20 Things You Didn't Know About Django Unchained

Tarantino isn't known for pulling punches when it comes to the portrayal of violence in his movies. Critics of his work often have a problem with the ultra-violent scenes that are commonplace. Tarantino didn't want to do that with Django for fear of 'traumatizing' his audience with particular reference to the Mandingo fighting scene and the scene in which dogs tear a runaway slave D'Artagnan apart. These scenes were initially set to be longer and more graphic because, speaking to Indiewire, Tarantino said he wanted to 'show more, to show how bad it was'.

In the end, he cut the scenes short so that audiences were spared the full extent of the horror. Interestingly, despite its multiple references in cinema, historians dispute the existence of Mandingo fights. While slaves were made to perform by their owners, it would usually be a dancing or singing performance instead of a fighting one. Fights did take place between slaves but there isn't disputed evidence to suggest that they were made to fight to the death.