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"DJango" is the ultimate spaghetti western. Its vivid photography and exciting plot tell a bold and violent story about the lone stranger who came to town. He was dragging a coffin behind him - and soon, there would be many bodies.

The opening sequence follows Django struggling up a muddy road. The western theme song describes the loner, tortured by the memory of a woman he'd lost. Immediately, Django discovers a woman being tied and tortured by a group of men. They're gunned down by a rival group of men. And then Django guns them all down. Together he and the woman ride into town.

The plot follows Django's fortunes at the hands of the warring factions. The woman escaped from "Major Jackson," whose soldiers are ultimately opposed by a greedy band of Mexican outlaws. The ruthless major and his men try to intimidate Django, only to discover that the loner is extremely fast with a gun. Django forms an alliance with the Mexican outlaws, though a question arises about whether there'll be a double-cross. And at one point Major Jackson returns with an army of several dozen soldiers. How can one man face down such uneven odds?

Franco Nero gives a good performance as Django. His light blue eyes give him an almost boyish innocence, complementing Django's almost magical ability to pass through the corrupted town unharmed. Sergio Leone was invited to the set during the movie's filming in 1966, and agreed that Nero was a good choice. Nero was only 23 years old, and world-weary wrinkles had to be added around his eyes. But ultimately this made it easier for him to suggest the goodness behind Django's character, which comes out in the 1987 sequel ("Django 2") - in which the older gunfight has become a monk!

But the real "star" of the film is its director, Sergio Corbucci. A true believer in the "neo-realist" style, Corbucci creates a sweeping spectacle by artfully moving his camera. He lets the landscape and characters slip into the frame, finding evocative ways to heighten the mood of his dramatic locales - like a graveyard or a treacherously muddy road. Despite it's ultra-violent plot - one critic counted up 138 deaths - Corbucci finds a way to make it meaningful. The outnumbered loner pits good against bad, and "Django" is now considered a cult classic.

Learn more about this author, Moe Zilla.
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