Inglourious Basterds Essay

In What ways can Inglourious Basterds be Considered Postmodern?

Inglourious Basterds has many postmodern elements in it throughout the film. The film was made under the genre of ‘war films’ however, Tarrantino added his own flare to the film and with all of the postmodern elements it can be questioned whether or not this is even similar to traditional war films. In comparison to the typical war film, Saving Private Ryan, which contains bloody battles, non-stop action and a real sense of desperation, Inglourious Basterds shows a glamorised side to war with characters like Bridget Von Hammersmark it also shows  fewer characters and less battle scenes. Unusual conventions like the voiceovers, the yellow subtitles and the public information film are all just some of the postmodern aspects of this film that help it to challenge the expectations of war films.

In chapter one of the film, we see the opening straight away incorporates postmodern elements; the scenery looks very similar to what we would imagine in a fairytale story with the starting ‘Once upon a time...’. It also links to the opening of the musical ‘The Sound of Music’ as we see huge open fields in pleasant settings with bright colours that immediately make the audience think that this is a clam place to be. However, we can see this is about the change with the arrival of Hans Llander – The Jew Hunter.

Music is one of the main postmodern things that is present during the entirety of the film. Spaghetti Western style music appears at many points during the film like when Shoshanna is arranging the letters at the cinema and when Hans Lander arrives during the first scene as well as cropping up at many other points. Spaghetti Western films typically have a standoff at the end between the main characters and as this also happens is Inglourious Basterds maybe that’s a reason why Tarrantino chose to use this unexpected type of music. A different type of music is also used when some of the characters are introduced into the film and also just at random points. This type of music was taken from blaxploitation films which were made in the 80’s to target an African/American audience from urban backgrounds. Again, this is not the type of music we would perhaps associate with a ‘war film’ and yet it somehow works, adding a postmodern element. The music sets the tone well, but differently to expected. Older war films may not have had as much music in them and to refer to Saving Private Ryan again, that has many more sound effects as opposed to music. During the scene where Shoshanna is getting ready for the premiere, a David Bowie track is played. This was a very postmodern thing for Tarrantino to do as the song wasn’t released until the 80’s and this film was set in war time 40’s, yet it still works well and fits the scene purposefully.  

Another postmodern thing that Inglourious Basterds has is that it contains many intertextual links to other films. As well as the link in the opening to The Sound of Music as previously mentioned, it also contains references and associations to other films such as 'Where Eagles Dare.' This film was one that was said to be good to watch 'in preparation' for Inglourious Basterds. It contains a Nazi death count scene which is replicated during 'Nations Pride' when Frederic Zoller is killing the Jews. This shows a blurring of real and fantasy, which is a constant theme through Inglourious Basterds also and this is a hyper real element. Another link to this older war film was the fact that most of the soldiers look immaculate even after killing many people and this is similar to Aldo Raine's appearance in the final scenes. The Tavern scene in the film is one of the only major battle scenes apart from the one at the cinema and it links very closely to spaghetti western films, especially the finale of 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.' This links because the tension before the shoot out builds up for a long time and the audience are left on the edge of their seats wondering who will shoot first and when it will happen. This intertextual element works well in this scene and contributes to what makes it a postmodern film. Another reference that Tarrantino made to another film was from 'Odessea Steps' the image of the pram rolling down the stairs and when the person is shot in the eye are both replicated in Nations Pride and this works within the context so it may not be obvious that it is an intertextual convention. Tarrantino chooses his intertextual elements wisely so they work effectively within the story creating a post modern film. 

One of the main postmodern elements in this film is the 'film within a film,' 'Nations Pride.' Nations Pride is very much like a more stereotypical war film although some parts of it do seem somewhat unrealistic. Nations Pride is black and white the whole way through and this is something that we would expect a war film to be and because of the time that it was supposed to have been shown in. It is much more biased than Inglourious Basterds because it is very much in support of Germany the whole way through whereas the bias point of view changes throughout Inglourious Basterds. Another difference is that it is grittier and has less stylised killings than Inglourious Basterds. A similarity between the two is that they both have many unrealistic parts. In Nation's Pride it seems impossible for one man to be able to kill all of those people and Frederic seems very calm throughout. Inglourious Basterds is considered unrealistic as it is hyper real throughout the entirety for several reasons, such as Hitler dying, the basterds so easily entering the premiere and the musical soundtrack. Again, this postmodern element is done subtly so that it works effectively within the main film.

The Projection box scene is another that is full of postmodernism and one of the main scenes in the whole film. To start, the music at this point when Frederic is walking up adds tension and is more traditional war like music. The fact that Shoshanna is wearing red; a colour of evil, and that Frederic is wearing white; a colour of good, is also very postmodern as Shoshanna is in fact playing the hero and Frederic the villain. The music played when Shoshanna had shot Frederic is very contrapuntal as the music itself is quite pleasant, tuneful and uplifting to listen to, however we are hearing this music whilst the characters are shooting each other. This is something strange to do although it does work very well and seems normal. Another example of postmodernism in this scene is when both characters are laying on the floor dead, as this looks like something we would expect to see in 'Romeo and Juliet. as this is also a love story of sorts however perhaps more of unrequited love. When Shoshanna is shot and the scene switches to slow motion, this is effective because it makes the scene seem more tragic and as she is seen as a good character it makes the audience 'feel' it more. We then see that the final thing she see's before dying is Frederic so she will never know whether or not her plan worked.

The flamboyancy of some of the main characters in Inglourious Basterds could also be considered to be somewhat postmodern. Aldo Raine is a definite stereotypical American hillbilly type of character and the way in which he acts and conducts himself can be often humorous even though he is supposed to be the leader of the Basterds and perhaps the serious one. Hans Lander is a very clever character and has been given the nickname, The Jew Hunter. This name suits him well as he is quick off the mark and seems to be aware of everything going on around him so that he knows who is who and what they are up to, the audience could question whether Hans is very much an exaggeration of what German Colonel’s were like. Archie Hicox isn’t in the film for very long but he still seems a notable character, he comes across as a stereotypical Englishman in the way that Americans imagine them to be anyway. His accent is very noticeable and he seems to think that he should be in charge; a very opposite character to that of Aldo Raine. Brigitte Von Hammersmark is also a very stereotypical character from what we would have imagined an actress to be at that time; she is well spoken, attractive and with an expensive taste. However, the role of her character is not necessarily what we would have expected her to be. The role of Hitler in this film is an exaggerated version of the way in which we stereotypically imagine him to be.  The final character to refer to would be The Bear Jew, as he is very much not like the war like type of character we would imagine and the scene in the first chapter where he beats a soldier with his weapon seem quite unrealistic, although the obscurity of the character does add something to the scene. All of these characters stand out as having seemingly postmodern parts to them.

Referring back to an earlier point made, yellow subtitles are used at various points in the film. Yellow is commonly known to be Tarrantino’s favourite film and for him to use this colour as the one for the subtitles in a postmodern thing for him to do. Similarly, in the scene with Hans Lander and Brigitte Von Hammersmark where he makes references to her foot, we can also associate this with Tarrantino as he is famously known for having a sort of ‘fettish’ for feet and this theme crops up in most of his films. Also, the public information film about nitrate films is something unusual that we don’t often come across in films and so Tarrantino obviously chose this postmodern way of telling the audience some of the facts. With reference to the first chapter being set out like a fairytale, the last scene is also set in a forest and this can seem somewhat fairytale like and also gives us a link back to the beginning, emphasising that it is the end of the film.

In conclusion, I would consider Inglourious Basterds to be a very postmodern film in many ways. In my opinion, Tarrantino directs his films to be this way and does is subtly but effectively.