Inglorious Bastards
"We 're in the Nazi killin ' business and cousin, business is a-boomin '."
American cartoonist and author Lynda Barry once said, “we don 't create a fantasy world to escape reality. We create it to be able to stay.” Fantasy allows people to act out their desires, including those considered unusual or taboo. In the film Inglorious Bastards, Quentin Tarantino utilizes this human desire to escape reality to appeal to his audiences, using a highly theatrical and stylized narrative to shed light on the internal aggression people harbor in relation to both authority and the Third Reich. The result differs starkly from the majority of films examining the deeply significant and indelible events of World War Two.
Chapter I
The film’s postmodern approach is evident within the first few seconds1. It opens with the song “The green leaves of summer”, which features a spaghetti western sound and sets the tone for the first scene. The first non-diegetic text on screen reads, ‘Once upon a time in occupied Europe’, an homage to fairytales. This homage is satirical as fairytales are not frequently associated with war, and it hints that Tarantino is in fact developing an adolescent fantasy.
The first chapter of the film lacks a great deal of continuity. A heartwarming French countryside is shown as beautiful music plays. As the camera pans it frames a grey convoy of Nazi vehicles rolling through the countryside2. The process of counteracting heartwarming elements with more sinister is called discontinuity. Again, Tarantino’s style comes through in his use of yellow subtitles. He uses floorboards to create tension and alert the audience to the threat of Colonel Hans Landa. The mise-en-scene of the home is critical when analyzing the opening scene3. There is a clear statement that this house is not real, due its role in developing our fantasy.
While Inglorious Bastards is a war film, it is important to note that it does not follow traditional film structures in relation to war.
American cartoonist and author Lynda Barry once said, “we don 't create a fantasy world to escape reality. We create it to be able to stay.” Fantasy allows people to act out their desires, including those considered unusual or taboo. In the film Inglorious Bastards, Quentin Tarantino utilizes this human desire to escape reality to appeal to his audiences, using a highly theatrical and stylized narrative to shed light on the internal aggression people harbor in relation to both authority and the Third Reich. The result differs starkly from the majority of films examining the deeply significant and indelible events of World War Two.
Chapter I
The film’s postmodern approach is evident within the first few seconds1. It opens with the song “The green leaves of summer”, which features a spaghetti western sound and sets the tone for the first scene. The first non-diegetic text on screen reads, ‘Once upon a time in occupied Europe’, an homage to fairytales. This homage is satirical as fairytales are not frequently associated with war, and it hints that Tarantino is in fact developing an adolescent fantasy.
The first chapter of the film lacks a great deal of continuity. A heartwarming French countryside is shown as beautiful music plays. As the camera pans it frames a grey convoy of Nazi vehicles rolling through the countryside2. The process of counteracting heartwarming elements with more sinister is called discontinuity. Again, Tarantino’s style comes through in his use of yellow subtitles. He uses floorboards to create tension and alert the audience to the threat of Colonel Hans Landa. The mise-en-scene of the home is critical when analyzing the opening scene3. There is a clear statement that this house is not real, due its role in developing our fantasy.
While Inglorious Bastards is a war film, it is important to note that it does not follow traditional film structures in relation to war.
Cited: Corrigan, Timothy, and Patricia White. The Film Experience: An Introduction. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin 's, 2004. Print.