Django (2017)

Directed by: Etienne Comar | 117 minutes | drama, biography | Actors: Reda Kateb, Cécile de France, Bea Palya, Bimbam Merstein, Gabriel Mirété, Johnny Montreuil, Vincent Frade, Raphaël Dever, Patrick Mille, Xavier Beauvois, Esther Comar, Jan Henrik Stahlberg, Hugues Jourdain, Hono Winterstein, Etienne Timbo Mehrstein, Levis Reinhardt, Nestle Sztyglic

The persecution of Gypsies in World War II is less well known than the Holocaust, but the Germans also carried out a systematic murder regime among them. In the opening scene of ‘Django’ (2017) we see how horrific this must have been, when a group of gypsies, including a child and a blind musician, Raymond Weiss, are unceremoniously shot. The ensuing scene couldn’t be more opposite, as the audience in the Paris Theater Pigalle eagerly awaits the performance of jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. Django doesn’t intend to entertain his spectators just yet, preferring to fish in the Seine, but duty calls and eventually he takes the stage, leaving his fans in ecstasy. “He plays well,” someone behind the scenes says to Mama Reinhardt. “He can do even better, but that costs more,” she says stubbornly.

‘Django’ is the feature film debut of Etienne Comar, who has more than earned his spurs as a producer (‘Des hommes et des dieux’, 2011, ‘Timbuktu’, 2015). The film is loosely based on a book by Alexis Salatko (‘Folles de Django’, 2013), but unlike the book, the film only covers a short period in the life of the guitar virtuoso. The film starts in June 1943. As the second scene shows, Django is already very popular in Paris, especially after the American jazz musicians left Paris. It earned him the nickname ‘The King of Swing’. Also in the audience are German army officers. Because Django is good friends with the German officer Doktor Jazz (Jan Henrik Stahlberg), he receives an invitation (or is it an order?) to come and play in Germany. Goebbels and maybe even Hitler would be in the audience.

In the middle of the Second World War, Django (Reda Kateb) is not really concerned with the war at all. Shortly after the performance, when he sees cartoons in which Hitler and the German army are ridiculed, he wonders who the man with the weird mustache is. The war is something for ‘gadje’ (non-Gypsies), but his mistress Louise de Klerk (Cécile de France) tells him that he should not act for the Germans, but that fleeing is the only sensible option. for him and his family. Finally, Louise persuades Naguine, Django’s wife (Bea Palya), to flee to Switzerland.

This film is not recommended for those hoping to learn more about the life of Django Reinhardt. Django remains a mystery, because you don’t get any information from him. It is not clear whether the person Django was really like that or whether this was dictated by the scenario. When Django is arrested by the police and has to undergo inhumane tests (including his head measured and his mutilations on his hand are wrongly attributed to inbreeding, while they are burns), you learn a little more about his history, but the film offers really nothing you can’t find in the media. In addition, the story is highly dramatized – for example, Louise’s character is fictional. The film looks nice and the acting isn’t up to par, but there’s no tension, no real conflict and the viewer gets – apart from a few beautiful pieces of music (the music is by The Rosenberg Trio) nothing to stay invested in the film .