Django Unchained is an American western film, written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, and stars Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson. The film is set in the Antebellum Era (1781–1860) in the Deep South and Old West of the United States of America. It tells the story of a freed slave, Django Freeman, played by Jamie Foxx, who travels across the country with a bounty hunter, Dr. King Schultz, played by Christoph Waltz. The bounty hunter and freed slave have the same man to find, but for a very different reason. Django Freeman wants to rescue his wife, Broomhilda Von Shaft, played by Kerry Washington from a cruel plantation owner, “Monsieur” Calvin J. Candie, played by Leonardo DiCaprio.
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The film was critically successful and was received well at the box office across the world with a worldwide gross of $422 million. It is the highest-grossing film of Quentin Tarantino. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Christoph Waltz won his second Best-Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal. Quentin Tarantino won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
The film became controversial due to its excessive use of the word abusive word “niggar” and due to depiction of excessive violence, for which it had to fight with the censor board. There are some very interesting facts related to the film, most of which are in fact, historical inaccuracies made in the film at the expense of creative license. Here are top ten facts about Django Unchained:
10. Use of Dynamite Before Its Invention
The film is based in the year 1858 and covers the whole winter season into the spring, making it 1859. In the movie, Django is shown blowing up Candyland with the help of some dynamite. This is a factual and historical error as dynamite was not invented until 1864 by Alfred Nobel and it was patented in 1867, which means that it came into mass-scale production after 1867. Hence, it was not possible for Django to use them almost a decade before in 1859.
9. Mentioning Genes Before Its Coinage
During one of the scenes of Calvin Candie, the character played by Leonardo DiCaprio, he mentions the word “genes”. Given the fact that the word was first coined in 1905 by a Danish scientist Wilhelm Ludvig Johannsen and despite McGregor Johann Mendel’s work on the subject being published in 1866, it did not become popular within the scientific community until decades after. Hence, it was not possible for Calvin Candie to prudently talk about “genes” given its time period of 1859.
8. Fur Elise Harped in 1859
Fur Elise is Beethoven’s famous bagatelle. A harpist is shown in the movie playing the tune of Fur Elise, which was written on April 27, 1810 as evident through original manuscripts autographed by Beethoven himself and later confirmed by the music scholar, Ludwig Nohl. However, this piece of music was not published until 1865, again a time period later than 1858-1859 shown in the movie.
7. Using ‘Teddy’ Before Teddy Roosevelt and Teddy Bears
Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Calvin Candie compares a slave to a teddy bear. Teddy bears came to be known as such after the 26th President of the United States (1901–1909), Theodore Roosevelt Jr., who had a nickname ‘Teddy’. Although, he didn’t like being referred by that nickname, but a political cartoon made it famous after an American Black Bear incident of hunting in which Theodore Roosevelt was involved. Since then, it got stuck with him through history. Popular children’s toys of bears came to be invented around that time and became known as teddy bears. Calvin Candie used the word ‘Teddy’ way too early.
6. Use of ‘Malarkey’ Before Coinage
Another out of time talk is by Christoph Waltz’s character Dr. Schultz who uses the word “Malarkey”, which means “nonsense” and it is used in an informal conversation. Though, Dr. Schultz is seen using sophisticated language throughout the film, it is a diversion from the character’s traits and also from historical fact that the word did not come into usage until 1929. So, Dr. Schultz could not have been informal with a word that was not even coined in 1859.
5. Use of $1,000 Bills Before Their Circulation
Dr. Schultz is also seen paying with 12 bills worth $1,000. However, these bills were not introduced until 1918. The bill features an image of Grover Cleveland, who was the 22nd and the 24th President of the United States from (1885–1889 and 1893–1897). So, Dr. Schultz was using currency bills which were not introduced until decades later.
4. Use of Confederate Uniform Before the American Civil War
When Django frees himself from the slavers, one of the three men shown is wearing a yellow confederate cavalry kepi. The confederate uniforms were not created before the American Civil War that started in 1861. This is another major historical error depicted in the film, though it could have been easily avoided.
3. Nefertiti Bust Before Its Recovery
In one of the scenes, Dr. Schultz, Django and Monsieur Candie meet for the very first time and they are at the “Cleopatra Club”. There is an Egyptian sculpture replica used as a trademark. However, it resembles the Nefertiti bust, which was first found and recovered in December 1912 by a German archeologist.
2. Use of Weapons Before Their Introduction
Throughout the film, different characters, including Dr. Schultz and Django are seen using rifles and weapons, which were not invented at the time of 1859. For example, some characters are shown using Henry or Winchester lever action rifles, which were first introduced in 1860 and 1866 respectively. Dr. Schultz and Django are seen using a Remington Double Derringer, which was also first introduced in 1866.
1. Phrenological Explanation
The character of Calvin Candie is seen explaining that through the study of Phrenology, he can find those three dimples on Ben’s skull, which represent submissiveness. Phrenology is actually a pseudoscience, which measures human skull and operates on the assumption that brain is the organ of the mind and certain areas in the brain have localized functions. The discipline has helped in the progress of neuropsychology.