In what ways can Inglorious Basterds be considered postmodern?
Inglorious Basterds can be considered postmodern due to the way in which Tarrantino has created and constructed the film. Inglorious Basterds incorporates a number of postmodern elements, which set it apart from other films and give the film a postmodern feeling. Tarrantino uses a number of methods such as using music and other intertextual components such as shots, framing, onscreen text and revealing the set, which combine to make Inglorious Basterds a postmodern film. One other way in which Inglorious Basterds can be considered a post modern film is the way in which it differs from a traditional war film, by removing certain parts of a traditional parts of a war film such as fear and adding other parts such as humour, this is another technique used by Tarrantino which makes Inglorious Basterds a postmodern film.
There are many different elements to post modernism and it can be a difficult concept to understand, there is not definitive definition of postmodernism. A close definition for postmodernist films is that they concentrate on dystopia and usually have more realistic endings in which everything does not turn out ok.
One way in which Inglorious Basterds can be considered a postmodern film is the choice of music by Tarrantino. There are many examples of postmodern choices of music used in Inglorious Basterds ranging from Spaghetti Western music to a David Bowie song, which was produced long after the film was set. Tarrantino used Spaghetti Western music produced by Ennio Marricone on many occasions in Inglorious Basterds; it is unusual for this genre of music to be used in a war film, as the music tends to be much classical and slow. Tarrantino used this music and in my view made it work extremely effectively, particularly during the infamous ‘Bear Jew’ scene which is also framed in an exceptionally similar way to that of a Spaghetti Western shootout scene. Tarrantino used mainly close up shots, which emphasised each characters facial expression whilst waiting for the emergence of the ‘Bear Jew’. As well as using Spaghetti western music Tarrantino also decided to incorporate other genres of music such as Blaxploitation. Again Tarrantino manages to include this unusual genre of music into Inglorious Basterds very effectively. An example of this comes during the Hugo Stiglitz introduction movie; this scene is reminiscent of the Blaxploitation genre and uses elements of the Blaxploitation Shaft, because this scene uses many elements of the Blaxploitation genre the music is suitable and effective. The final example of the music Tarrantino chose for Inglorious Basterds is a David Bowie; this again is an unusual choice as the song is completely out of the time period in which the film was set. Despite this Tarrantino again manages to use the music in an effective way.
Overall the choice of music used in Inglorious Basterds adds a postmodern element to the film, as it is an unusual choice and not many other directors would have chosen such music. Tarrantino uses the music in specific scenes and parts of which suits the genre of the music and explains his decision for using such a curious selection of music. The music used also adds an element of intertextuality to the film. The Spaghetti Western music was produced by Ennio Morricone and is reminiscent to the music used in ‘The Good the Bad and the Ugly” and the Blaxploitation music and the scene it is used in definitely uses elements from the film shaft.
Although the music briefly touched on intertextuality there are many other examples of intertextuality included in Inglorious Basterds and this is both trade mark postmodernism and Tarrantino. As I previously mentioned Inglorious Basterds includes intertextual references from both Shaft form the Blaxploitation genre and The Good the Bad and the Ugly from the Spaghetti Western genre. Despite this there are many other intertextual references in Inglorious Basterds, which give the film a postmodern feeling. Another example of intertextuality is the link to the Sound of Music, during the scene in which Shoshanna escapes capture from Hans Landa the surrounding scenery of the countryside is almost identical to that of the scenery displayed in the Sound of Music. As well as the visual link there is another intertextual link between Inglorious Basterds and the Sound of Music, this link is much more subtle and is displayed at the very beginning of the film. Like the Sound of Music Inglorious Basterds is physically split into chapters using on screen text, the chapters also display a fairy-tale like link, with the onscreen text reading “Chapter 1: Once upon a time in Nazis occupied France…” This is unusual for a post modern film to be set up in this fairy-tale like way, particularly as postmodern films do not generally end happily ever after. Yet another example of Tarrantino using Intertextual links in Inglorious Basterds can be seen around opening scene involving Hans Landa looking for hidden Jews. The intertexual link comes as Landa is leaving the cabin, in which Tarrantino incorporates as shot, which is almost identical to a shot, used in the film The Searchers. The shot shows Landa standing in the doorway facing out into the open. These intertexual links are only an example and Tarrantino uses a huge amount of intertextual links throughout the entire film, the sheer amount of intertextual links incorporated into Inglorious Basterds certainly adds a postmodern element to the film.
Another way in which Tarrantino adds a postmodern aspect to Inglorious Basterds in the way in which he uses on screen text. Tarrantino often uses onscreen texts in his films and perhaps the best example of this is Kill Bill. During Inglorious Basterds there are many occasions in which text appears on screen and in true Tarrantino style he uses his favourite font and yellow colour. The onscreen text is not overly used and Is mainly used to introduce characters such as Hugo Stiglitz. Perhaps the most obvious example of on screen text comes during the scene in which Shoshanna cinema is filling up with the important Nazis leaders. During this scene arrows are drawn on screen pointing to certain characters, the arrows are then followed by the names of the characters appearing revealing that they are infamous Nazis leaders, for example Martin Bormann. This is definitely an example of postmodern techniques as the text is unusual and is rarely seen in conventional war films. As well as being postmodern the text does serve a conventional purpose as it does introduces certain characters and is also used to split the film into sections with the use of chapters.
During Inglorious Basterds there are certain self-reflexive elements, which gives the film a postmodern quality. Examples of these self-reflexive elements take a number of forms including public information films, revealing the set and other intricate details, which could easily be missed. The first and most obvious self-reflexive element is the film within a film. This happens on more than one occasions with the introductory film for Hugo Stiglitz and also the public information film about 35mm film print. Both of these short films, especially the public information film break the 4th wall and reminds the audience that Inglorious is nothing but a fantastical film. Breaking the 4th wall is a commonly used postmodernist method and is used in many other postmodern films. Another postmodern feature, which Tarratino often uses in many of his films, is the method of including the revealing the set during the film. This again breaks the 4th wall and reminds the audience that it is merely a film and not reality. Tarrantino reveals the set during Inglorious Basterds on more than one occasion although the untrained eye easily misses them. The first example of Tarrantino using this technique comes again in the opening scene in which the camera follows Hans Landa to the door in an overhead shot which reveals elements of the set. The final way in which Tarrantino uses self-reflexive elements in order to create a postmodern facet to Inglorious Basterds is by using old and unusual cinematic techniques. There is an example of this in the opening sequence in the French dairy farm. When this scene is examined closely it is clear to see that on certain windows of the barn the scenery has been painted on to the window. This is an old technique and is not used in modern film production since the creation of CGI and improved technology. Using old techniques such as this is considered postmodern and perhaps explains why Tarrantino decided to use such methods.
Levis-Strauss developed the concept of Bricolage, in which things are constructed out of socially recognisable debris, which has been taken from other texts. They’re many examples of this in Inglorious Basterds as Tarrantino is renown for including high levels of intertextuality and using ‘debris’ from other films. Examples of this in Inglorious Basterds include; the modern music used, small films within a film, comedy, on screen text, chapters and Tarrantino’s infamous foot fetish, which he manages to include in all his films. Levis-Strauss developed this theory further by splitting it into modules; addition, deletion, substitution and transformation, each of which can be applied to Inglorious Basterds. Tarrantino uses addition by adding public information films into Inglorious Basterds, however the most prominent example of addition is the way in which Tarratino adds humour into the film, this is unusual particularly for a war film, which often focus on other emotions. There are many examples of deletion throughout Inglorious Basterds, however I believe the most significant of these in the way in which Tarrantino deletes fear from the film. This is extremely significant especially considering the genre of the film, however Tarrantio counter balances this deletion with the addition of humour into the films. This makes the film postmodern as it has completely transformed the typical war film into something completely different.
Overall I believe that Inglorious Basterds must be considered as a postmodern film. Tarrantino includes a number of methods, which make Inglorious Basterds almost unrecognisable to the traditional war film. These methods also add a postmodern aspect to the film as methods such as revealing the set and using deliberately music which is from a completely time period all create a feeling of postmodernism around Inlgorious Basterds. Perhaps Tarrantino’s biggest achievement is that he managed to use all of these unusual methods and create what I believe to be a very impressive film.
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