sergio Corbucci starring Franco Nero as Django, a dismissed Union soldier who fought in the American Civil War. The film is set in 1869, four years after the end of the Civil War. After arriving in a bleak, mud-drenched town in the American Southwest and dragging a coffin behind him, Django gets caught up in a violent feud between exiled Mexican revolutionaries, led by General Hugo, and a gang of militant Neo-Confederates led by Major Jackson. Armed with a deadly Mitrailleuse volley gun, Django proceeds to play each side against the other in the pursuit of money. Ultimately, Django seeks revenge against Jackson, who murdered Django’s wife years before.

Django Strikes Again

Twenty years after the events in the first film, the title character has left the violent life of a gunslinger to live in seclusion in a monastery. He learns from a dying former lover that he has a young daughter, who has been kidnapped by the ruthless Hungarian arms dealer and slave trader, El Diablo (The Devil) Orlowsky. She and other kidnapped children work in Orlowsky's silver mine. Determined to find his daughter, Django gets goes to war against Orlowsky's private army.

Appearances

Official films

Franco Nero films

Unofficial films

The enormous success of the original Django movie in 1966 inspired unofficial sequels to be created by a multitude of studios, due to loose copyright laws in Italy at the time. Some actually feature the character of Django, and some titles just capitalize on the name, even though the character is not in the film.

TV series

Django is portrayed by Matthias Schoenaerts in the 2023 TV series of the same name. Franco Nero is featured as a minor character.

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ Rare Spaghetti Western movies on DVD-R and VHS
  2. ↑ Hughes, Howard (2006). Once Upon a Time in the Italian West: The Filmgoers' Guide to Spaghetti Westerns (illustrated ed.). I.B. Tauris. pp. 57–69. ISBN 978-1-85043-896-0.
  3. ↑ Prince, Stephen (1999). Sam Peckinpah's: The Wild Bunch. Cambridge University Press. pp. 152, 228. ISBN 978-0-521-58606-1
  4. ↑ "Title Chaos" in: The Spaghetti Western Database http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Title_chaos
  5. ↑ Marco Giusti (2007). Dizionario del western all'italiana. Mondadori, 2007. ISBN 978-88-04-57277-0.
  6. ↑ "Film Review: Unofficial 'Django' Sequels, Part II (1966, 1969, 1971)". 7 August 2017. Archived from the original on 21 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  7. ↑ "Get a Coffin Ready ! / Viva Django! Review – The Spaghetti Western Database". www.spaghetti-western.net. Retrieved 23 August 2017.