Inglourious Basterds is a film by Quentin Tarantino released on the 19th August 2009 in the UK. Throughout Tarantino’s films he has created many trademarks that can be noticed in each of them. In many ways the film, Inglourious Basterds can be considered as postmodern due to conventions being challenged and employed in various ways. Throughout the film there are obvious attempts to portray the fact that the film is not real. The beginning of Inglourious Basterds starts with ‘Once upon a time’ which is transformation when considering Levi-Strauss, and this has an obvious link with fairytales. This classic opening of fairytales is recognizable world wide; therefore Tarantino may be reminding the audience that the film is not reality and throughout the film he continues to suggest that to the audience by challenging genres. The film also uses unconventional storytelling devices such as subtitles to introduce the chapters. This is an informal approach and gives the idea of ‘telling a story’ implying that the film is fictional.
In the beginning scene one overhead camera shot shows no ceiling, but then it switches to a low angle shot which appears to show that the ceiling is there. This element reminds the audience that it isn’t in fact, reality which juxtaposes the approaches of many other films that aim to create an element of reality to connect with the audience.
When considering Fiske, an audience may recognize Inglourious Basterds as being a war film because of all the other war films they have seen and will relate it to, however they may have never experienced war before themselves. Our cultural knowledge of the concept of a ‘war film’ (that we have gained from other war films) portrays to us that it is a war film; therefore we then wouldn’t find it necessary to look at intertextual references. The soldiers, weapons, the mission, and the characters (Hitler, Churchill) are elements that make us create the link with the war film.
Postmodernism involves having elements that are recognizable from other films and there are many films that can be cross linked to Inglourious Basterds in some ways such as music and camera shots. In the film The Searchers released 1956, the rememberable ending has been referenced to in Inglourious Basterds at the end of the first chapter. This scene is where a character is framed in a door way and then walks away, which creates a dramatic effect. In some ways this links directly with Inglourious Basterds however; it has been stripped of the effectiveness created in The Searchers and perhaps this was because this particular shot in The Searchers was the final scene. Considering the context, the storyline of is that the character has just saved his niece and the door then shuts on him to end the film. When this scene is interpreted in Inglourious Basterds it takes place at the very beginning of the film, portraying why the effectiveness has been stripped as such.
Other films that link to Inglourious Basterds is ‘Where Eagles Dare’ released 1968 which has been advised to be watched in preparation for Inglourious Basterds. As well as this the films True Romance (1993) and The White Hell of Pitz Palu are also considered to be influences.
The film ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ released in 1966 withholds the Italian/Spanish spaghetti western element copied in Inglourious Basterds. As an example, in the opening scene there is the classic twang music used, with a close up shot of the face. The first few shots of Inglourious Basterds are similar in some ways to the opening scene in The Sound of Music, however both films completely contrast each other in terms of genre. The chocolate box camera shots of the alps is evident in both. When considering Levi-Strauss, this similarity is ‘addition’ to the film. Also in the cartoon parody program Family Guy, there are also some recognizable elements that can be applied as similarities to Inglourious Basterds. As an example, the uniforms in the program are very smart, linking with the designer Hugo Boss and this presents an element of parody. Inglourious Basterds also offers a parody of Nazi’s for example,Hitler.
In chapter three, ‘German night in Paris’ there is Blaxploitation music used which is addition and also transformation. This chapter also includes a Britain information film which Samuel L Jackson narrates. There are also references to the film Shaft, released in 1971 which is an American blaxploitation film about a private detective who travels in order to find the missing daughter of a black mobster. It was in 2000 when Shaft was widely considered a prime example of the blaxploitation genre.
There are also references to Leni Riefenstahl who is a German documentary director and was also friends with Hitler and also G.W. Pabst who was also a German director. Max Linder was also referenced to, who is a comic actor in the silent era, pop culture and the references suited the era. The film ‘Sergeant York’ in 1941, directed by Howard Hawks is about the WW1 exploits of Alvin C. York. This film is a propaganda film and stars Gary Cooper who plays Alvin C. York. He was the best actor in the film and was remembered as being the ‘heart throb’. Finally, there is also reference of Van Johnson who was an American film star of the 40s and 50s.
In the fourth chapter, ‘Operation Kino’ there are tense scenes on and off scenes throughout. There is also a possible shoe link with Tarantino’s foot fetish which is a postmodern element he has in his movies. Also in this particular scene the ‘fairytale’ aspect is brought back in where there is a possible portrayal of Hans Landa being the ‘Prince charming’. Another ‘addition’ to this scene is the use of Western conventions such as the barman touching the gun under the bar. As well as this the ‘Mexican stand off’ is another western element.
Another element which may be considered as ‘Deletion’ in terms of Levi Strauss is the heroes death. In this context it is the ‘basterds’ who are the main characters, that are killed in the tavern scene which goes against normal conventions of the typical ‘hero’ survival. However if this film is considered a typical war film, a heroes death could perhaps be considered the norm as in reality this normally does happen in similar films. Therefore this suggests that Inglourious Basterds is a war film. Furthering from this, the deaths aren't really commented on. One possibility to this could be that they are single minded; or perhaps they may expect the deaths, which also brings in the reality of wars. The deaths in some respects match films such as ‘Dirty Dozen’ and also ‘The magnificent Seven’. Contrasting this is the scene in the vets where the girl is shot. This choice of location (vets) links more towards typical gangster films, possibly suggesting more of the personality of the characters (i.e. Brad Pitt).
In the ‘Projection box’ scene there are also war elements in terms of the music. The music suggests that something dramatic is going to happen as Frederick walks towards the room that Shosanna is in, allowing the audience to foreshadow. The type of music sounds like it’s from a war film and portrays that some sort of action will follow however in this scene, when Shosanna opens the door the music stops. Then when something does happen, there is no music. Clearly this challenges ‘normal’ conventions and it decreases the ‘dramatic impact’ usually created which may confuse an audience. Overall this could be again implying that it isn’t a ‘proper’ war film, it isn’t real, and therefore the dramatic impact usually needed to make it ‘believable’ is ‘deleted’. In a traditional war film there is normally less music and more sound effects, i.e. the shooting of guns. However a Tarantino element is that there is extreme violence but much of it is suggested off-screen. This suggests why there isn’t any traditional war time music in Inglourious Basterds and why the music is more quirky with lots of it.
There is also guitar music before Shosanna gets shot and the music volume increases when she gets shot. The slow motion effect emphasises this scene and adds a romantic effect to it as well as a shock effect. This is shown from where she shoots Frederick, looks at him on the film, feels bad, checks him, and is then killed by him and they both die looking at each other. Her death seems less brutal and more peaceful which may again suggest a romantic element. In some ways her death may seem sad to an audience as she was such a key character, therefore an audience may choose to see her death as romantic or that her ‘mission’ has been completed and she’s at peace. They choose to see it as this is because it is what they want to believe, rather than believing her ‘mission’ had failed. The romantic music in the death scene is an example of contrapuntal music as the means are against the point. The slow motion also emphasises how she was a main character from the beginning therefore it is a ‘tragic’ death and this convention is common in most films. However in a typical film where a character gets pay back, they usually survive to see their revenge. Tarantino is almost challenging the audiences stereotypical views and perspectives and putting it in reality for them that no films are real.
Considering the costume in this scene, Shosanna is wearing a typical red dress which withholds many connotations. For example, bad, romance, death, blood, danger and sex. Frederick is in white uniform which, considering his character juxtaposes the usual connotations of ‘angelic’ like, pure, innocent, hope and good. On the other hand it may suggest that Frederick was ‘in between’ and denying his past and this could link with why Shosanna felt so bad for killing him.
Considering Frederick Zoller’s character he’s a stereotypical man of his era. He’s powerful and tries to use this to get Shosanna to like him. He has a nice side to him but he is also up himself. Considering that he is a Nazi, I wasn’t shocked when he got mad at Shosanna as stereotypically a Nazi is angry and has a temper. This contrasts Brad Pitt’s character as by the end of the film he still looks immaculate. For example his white jacket is still white, his hair isn’t out of place, his mustache is perfectly shaven and the ending fits with the personality of his character. Overall this is hyper real portraying that the film is not reality. We learn very little about the characters even though the film is character led rather than mission led. In some ways this disconnects the audience with the characters as they are not able to connect with the characters and therefore emotion such as sympathy isn’t created.
There are also other aspects of ‘fairytale’ elements such as the smoke on the cinema screen which could possibly suggest a Wizard of Oz reference, and also the ‘Wicked witch’ in the smoke. This is challenging the boundary of the fairytale genre as fairytales are for younger people and therefore it doesn’t seem appropriate for fairytale elements to be put into this film. There are also intertextual references to battle potenkium, Nations Pride, the film within a film. There’s also references to Saving Private Ryan, and the D-Day scene is used as a contrast to Inglourious Basterds. There’s a hyper real element due to the fairytale beginning and Hitlers death at the end. Although there are aspects of war elements, it is clear that there are differences from this film to a traditional war film.
As well as having debris from other texts, another process Levi-Strauss has is ‘deletion’. In some aspects Inglourious Basterds can be considered a war film and has the features that present a ‘reality’ of a war film from a viewers perspective in terms of Genette’s theory of architextuality; therefore satisfying their stereotypical perspective of all war genre films. This is mainly because it is about a war. However when looking at it in further detail there are many ‘other’ war elements that have been missed out. One of the most important ‘deletion’ is history. The film rewrites history as Hitler dies differently. Considering the constant reminder throughout the film that it isn’t real, it obviously doesn’t come to much of a shock that Hitler is killed off the ‘wrong’ way. Also comparing it closely to other war films there are obvious contrasts in elements, for example the film ‘Where Eagles Dare’. Other elements taken out (but not noticed) is that there are no major battles, no emotion, no journey, no major shooting and human frailty. As well as this, fear has been taken out for example the scene where Shosanna gets shot juxtaposes the usual elements of a ‘typical’ scene like this as there is romantic music playing. There are also comedic elements such as the scene where the three men pretend to be Italian. Other parts are also exaggerated which makes it come across as slightly humorous.
Overall Inglourious Basterds is challenging mass media as it’s representing the element of war in a different and non serious way to other films. The non war elements may not be noticed by an audience due to the characters involved in the film such as Hitler, which instantly suggests ‘war’ and also the time period. However the boundary of the genre is challenged as normal war films usually present something close to reality whereas this film doesn’t. This is due to the fairytale elements, the informality of the chapters to the different parts of the film, the comedy element (Brad Pitt character) and the deletion of history.
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