Quentin Tarantino's Films Comparison Analysis - Movie Review Example

Quentin Tarantinos Films Comparison Analysis Quentin Tarantino is a screen cinematographer, actor, film director, and producer who has produced many movies since the 1980’s. Most of his movies have had great impact among people leading to high ratings and many views (Greene & Silem 26). Among the movies produced by Quentin Tarantino include My Best Friend’s Birthday, Reservoir dogs, Pulp fiction, death proof, and Django unchained. For purposes of this research, we shall use Django Unchained and Death Proof to highlight some of the main themes, messages, and characterization as presented by Quentin Tarantino. Death Proof is an action-exploitation horror film that was released in 2007 and shows psychopathic behavior of a stunt man who stalks and kills young women. On the other hand, Django Unchained is an American western film released in 2012 and follows the life of Django, an African-American slave after being rescued by a bounty killer with whom they travel with. The first theme presented by both movies is violence. Violence is exhibited at the start of the movie where a series of mistreated slaves are being transported by their masters. They look weak, mistreated, beaten, and are chained with large chains to avoid their escape. This is a clear show of violence and inhuman character (Nama 63). In addition, Django Unchained shows a series of deaths as executed by the bounty hunters without the execution of justice. It displays a society in which citizens are not protected by the law and are supposed to fend for themselves (Speck & Chante 123). The society is driven by greed for money which causes execution of a series of crimes to quench one’s thirst for money and power. Violence is exhibited in all the killings executed by the bounty hunters and also exhibited at the end of the movie when Django goes to free his wife from Candyland plantation. During the rescue operation, a series of gunfights erupt, killing a lot of innocent people at the plantation (Speck & Chante 128). Apart from that, Django mercilessly kills the Australians transporting him after he was sold as a slave to them. He also manages to kill more of Candie’s men when he went back to rescue his wife and burned his house. Violence is also shown in Django unchained through the Mandingo fights where people fight to the death. Candie uses these fights to gain money and is a depiction of oppression and is a show of the degree of slavery. Violence is also exhibited in death proof where Mike kills innocent women and manages to evade from the law. Mike manages to kill Pam while giving her a ride home by crushing her head on the dashboard. In addition to this, another violent scene is exhibited when Mike kills the four ladies he was partying with in a road accident. He purposely engages them in an accident which eventually kills them. Apart from that, violence is shown at the end of the movie when Zoe, Kim, and Abernathy engage Mike in gun shots to scare him from hurting them. During the scene, Mike was hurt and had to escape and treat himself by pouring whiskey on his wound (Name 87). Another theme that is well depicted in Django unchained and Death proof is revenge. The Django Unchained movie shows revenge at the time when Schultz freed the slaves by killing Ace. The slaves had to revenge by shooting Dicky and to ensure that they will not be followed when they escape. Revenge is also depicted through the series of bounty killings. The killings done by the bounty hunters were mainly a revenge mechanism for the employers. Revenge is also depicted when Django kills many of the Candie’s men during a Broomhilda’s rescue. During the rescue, Django manages to kill Brommhilda’s master, his bodyguards and many of his men in order to revenge for the hard work and punishment subjected to his wife. Django also revenges by burning Candie’s house at the end of the movie, which makes them free to ride together. On the other hand, death proof also has a number of scenarios in which revenge is depicted. Revenge is shown when Kim shoots at Mike as a retaliation for his mischievous actions that led to the fall of Zoe from their car. Apart from that, revenge is also depicted when the women follow up Mike and beat him mercilessly when they caught up with him. Another theme that is well demonstrated in the two movies is love. In the Django unchained movie, Django agrees to help the bounty hunter hunt his outlaws only after he agrees to help him find his wife who was held captive by Candie. With the help of Schultz, Django is able to track his wife and has to fight many people before managing to go with his wife. Django and Schultz had to lie to Candie that they wanted to buy one of his slaves in order to get Broomhilda. When Candie noticed their plan, they had to engage in a series of gun shots before Django could manage to go away with his wife. On the other hand, love is also depicted in death proof when Mike and Pam engage in romantic talks that help to convince Pam to ride in his car. In addition to this, the women in the movie had the habit of going out together in search for love and enjoyment. As such, they depicted love which is a core aspect is any social setup (Greene & Silem 56). In addition to this, the two movies depict a series of social terrorism in the society. In Django unchained, social terrorism is depicted in the manner in which slaves are forced to fight to their deaths and oppression of African American slaves. On the other hand, social terrorism is depicted when Mike tracks and kills innocent young women. This psychopathic behavior terrifies and harms society members. On the hand, the two movies also have some differences in their setup, themes, and storyline. The first difference between Django Unchained and death proof is the setting. Django unchained depicts an ancient setting in the 19th century at a time when slavery was at its peak. The mode of travel during those times was the use of horses or footing. The clothes worn during those times were also thicker and presented a cowboy’s look. Django and Schultz wore large and round caps and long black coats that depicted the cowboy’s life and nature. They clearly brought out the cowboys life and experience as experienced during the 19th Century. On the other hand, death proof’s setting is a modern one. It depicts the life and culture experienced in the mid 20th Century. It depicts the gang scenario which was popular among young ladies of those times when going to parties and clubs for enjoyment. The characters in the movie use cars to navigate from one place to another and show modernity in every mode of their social characterization (Johnson 46). Another difference between the two movies is that Django unchained depicts a tyrant government, whereas death proof depicts a just government. The government depicted in Django unchained authorizes killing of its outlaw citizens and allows the existence of slavery. As such, it shows that their government does not exercise justice, but uses execution as the only way of dealing with criminal members of the society. In addition to this, the government allowed for slavery of African American citizens in the country which is against human rights. Apart from that, the government allows the existence of oppressors such as Candie who earn through Mandingo fights and slavery. The Mandingo fights lead to death of innocent people and oppression of slaves. On the other hand, the government depicted in death proof is just and fair in its dealing. This is depicted when Mike is examined, analyzed, and questioned by the police in the hospital to determine the cause of the accident that led to the death of the three girls. Although Mike was found innocent because he was not drunk and the girls were drunk during the accident, he could have been implicated for murder. In addition to this, one of the police officers was very strict with Mike, which shows how strict the laws of the country are. Another difference in the two movies is the type of music used. In Django Unchained, Tarantino uses both original songs composed by the cast and already existing songs. He manages to regulate the length of the already existing songs so that they do not bring monotony and boredom. Use of the original songs gives the movie more originality and helps to capture the reader’s attention. On the other hand, death proof does not have any original songs and uses existing songs during the screenplay. This creates boredom as the viewers might have prior knowledge of the songs playing. In conclusion, it is evident that there are a number of similarities in the films produced by Quentin Tarantino. In regard to Django Unchained and death proof, Tarantino depicts themes of revenge, love, social terrorism, and violence. In addition to this, the two movies have a lot of humor that helps to bring a balance with the violence depicted. This helps to avoid monotony and capture the viewer’s attention at all times of the movie. On the other hand, Tarantino also manages to bring major differences in his movies. In regard to death proof and Django unchained, Tarantino gives different settings for his movies thus catching the viewers’ attention and giving different experiences to the readers. He also manages to give different themes and cinematography in his movies. He displays slavery as spread in the 19th Century in Django Unchained and also shows psychopathic behaviors in death proof. In general, Tarantino is a good screenwriter and newbies in screenwriting should consider borrowing some of his tactics and skills (Johnson 86). Works Cited Greene, Richard and K Silem Mohammad. Quentin Tarantino and Philosophy. New York: Open Court, 2007. Print. Johnson, Michael K. Hoo-doo cowboys and bronze buckaroos: conceptions of the African American West. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2014. Print. Nama, Adilifu. Race on the QT: blackness and the films of Quentin Tarantino. Austin: Univ. of Texas Press, 2015. Print. Speck, Oliver C, and Chante Anderson. Quentin Tarantinos Django Unchained: The Continuation of Metacinema. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2014. Print. Read More