In what ways could “Inglorious Basterds” be considered postmodern?

In what ways could “Inglorious Basterds” be considered postmodern?

Inglorious Basterds is a 2009 war film by Director Quentin Tarantino, although it is classed as a war film, there are various aspects that you could relate to other genres, such as western films. The film has features a mix of both famous actors/actresses and some lesser known ones, for example- Brad Pitt plays one of the main characters and he is highly recognised, but then there is Austrian actor Christoph Walt who plays another main character, but was relatively unknown before Inglorious Bastards.

The first sign of postmodernism in this film is  after the opening credits when the title has passed, the text that is revealed is “Once upon a time….in Nazi occupied France” the fact that “Once upon a time” is used makes you think that the story is hyper real, and fairytale-esque, which is a convention that is not used very often in war films, and thus leads you away from the thoughts that this film is indeed complete fiction, and this can be seen as post-modern.

A convention used by Tarantino during the first chapter called “breaking the fourth wall” also makes us believe that Inglorious Bastards could be seen as postmodern, breaking the fourth wall is were a camera is placed either above or below the set, to give a bird’s eye view- the fact that some of the set is visible is how the fourth wall is broken. This is Postmodern as it is not done very often. Another Postmodern aspect that is visible in the first chapter is the use of yellow text, this is an intertextual reference to other Tarantino films (Such as Kill Bill Vol1, Vol2) in which he requires subtitles to show dialogue between characters talking in foreign languages. This could be seen as Postmodern as, generally- in films, the colours used for subtitles, and or a title before scenes is white/black. Following on from the point of intertexuality, there are many references of other films from popular culture imbedded into the opening chapter, the first one we notice is in the opening scene, the scenery that the Frenchman’s house is surrounded by is very similar of that to scenery in the film “The Sound Of Music” the way in which this is construed to be Postmodern, is the difference in feelings you get towards the scenery in comparison to the two films. For example, the scene in which we see the mountain ranges in The Sound Of Music is where “The Hills are Alive” is being sung, and this brings a cheerful and happy feeling, whereas in Inglorious Bastards the same/similar mountains are being shown, but instead there is a feeling of tension, which differs greatly from The Sound Of Music.

The next Postmodern aspect that is used during Chapter 1 is the use of the Spaghetti Western music, that would appear to be completely irrelevant to the Genre that Inglorious Bastards falls in, but somehow it works really well, and this is what makes it postmodern, the music is used effectively in order to build tension, not only in the first chapter but throughout the whole film. One scene in particular is a very good example of this- the scene where the “Bear Jew” is introduced, and the tension as he walks towards the Nazi/German soldier is exacerbated highly by the use of spaghetti western music, and in our heads we relate the situation to that of a shoot off in a Western film. Spaghetti Western music is not the only evidence of postmodernism in Tarantinos’ music selection, the David Bowie Song “Cat People” in the final chapter is played during a scene in which one of the main Characters (Shoshanna) prepares for the opening night in the Theatre, this is again postmodern as it is not what you would expect from a war film genre that is filled with films that contain slow, and classical music to heighten tension.

The main Postmodern aspects of Chapter 2 are to do with the Parodies and over-exageration of Characters, for example, Brad Pitts Character (Aldo) is an highly exaggerated American with an over the top accent, this is considered Postmodern, as it is non-typical of a “normal” war film, which would attempt to create normal characters, whereas Aldo is an over exaggerated American Soldier.

Another character that is parodied greatly is Adolf Hitler, he appears very loud and mardy and is almost humorous, the character appears to be an exaggerated version of the portrayal of Hitler in the film “Downfall” the reason that this is considered Postmodern is because of the fact that the characters are Hyper Real, this means that they are an exaggerated version of reality, a convention used rarely in war films.

Again, in Chapter 2 Tarantino uses another postmodern convention, and that is the use of voiceovers, voiceovers are almost never used in war films, the actor he casts to do the voiceover is Samuel L. Jackson, an actor that appears commonly in Tarantino films, the clip that the voiceover is used for is also postmodern, Cut scenes to introduce a character are Postmodern as it takes the audience away from the dialogue of the film, to introduce a new character.  The new character being introduced is Hugo Stieglitz, a German Nazi killer. Blaxploitation music is used during this cut scene which adds a further postmodern element, the editing of this cut scene is very similar to that of the cut scene in Shaft, another Tarantino film, and this is another example of intertexuality. 

The very same editing, along with the Blaxploitation music, and yellow text can be seen when another character is introduced; this is Josef Goebbels, Hitler’s number 2. Another postmodern element visible in this chapter is when Goebbels’ translator is introduced, we get a cut scene of what she really is, and it’s not a translator- but a sexual partner of Goebbels. We can infer that the cut scene is showing the thoughts of Shoshanna, and this is a postmodern convention.

Another postmodern element in Chapter 3 (A German Night in Paris) is the dialogue between the Characters Shoshanna and Fredrick Zoller, in which they are discussing real life directors and films; this is considered postmodern as it allows the audience to draw a direct link from reality into the film. The items that they talk about are; G.W Pabst, who was a Austrian Film Director during the time the Nazi’s were in power. Max Linder is also referenced; he was a French actor and Comedian during the Silent Film Era. The final reference they make to real-life pop culture is when Zoller calls himself an ‘German Sergeant York’ Sergeant York was an American film which depicted an American soldier during WW1 who killed a lot of German Soldiers.

Chapter 4 is titled ‘Operation Kino’ and it is now the turn of the British to be parodied heavily, in this scene we are introduced to Michael Fassbenders character who is extremely well spoken with a stereotypical English accent, this could be seen as a Binary Opposite to Brad Pitts character who is poorly spoken and “thuggish” whereas Fassbenders character is well dressed, well spoken- and finally, extremely posh. This could be considered postmodern as typically in films, binary opposites are portrayed as enemies, but in this film- they are allies.

Another aspect from a Western film is also taken in this chapter, when the barman hovers his hand over the gun under the bar, this is a common convention used in Western films to let the audience know when action is about to occur, but this does not generally happen in war films.

The fairy-tale theme is also engaged in this chapter, as after the gun fight is over in the bar cellar, and Hans Lander comes in, he looks for evidence of who was present during the fight, and he finds a shoe- this is an intersexual reference to the fairy-tale Cinderella. This could also be a reference to Tarantino’s well publicised Foot Fetish, which he manages to include in the majority of his films- this could be seen as postmodern, as it is not done regularly in other films.

During the final chapter, the “projection room” scene contains postmodernism; an example of this is where the music being played in the background is uplifting and cheerful, whilst the dialogue between the characters Shoshanna and Zoller is dark and the opposite of what the music is suggesting, the scene also shows the death of the characters in slow motion, which is a postmodern convention used to show the pain on the faces of characters.

A final postmodern aspect is the fact that Hitler dies in the theatre at the end of the film, this did not happen in real life- so this scenario is hyper real, as Hitler did die, but not in the circumstances layed out in this film. This is an example of Postmodernism as it bends the rules of a normal war films.

To conclude, I would say that Tarantino has created a very successful postmodern film in Inglorious Basterds, which- although hyper real at times, still has some criteria that matches other war films. He achieves this postmodern status through the use of his Music selections, his Intertexual references, and his filming and cutting of the film.