10 Django Unchained Lessons Tarantino Must Learn For New Western

3. Give Us Some Ol' Tarantino Narrative Structure

Chapter Three Kill Bill It's true that Django's story was probably best told in a linear fashion, given the relatively simple nature of the plot, but the narrative structure inherent to Django Unchained is Tarantino's least - for lack of a better word - "clever" by far, and it'd interesting for the director to approach his next western, whatever it ends up being, in a completely different way. That's to say, Tarantino's narrative innovation is what best defines him as a director, and though it's only right to shake up a narrative if the story calls for it, a proper western in "true" QT style could be awesome. I wouldn't propose that the story was directed in a fashion as to make it incomprehensible, of course, but one of QT's most appealing qualities is in the way he uses narrative to set his movies apart from other movies in the same genre - his use of title cards, for example, often provide a very QT-esque touch, and putting the pieces together and trying to work out how it all fits together is part of the fun. Still, whatever Tarantino decides to do with his next movie, it's sure to defy the regular westerns conventions and cliches (as Django Unchained surely did) no matter what.
Contributor

Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.