‘Django & Django’: This Supposed Sergio Corbucci Doc Mostly Caters To The Musings Of Quentin Tarantino [Venice Review]

Quentin Tarantino never met a camera or microphone he didn’t love, and in Luca Rea’s documentary “Django & Django,” they love him right back. The title is a bit of a misnomer – it’s not really about Sergio Corbucci’s 1966 spaghetti western “Django” nor Tarantino’s 2012 “Django Unchained” that paid reverent homage. A more apt title might be “Sergio & Quentin,” given the focus on personalities over product. Or, really, “Quentin on Sergio” does the doc’s content more justice given the complete imbalance of airtime.

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Rea makes a bizarre choice to focus as much on Quentin Tarantino’s conception of Corbucci as the man himself. “Django & Django” troublingly blurs the line between history and fan fiction by opening with an uninterrupted monologue by Tarantino. The “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” filmmaker describes an extended scene set in the altered universe of his film where the character Rick Dalton embarrasses himself in front of Corbucci. The animated storyboards are a fun entry point into the film. Still, it’s insulting to the legendary Italian filmmaker that Rea feels audiences need an introduction of an imaginary Corbucci as filtered through the imagination of a contemporary American filmmaker to care.

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“Django & Django” is infatuated with Tarantino, first indulging his extended flight of fancy and then continuing to hang on his every word. (Rea also indulges him with an extended tangential digression to give his contrarian hot take on lesser-regarded Corbucci flick “Sonny and Jed.”) For the prologue and opening chapters, he is quite literally the only talking head in the documentary. It takes until chapter 3 for Rea to introduce Corbucci’s second unit director Ruggero Deodato along with Franco Nero, the actor who played the seminal film’s titular role. These interviewees add plenty of behind-the-scenes color to enrich the documentary’s conception of Corbucci as both man and artist.

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For all the talking Rea lets Tarantino do, the prince of pastiche actually brings a lot to the table with his encyclopedic knowledge of film. Sure, quibble with his pedantic delivery, but Tarantino’s understanding of film history and theory is undeniably impressive. He toggles freely between playing fan and scholar as he explains the development of Corbucci within the Italian national cinema and the Western genre at large. It’s impressive just how comfortable he is both breaking down the meaning of a filmmaking choice by Corbucci as he is with placing it within a larger intellectual framework. He can make the connections between form and function that most documentaries about film require academics to illuminate.

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“Django & Django” excels most when Rea focuses on breaking down the historical, aesthetic, and personal contexts that explain the emergence and relevance of the spaghetti western style in Italy. For those who don’t know, the documentary extends a welcome hand using “Django” as a convenient entry point into the genre at large. It’s not always the most user-friendly to complete beginners; for example, Rea assumes that his audience instinctively knows the roles and responsibilities of below-the-line jobs like a second unit director. Nonetheless, he provides enough of a framework for novices to appreciate the artistry with enough images and stories from Corbucci’s productions to satisfy die-hard fans.

At one point in “Django & Django,” Tarantino makes an off-handed reference to the fact that he considered writing a book on Corbucci but abandoned the project. Rea’s documentary allows him to share that research and knowledge with the world without enduring the arduous writing and editing process. As a vessel for Tarantino’s at times rambling observations and hypotheses, the film succeeds. But some editorial oversight would have gone a long way, especially if the real subject was actually Corbucci.

The shamelessness of catering to Tarantino’s fantasies hobbles the film to an extent, giving it the feel of a “Django Unchained” Blu-Ray extra – or maybe even another stop on the director’s seemingly never-ending “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” press tour. One’s enjoyment of “Django & Django” likely correlates directly with tolerance for prolonged periods of exposure to Quentin Tarantino’s cinephilic musings. [C+]

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