OPEN
F O R Y O U R C O N S I D E R A T IO N 2 0 1 2
UNCHAINED
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Quentin Tarantino
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~ EXT - COUNTRYSIDE -BROILING HOT DAY
As the film's OPENINGCREDIT SEQUENCE plays, completewith its own SPAGHETTI WESTERN THEME SONG,we see SEVEN shirtlessand shoeless BLACK MALE SLAVES connectedtogether with LEG IRONS,being run, by TWO WHITE MALE HILLBILLIESon HORSEBACK.
The location is somewherein Texas. The BlackMen (ROY,BIG SID, BENJAMIN, DJANGO,PUDGY RALPH, FRANKLYN, and BLUEBERRY)are slaves just recently purchasedat The Greenville Slave Auctionin Greenville Mississippi. TheWhite Hillbillies are two SlaveTraders called, The SPECK BROTHERS (ACEand DICKY).
One of the sevenslaves is our hero DJANGO....he'sfourth in the leg iron line. We mayor may not notice a tiny small "r"burned into his cheek ("r" forrunaway), but we can't helpbut notice his back which has been SLASHED TO RIBBONSby Bull Whip Beatings.
As the OperaticOpening Theme Song plays,we see a MONTAGE of misery and pain, asDjango and the Other Men arewalked through blistering sun, poundingrain, and moved along by theend of a whip. Bare feet step on hardrock, and slosh through mud puddles.Leg Irons take the skin off ankles.
AS The CREDITSplay, DJANGO has a SPAGHETTIWESTERN FLASHBACK. Now SpaghettiWestern Flashbacks are neverpretty, it's usually the time in thefilm when the lead characterthinks back to the most painfulmemory inflicted on him or his lovedones from evil characters from hispast. In this instance we seeDjango in a SLAVE PEN at the GreenvilleAuction.
As thesun continues to beat downon Django's head, he remembers;
DJANGO inthe SLAVE PEN withwhat seems like a one hundredand fifty Slaves in a celldesigned forforty.
WHITE MEN yank him out of thecell, shirtless, shoeless, and leadhim downa hallway, into a giantround pen, an audience viewing area circlesthe round pen flooron three different stories of the structure.
The ground floor is coveredby the BIG MONEY.BUYERS who standin front of the auction block.
:2.
A SLAVE (ROBBIE}, stand.onthe auction block inview of the room full of Buyers, The SELLER sells,and the OWNERS standoff to the side.
It's DJANGO's turnQN THE AUCTION BLOCK as the THEME SONG wailsits tragic crescendo,Django is brought up on the auction block.He looks down at all theWHITE PEOPLE who want to buy Niggers, who lookup to him.
His heart fills withpoison.
/'-'.EXT - WOODS -NIGHT
It's night timeand The Speck Brothers,astride HORSES, keep pushing their black skinnedcargo forward.
It's a verypitch black night, with onlya few stars in the.sky to create a littletop light. It's so dark,the Slave.rsuse the creek.bed to keep fromgetting lost. Both SpeckBrothers carry a lantern upon their horse,as.does Roy, the Slave inlead position on the chaingang.
It's alsoa bitterly cold night,with the breath of the seven slaves, two slavers,and two horses creatingclouds in the air. In fact the seven chainedtogether Slaves,with the lead one holding a lantern,and all of themchugging out smoky breath,and slightly moving in unison, resemblea human locomotive.
The Slavesshiver from the coldon their shirtless backs, bothSpeck Brotherswear rawhide winter coatswith white fur linings, andwhite fur collars.
WHEN...
...A SOUND anda SMALL LIGHT appearsahead of them on the road.This makesthe Slave Traders stop theirhuman live stock, and readytheir riflesfor possible trouble.
TheRIDER appearsto be a tenderfoot,due to hi- style of dress.A long grey wintercoat, over a grey threepiece business suit, and agrey bowler haton his head.
TheRIDER Calm yourselvesgentlemen, I meanyou no harm. I'm simplya fellow weary traveler.
TheRider dressed in businessgrey pulls his horseto a stop in front ofthe two Slavers, and theirSlaves, lifting thelantern up to his face.He speaks with a slightGerman accent.
The RIDER (tothe Slavers) Good coldevening gentlemen. (tothe shivering Slaves) Good evening..I'mlooking for apair of slave tradersthat go by t.henameof The SpeckBrothers. Might thatbe you?
The RIDER I.do. I'mDr. King Schultz, andthis ismy horse, Fritz.
Fritz, does a littlebow with his head, a neattrick the doctor taught him.
Affirmative.
Dentist. Are you The SpeckBrothers, and did you purchase those men at TheGreenville Slave Auction?
So, I wish toparley with you.
Oh, I'm sorry.Please forgive me,it is a second language.Amongst your inventory, I've been ledto believe, is a specimen I'm keento acquire. (tothe Slaves) Hello youpoor devils. Is thereone among you, whowas formerly a residentof The CarrucanPlantation?
Since Roy in lead positionis the one holding thelantern, the second half of the slave centipedefalls off into darkness.In the darkness a VOICE rings out;
Dr.Schultz moves Fritzforward towards the darkness,raises his lantern, illuminatingour hero Django.
Splendid!And what's your nameyoung man?
Wunderbar!You're exactly theone I'm looking for.So tell me Django - bythe way that's a amazingname - during yourtime at the CarrucanPlantation, did youcome to know threeoverseers by the nameof The Brittle Brothers?
Django nods his head,yes.
Dr.Schultz isdelighted.
Big John, Ellis, and littlebrother Raj?
So Django, do you thinkyou could recognize -
,,--..TheSpeckBrothers have been watching thistenderfoot engagetheir Slave in politeconversation...with a touchof disbelief.
Like what?
My good man, I'm simplytrying to ascertain-
Everybody calmdown! I'm simply a customer trying to conducta transaction.
Don't be ridiculous,of course they'refor sale.
Ace raises his rifle towardsthe German.
Ace cocks back the riflehammer.
My goodman, did you simply getcarried away with yourdramatic gesture, orare you pointingthat weapon at me withlethal intention•.•?
- Verywell -
The doctor, throwshis lantern to the ground,enveloping him in darkness.
The next FLASH OFLIGHT we see is the gooddoctors PISTOL out of his holster, and FIRINGpoint blank into Ace Specksface....
...BLOWING thedumber dumb brother off hishorse, dead in the dirt.
~ Before Dickycan maneuver either hisrifle or his horse inthe Germans direction..••.
BAM •••
Dr.SCHULTZSHOOTS his HORSE in thehead .••
...The Steedgoes down taking Dickywith him ..•
Whenthe dead weight horse landson Dicky's slightly twistedleg, we hearTWO DISTINCT CRACKING SOUNDS.,..
Dickylets out a bitch like scream.
TheSlaves watch all this. They'venever seen a whiteman kill another whiteman before.
Dickyis pinned down under hisole paint.
Djangowatches in the dark, theGerman climb down offhis horse, pickup Ace's discarded lantern,and walk over to theremaining Speck.
Sorry aboutputting a bullet in yourbeast. But I didn'twant you to do anythingrash before youhad a moment to come toyour senses.
~ Dr.Schultz LIGHTS the lantern,illuminating himself,as he stands over Dicky's body.
I only shotyour brother, oncehe threatened to shootme. And I do believe Ihave••... (countingout the Slaves) ....one,two, three, four, five,six, sevenwitnesses who can attestto that fact.
Nodoubt. Now, if you can keepyour caterwaulingdown to a minimum,I'd like tofinish my line of inquirywith young Django. (to Django) As I was saying, if you wereto see the Brittle Brothers again,would you recognize them?
Now I'm sureto you, all unshavenwhite men look alike.So Django, in a crowdof unshavenwhite men, can you honestly and positivelypoint out The BrittleBrothers?
As Django and Broomhildaare forced to copulate,they run their wet white hands down herchocolate leg...they fondlehis ass...they squeeze her tit...they bringa belt across Django's backsideto make him fuck faster•.•then they yankhim off, as BIG JOHN climbson top of Broomhilda..the otherBrittle brothers whip Djangowith their belts, and make him sit inthe corner, while they finishwith his wife.
BACK TO DJANGO
SoldAmerican! So Mr.Speck,how much for Django?
Yes, unless you find a talentedphysician very quickly, I'm afraidthat will be the end result. But back tobusiness, how much do you want for Django?
Don't be silly. How muchfor Django?
Oh.come now, I may nothave the experience in the slave trade thatyou and your family does, but neither was I bornyesterday.
The good doctor removesa pamphlet from his grey suitcoat pocket.
Dr.SCHUL'.I'Z In thismost helpful pamphlet that Ipicked up at TheGreenville Slave Auction, itsays that thegoing rate for African flesh - in particularlya field nigger - issixty toeighty dollars. Now handsome nodoubt as Django is,technically, he is a field.nigger. Whichaccording to this pamphlethere - and whywould they lie - puts his priceat eightydollars. So in light of that,how bouta hundred and twenty five dollarsfor youngDjango here.
Dr.Schultz removeshis long billfold from his pocket,and takes out a one hundred dollarbill, two tens and a fiver.
And since your late brother won'tbe using itanymore, I'd like to purchasehis nag.
He removes a twentydollar·gold piece from hispocket, and tosses it on Dicky's body.He bends down and puts the papermon·ey·inthe saddle ba·gs on Dicky's deadhorse. With.his hands in there,he roots around and finds the keysto the leg irons. He unlocks Django'sleg irons.
~ Django is free.
There you go Django..Give yourankles a good rubbing, then get up on thathorse. Also, if I was you, I'd takethat winter coat the dear departed Speckleft behind.
Django removesthe coat from the dead slaver.Puts on the warm jacket over hisbare back, and climbs up on Ace Speckshorse.
Dr.Schultzturns to Dicky on the ground.
Mr.Speck, I am afraid I willrequire a bill of sale. Do you haveone?
Dicky justcurses him.
He says,removing.a notebook from his pocket;
I thought not. No worries,I come prepared. (as he writes) This will serve nicelyas a bill of sale. (he stops, then says to Django) Django is spelled witha silent "D", is it not?
Why not.
He writes it in his book witha silent "D", then stops to admirethe way it looks.
Yes, thatdoes add a little character.
The German dentist lowershimself by the Speck brotherpinned down under his horse, and handshim the notebook and pen.
If you'dbe so kind Speck, as to makeyour mark here.
The Hillbilly spits inthe German gentleman's face.The good doctor wipes his face witha handkerchief. Then takes outa pocket knife. And whispers somethingthat can't be heard in the slaversear. He signs the bill of sale.
Mr.Speck,I would like to say itwas a pleasuredoing business with you,but your customerservice leaves a lot tobe desired.
The good doctor climbsback up on Fritz, and looksto .thesix Slaves in leg irons.
Now as to you poor devils.
He tosses toPudgy Ralph the keys to the shackles.
So as I see it, when it comesto the subject of what to do next, you gentlemenhave two choices. One, once I'm gone,you lift that beast off the remaining Speck,then carry him to the nearest town. Whichwould be at least thirty-seven miles back theway you came. Or ........... ....Two,you unshackle yourselves,take that rifle over there...put abullet in his head, bury the two of them deep,and make your way to a more enlightened areaof the country. The choice is yours.
He's justabout ready to ride off, whenthe good doctor adds;
JO
Oh, andon the off chance that there's any astronomyaficionados amongstyou, the NorthStar is THAT ONE. Tata.
He looks to Django,who doesn't know how to starthis horse.
Just givehim a little kick.
Django does, and thehorse responds by moving.
See,it's not so difficult.