The Playlist had a very interesting interview with 'model-turned-actress-turned-filmmaker' Rie Rasmussen, who has closely followed the development of Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained since its inception a year and a half ago. Rasmussen first connected with Tarantino while her short film Thinning the Herd traveled the festival circuit. Ever since, the two have become business comrades; Tarantino has purchased the rights of her feature debut Human Zoo for a domestic run.
“I’ve been around him since day one when the script was being written and I’ve followed it through its development this last year and a half… I knew the man was a genius, but…Jamie Foxx is going to motherfucking knock this one out of the park. He’s gonna be a young Jim Brown. This movie is going to be a revolution. Honestly, when I look at it and what Quentin loves, he [Jack Hill, writer/director of Foxy Brown and Coffy] gave blaxploitation films a voice, he gave Pam Grier that voice. She was it and he’s just this white guy. He was giving the black revenge story a bloody voice and this is what Quentin is doing today with 'Django Unchained.'" Rasmussen tells The Playlist.
During the interview, Rasmussen disclosed that Tarantino worked on several re-writes of the script, which he has been "bouncing off the actress/director…," says The Playlist.
She states, "Just last night, he read me something. He’s like, ‘Oh, I just wrote this new dialogue, will you check this out?’. I can’t believe that Leonardo DiCaprio is going to say these words. I can’t believe it. People are going to stand up in their seats when this Tarantino rant is going on screen. I don’t know what. I’m so excited about it I’m about to lose my cool.”
Rassmussen admits she would like a role in the film, but says her Scandinavian looks do not fit the physical profile of any of the film's characters, adding, “Well, I am white in case you didn’t notice. I am blue-eyed and Scandinavian, so there isn’t a part that even slightly, remotely resembles my physique. But there is a part being written that I would say is very much based on me, but she’s a sister. So, I don’t think anybody would appreciate me trying to do a black face like Robert Downey Jr.”
Lastly, Rasmussen hopes Django will have the same effect on audiences that Jackie Brown had on her. She says, “I’m thinking this is going to revolutionize. If this doesn’t change the face of movies, then Hollywood is really, truly motherfucking racist. Because they didn’t pick up on it with 'Jackie Brown,' which is one my favorite movies of all time. I think it’s the most, like, adult movie we’re going to see out of Quentin Tarantino. It didn’t do it with 'Jackie Brown' because people just weren’t smart enough. That’s my deduction of it. But this is gonna change it, I just know it.”
OK, I really, really hate to be the devil's advocate, but is anyone else a tad disturbed by her remarks? Yes, we do not know what kind of changes to the script there's been, and hopefully, the final film will put some of us, who are outraged perplexed by the original script's (which I read and Tambay reviewed months back) sexually exploitative nature, at ease. Based on that original script alone, I need help understanding how the embracing of this film by audiences and critics will prove that Hollywood is truly not that racist. I'm also not sure how I feel about one of the black female characters being inspired by Rasmussen. I know inspiration can take different forms; we're all human, but there's just something not sitting well with me overall.
Thoughts?
