Django Unchained - The Brittle Brothers Scene Analysis

Django

Full of controversy, Django Unchained (directed by Quentin Tarantino) is a film about slavery, revenge and life in 1800s America. The scene with Django and the Brittle Brothers can therefore be seen as a microcosm of the entire film as it contains and touches upon all of these aspects.
The scene begins with a tracking shot of Django walking with intent towards the Brittle Brothers, accompanied with a terrific score of La Corsa, by Luis Bacalov, which increases the tension felt by the audience with the lead up to what is expected as a turning moment for Django in the narrative as he deals with former plantation workers who wronged him and his wife in the past. Cut in shots, concurrently with the tracking shot, of Django's feet stomping across a field of cotton work to show the audience how Django has changed since becoming a free man and asserts his dominance with everyone watching.

Following this, the director takes Django away from the audience and shows them the Brittle Brothers as they are preparing to punish a female slave. In the shot, the slave is confined to a very small part of the frame whilst tied to a tree yet John Brittle is shown with plenty of space behind him as he approaches the slave and combining this with having the camera angled upwards towards him makes him seem overbearing and confirms that he is currently in control. However, after Django enters the scene again with dominance and calls out 'John Brittle', the camera no longer angles up at the slaver but instead is eye level, by doing this the director has shown a shift in control with the former slave becoming the more powerful character.

At this time, the music reaches a crescendo and goes from very tense piece of string work to a stronger, more inspiring brass piece. As the music changes the director initiates a tracking shot which swoops down low to angle up towards Django with a powerful stance in his blue suit. The clothes worn by Django are very similar to a painting called 'The Blue Boy' by Thomas Gainsborough, this painting inspired German filmmaker F.W Murnau to make a film called 'Der Knabe in Blau' - 'The Boy in Blue'. This filmmaker, was a pioneer of camera work and invented a way for filmmakers to move the camera while filming, which in turn led to panning, tilting and tracking. The professional filmmaking community refer to this as 'Unchained Camera Technique'. By including such small details like this, Tarantino is paying homage to his predecessors and also showing his extensive knowledge of the filmmaking industry.

After the camera tracks to a close up shot of Django, several cut ins are used to show the surroundings and the people around them. These shots further prove Django has taken control as everyone is looking at him and even the slave tied to the tree and facing the wrong direction is watching him through a cleverly placed mirror which is reflecting Django's stance. Even subtle details such as the fact that placed behind Django is a group of slaves that are unbound and congregating together freely yet behind John Brittle is a slave tied to a tree, would get into the audiences head and help to confirm that Django is the character who they should be rooting for. Partnered by a chilling piece of dialogue, Django shoots John Brittle and also kills the other Brittle Brother close by. During this, the camera uses slow motion which would make the seen feel unnatural and makes sense when the audience is viewing a former slave beating and killing white plantation workers in the Deep South of 1800s America.

The scene ends with Shultz riding over and shooting the final Brittle Brother from long range as he attempts to escape. For this, the director uses a two shot of Django and Shultz and includes dialogue which shows Django's character arc as he is slowly becoming more educated but is still learning how to communicate as a free man; 'I don't know what positive means'. As Shultz takes down Ellis Brittle, Tarantino uses a low shot of the cotton fields on the ground, such as the ones shown earlier which Django stomped across, as the blood of the falling Brittle Brother sprays across the plantations produce infamous for being worked on by slaves for many years. This is a good way to close the scene as it works well with the demise of the three Brittle Brothers and shows the audience that the major shift in power is now complete as Django has been able to kill slavers working on a plantation.