- Title: ITALY: Quentin Tarantino and cast in Rome for "Django" European premiere
- Date: 5th January 2013
- Summary: ROME, ITALY (JANUARY 4, 2013) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) EXTERIOR OF CINEMA ADRIANO, VENUE FOR "DJANGO UNCHAINED" PREMIERE DIRECTOR QUENTIN TARANTINO GREETING FANS AS HE ARRIVES, SAYING "CIAO" FANS ACTOR JAMIE FOXX SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS VARIOUS OF TARANTINO GREETING FANS AND SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS FANS CHANTING TARANTINO'S NAME TARANTINO ON RED CARPET PH
- Embargoed: 20th January 2013 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Italy
- Country: Italy
- Reuters ID: LVAF181N5XLIQLHXTBW9YXA1GX34
- Story Text: Quentin Tarantino and his leading actors on Friday (January 4) brought "Django Unchained" to the birthplace of spaghetti Westerns for the film's first European outing.
Tarantino, 49, has become synonymous with violence and dark humour, taking on the Nazis in "Inglourious Basterds" and mobsters in "Pulp Fiction."
In "Django Unchained," which was released in U.S. theatres on Christmas Day, he fuses a spaghetti Western cowboy action adventure with a racially charged revenge tale set in the 19th century, before the abolition of slavery in the United States.
The film has received good reviews from critics and is expected to add Oscar nominations next week to its five Golden Globe nods.
It also opened strongly, taking second place at the North American box office over the weekend with an impressive $30.7 million.
Still, Tarantino said the film's reception in Italy and Europe would serve as an important indicator of the movie's worth.
"If it doesn't do well here then we probably suck because it seems like this is the place they would appreciate it. So, fingers crossed. Cross your fingers! " he said.
Tarantino's leading man Jamie Foxx said he had been touched by the positive reaction to the movie in the United States.
"We are just so happy that the film, especially in America, is doing so well. With all the anticipation, with all the 'what is it going to be' and it landed and to see people on Christmas, with their babies, watching this film, black folk with their babies because they see it as an educational film and then to see white folks, black folks, everybody watching the love story of Django, a person who is willing to go through to everything to get to his woman, women are like 'oh my God, I wish I had a Django to fight for me' and now, like I said, it's just an amazing moment," he said.
Foxx stars as a slave whose freedom is bought by a former dentist, played by Christoph Waltz. The two set off as bounty hunters, rounding up robbers and cattle rustlers before turning their attention to brutal plantation owners in America's Deep South.
Tarantino is well-versed in delivering violence. But the director said he faced "a lot of trepidation" about filming the slavery scenes. He has already come under fire from some critics for the frequent use in the film of the "N-word" - a racial slur directed at blacks.
The director said he was initially hesitant to ask black actors to play slaves who are shackled and whipped, and even considered filming outside of the United States.
But a dinner with veteran Oscar-winning actor Sidney Poitier, whom Tarantino called a "father figure," changed his mind after Poitier urged him to not "be afraid" of his film.
"Well it was, making any kind of epic, especially something like this is just very difficult and especially the hardest thing is to keep remembering why it is you wanted to make the movie in the first place because it is very easy to get lost with all these people, almost shooting for a year, it is easy to forget how you came in, it can be like a forest but I think so far so good," Tarantino said.
Much of the film's more graphic slavery scenes, such as gladiator-style fights to the death and being encased naked in a metal hot box in the heat of the Southern sun, are drawn from real accounts.
Foxx, who described himself as "an alpha male", said transporting himself back to the time where men like him had to be submissive had been tough.
A scene where his wife was being given a lashing had been particularly difficult, Foxx said, adding that while shooting the scene, Tarantino had chosen to play Fred Hammond's "No Weapon" on the set.
"And while they played it throughout the plantation I watched Quentin as he was shooting, there was water on his eyepiece because he started to cry and we knew at that moment, like, this is what it's really about and that is why this movie is truly blessed," Foxx said.
With the exception of Waltz, who plays eccentric German bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz, the majority of the main cast are not only American but from the South.
Tarantino reunited with Waltz, who won an Oscar in 2010 for his role as a menacing Nazi officer in "Inglourious Basterds," and long-time collaborator Samuel L. Jackson, who plays slave housekeeper Stephen, a character who Tarantino described as "the most despicable black (character)" in movie history.
For Jackson, approaching such a character was simple.
"Honesty. Just figure out who he is, what his motivation are, what his relationships are with the people in the script and try and go and be as honest as you can about it. And have fun," he said.
The film's female lead, Django's wife Broomhilda played by Kerry Washington, moves away from Tarantino's fierce screen women such as Uma Thurman in "Kill Bill" and Diane Kruger in "Inglourious Basterds."
Washington praised Tarantino's bravery when asked about the controversy over the language and violence the film has created.
"It is important that everybody is willing to talk about it, you know, because I think I was drawn to the idea of doing a film about slavery that doesn't romanticize slavery. It's honest in its brutality and things were actually much worse in reality that they are in the film. So, it's an exciting to do a film about this theme with a director who is not intimidated by violence," she said.
Ahead of the film's Italian gala screening, Tarantino was honoured with the 7th Rome Film Festival's Lifetime Achievement Award.
Composer Ennio Morricone was on hand to present the director with the prize.
"Django Unchained" will be released across Europe between January 16 and 25. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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