Hi, I’m Max Bard, and today I want to take
a dive into one of my favorite films, Inglourious
Basterds, written & directed by Quentin Tarantino.
If one thing is apparent in all of Quentin
Tarantino's films, its that he is a master at
combining elements from previous movies.
Down to the basics, he is a fundamental cinephile
with a distinguished understanding of genre
& cinematic history.
And that brings us to his sixth film.
If you want to get a better understanding
of Inglourious Basterds you have to go back
to the mid 60’s.
The rise of the Spaghetti Western era, and
one of Tarantino’s favorite genre’s.
As you can see this genre is in most of his
films.
He makes this particularly clear in Inglourious
Basterds with the Universal Logo at the beginning
of film.
This logo doesn’t represent the time period
the movie was released in 2009, nor does it
represent the time period the film takes place
from 1941-1945.
This logo was used during the mid-60’s.
This is when Sergio Leone made his mark on
cinema.
Peter Bogdanovich, one of my all time favorite
filmmakers has a question for you, “Who
has been the greatest influence in your work?”
You know at the end of the day I think the,
the one artist that I think is the most influential
to me, as, in my work has got to be Sergio
Leone.
Quentin Tarantino has said many times that
Sergio Leone is one of his favorite Directors.
So it would be fitting for Tarantino to start
off his movie with a little homage to one
of the greats.
And that brings us to Chapter One.
Take a look at how this scene plays out compared
to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly by Sergio
Leone.
The scene opens with the family working outside
of the house.
Then the child notices the antagonist approaching
from the horizon.
The family leaves the house.
Our good guy & bad guy share a meal.
An interrogation ensues and tension rise.
And then finally at the end, the scene ends
with a shootout.
Intertextuality in film is simply, when a
writer or director references his or her film
via another media such as film, TV, music
or the like.
By establishing intertextuality in the first
scene, Tarantino sets the record that this
is no WWII historical film.
The next scene, references The Dirty Dozen,
a man on a mission WWII thriller.
And this theme of referencing cinema, seems
to follow: Eli Roth, a horror director responsible
for Hostel & Cabin Fever plays a horror-like
character bashing heads to a pulp.
Brad Pitt talks about the stupidity of fighting
in a basement.
You didn’t say that the goddamn rendezvous
was in a fuckin’ basement.
I didn’t know.
You said it was in a tavern.
It is a tavern.
Yeah, in a basement.
You know fightin’ in a basement offers a
lot of difficulties, number one being you’re
fightin’ in a basement.
Harvey Keitel plays a “Wolf” like character
while he’s on the phone.
“will get in the truck, drive to our lines.
Upon crossing our lines, Colonel Landa and
hisman will surrender to you.
You will then take over driving of the truck..”
Enzo G Castellari, the director of the original
Inglorious Bastards, even makes a cameo inside
the theater.
We also get references to Cinderella, King
Kong, Sherlock Holmes, and the list goes on.
Not only does Tarantino reference other films
but the film industry is baked into the plot:
The success of the Basterds is reliant on
a movie critic and a UFA movie star that take
on Operation Kino, Kino meaning cinema in
Russian.
The Basterds change their identity to Italian
Filmmakers (Antonio Margheriti being a famous
historical filmmaker himself).
Come si chiama lei?
Antonio Margheriti.
Ancora?
Margheriti.
Una…
And Shosanna makes a film, inside of a movie
theater she owns, in order to destroy the
Third-Reich by burning down her theater with
nitrate film.
As Salon’s Stephanie Zacharek suggests,
“In a film culture informed largely by mindlessly
enthusiastic fanboys… maybe we need Tarantino
and other filmmakers who, like him, have some
knowledge of the past.”
So what’s the big deal?
Tarantino uses intertextuality in all of his
films.
However, what sets this one apart is his use
of hyper-reality.
As the French theorist Jean Beaudrillard puts
it, “Hypperreality is the inability of consciousness
to distinguish reality from fantasy, as the
two become blurred into one.”
There are many examples of Hyper-reality today
from reality TV to movies like The Matrix.
By using real people, like Hitler, Winston
Churchill, Joseph Goebbels and real events
of WWII, it makes it hard for the viewer to
distinguish if any of the events in Inglourious
Basterds actually took place.
Of course none of them did.
Tarantino plays with this idea of mixing cinematic
history with real world events and people
to create a more influential message about
film.
This isn’t a historical movie, nor is it
movie about rewriting the events of WWII.
It is a film, referencing historical films,
to show the power of cinema.
“I like that it’s the power of the cinema
that fights the Nazis.
But not just as a metaphor, as a literal reality.”
Metaphor, a thing regarded as representative
or symbolic of something else, especially
something abstract.
What is the metaphor Tarantino is alluding
to?
Is Tarantino using cinema to reveal a hidden
message?
Really quickly, just stick with me on this
one.
In 1994, Pulp Fiction received the highest
award at the Cannes film festival in France,
the Palme d’or, but got second fiddle to
Forest Gump in the Academy Awards.
In Inglourious Basterds the Third Reich, a
supercilious organization with the stated
goal of advancing Nazism, is burned to death
while watching a movie that panders to them.
Is this an allegory to the Academy, a supercilious
organization with the stated goal of advancing
motion pictures?
If we take that Lt. Aldo Raine is an allegory
for Tarantino then we can make these connections.
Aldo Raine arrives in France, with no respect
for the established rules of warfare, and
is only interested in killing Nazis and collecting
scalps.
Tarantino goes to Cannes France, with Pulp
Fiction, a film that broke the rules of story,
and is only interested in taking home the
grand prize.
Is Hanz Landa an allegory to every other Producer
capable of following the rules but is so interested
in winning he will do anything to win Best
Picture.
Even if that means putting all integrity on
the line and wining and dining those that
make the final decision.
If this was his point, then the last scene
could be interpreted as Tarantino metaphorically
carving his mark into the Academy.
Or was Inglouroius Basterds made to cement
his place in cinematic history.
Either way with these views in mind the way
Tarantino infuses intertextuality with hyper-reality
in Inglourious Basterds makes a distinct connection
with cinematic history and allegory.
Therefore, helping us understand the power
of cinema.
Whether it be for bad like Nazi Propaganda
films, for good as in ending a World War,
or to get his own message across through hidden
metaphors.
Whatever your view on Inglourious Basterds
may be, it is obvious that Tarantino made
a film more complex then most imagined, which
could be why he was so proud of it in the
first place.
In that case, the statement posed by the films
final shot, a signature Tarantino angle, makes utter sense.
