The name Quentin Tarantino has become something of a shorthand reference for “cool movie nerd”. The oxymoronic nature of that quoted phrase notwithstanding, it’s a pretty accurate description of the guy. However, those kinds of reductive generalizations, while useful in some situations, rarely give the total picture of whatever it is you’re reductively generalizing. Don’t worry, I’m not going to launch a preachy, pretentious diatribe defending Tarantino as an artist. I’ll just accept that as a given, and move on to talking about his War Movie That’s Not Really About War, Inglourious Basterds (2009). After reading that, you may be asking yourself, “What’s so special about a movie that can’t even spell its title right?” That’s an astute, fair question. Here’s my attempt to answer it with a money shot right to your face:
I’m a big proponent of individual scenes in movies that, while serving the practical purpose of moving the story along, also exist to tell the audience something more about the film they’re watching. Almost any movie worth its salt has at least a few scenes that meet this description, and I usually find those to be the most valuable when discussing said movie. In the case of Inglourious Basterds, the “For Bravery” scene you just watched IS the film. I guess you could call it a microcosm of the film itself, but that feels a bit too insignificant. It’s more like a thesis statement.
Tarantino’s aims with the movie are all on full display here. It’s a scene that, through the dialogue, camerawork, editing, and use of music, works toward a very specific goal. What, exactly, is that goal? Well, in a broad sense the movie is a look at how art influences culture, and how that influence is something to acknowledge with caution. In a more narrow sense, the movie is about the danger of romanticizing war heroes, nationalism, propaganda, or any other tactics used to manipulate people’s feelings. Once you’re able to make large groups of people think a certain way, it’s easier to get them to do what you want. That’s kind of dangerous, right?
The “For Bravery” scene accomplishes what a great deal of the rest of the movie accomplishes – it spends time building a legend/myth, tears that myth to shreds, and does it all comically. The purpose of the scene is twofold. First, throughout the film, Tarantino creates various legends (the character of Hans Landa, the Basterds themselves – both individually and collectively, concepts of bravery and honor) only to tear down those legends by the end of the film. The point is to show that these men aren’t necessarily the heroes we’ve come to expect from watching war movies, and the nobility we commonly associate with them isn’t necessarily there, either. At the end of the day, they’re repeatedly committing heinous, dehumanizing acts. Secondly, and the film’s stroke of genius, is that the events are portrayed so that the audience sees the Basterds as the good guys. They’re shown as a funny, “badass” group. The audience is supposed to root for them. What’s not to like about a group of hilarious Jewish-American soldiers going around Europe killing Nazis?
As usual with movies, the meaning of certain scenes is just as much about the how as it is the what of what’s being shown to the audience. With that in mind, it’s time to finally start breaking these four minutes and 43 seconds down:
Beginning of the clip – 1:05: Aldo Raine’s (Brad Pitt) interrogation of the captured German soldier is written to be funny. Hell, the German soldier even laughs at one of Raine’s jokes towards the beginning of the clip. As an audience, this sort of lighthearted approach to what we’d normally expect to be a deadly serious situation makes us feel as if the events we’re seeing aren’t as gravely serious as they should be. Also, the manner in which this conversation is shown will become important later in the clip. For now, note that the conversation is edited into a standard shot/reverse shot format where the camera is focused on each man as he speaks his lines. This is the most common way conversations between two people are shot.
1:05 – 2:06: The instant the German soldier “respectfully refuses” to give Aldo the information, Tarantino goes into legend creating mode. Right on cue, we begin to hear The Bear Jew (Eli Roth) beat his bat against the walls of the cave he’s in as Aldo begins asking the German what he knows about The Bear Jew. Through this quick conversation, the audience is made aware of exactly who The Bear Jew is and the kind of reputation he’s garnered. At the 1:11 mark, the movie even cuts away from the conversation to show the reaction of another captured German soldier, furthering the effect of this legend. Through dialogue and editing, Tarantino has created this legend in about one minute. By the second time Raine asks the German to give up the information, the entire tone of the scene has gone from playful and lighthearted to dark and grim. The German knows the consequences of his actions, and his “fuck you” response etches his death in stone. Again, the conversation is being shown in the standard shot/reverse shot format.
2:06 – 2:22: The German’s response emits laughter from the rest of the Basterds. It’s here where Tarantino begins to criticize the actions of the unit. Up to this point that standard shot/reverse shot format has been used to keep the audience literally in the action of the scene. We’ve been visually encouraged to see the scene as one of the group. When the Basterds laugh at the soldier’s response, the movie cuts to an overhead shot of the landscape. We’re removed from the action of the scene and we’re no longer invited to see the events as one of the group. By removing the audience from the action they’ve been so close to, Tarantino is visually condemning what’s taking place. This exact same shot will be used again later in the scene for similar reasons.
As we’re brought back into the conversation, we’re shown Aldo standing up as he says the lines, “Actually Werner, we’re all tickled to hear you say that. Quite frankly, watching Donnie beat Nazis to death is the closest we ever get to going to the movies.” These specific lines are the closest the film ever comes to outwardly stating its theme. Contrasted with the end of the film (which I won’t be going in to), it becomes the most important line of the movie. In effect, all the violence in the film is put on trial with this one simple, comedic line.
2:22 – 3:30: At this point the setup of the scene is complete, and we finally get to see it all play out. Like much of the movie, the scene is drawn out for effect before being paid off with grizzly violence. Here, the German’s willingness to die for his country is romanticized through the use of music and juxtaposition. As The Bear Jew performs his little song and dance, the film cuts between the German’s stoic, unflinching stare and the cave The Bear Jew will emerge from shortly. At the 2:40 mark, the film breaks this and cuts to another reaction shot from the other captured German soldier. He’s clearly frightened and upset, which is in complete contrast to Werner’s unwavering glare. The film is telling us that Werner’s the strong one, the hero. We go back to alternating shots of Werner and the cave, and then the film once again cuts to another reaction shot at the 2:50 mark. This time it’s of Aldo looking off into the distance. He has the look of someone who’s seen this countless times and is getting a little bored. It’s another shot that’s completely in contrast with what’s happening in the scene. The German is about to die for his country, the film’s music is swelling in an effort to place this ideal on a pedestal, yet Aldo can’t even feign interest.
As The Bear Jew walks out of the cave, the Basterds give him an ovation, and the German never blinks. At the 3:25 mark, when The Bear Jew asks if Werner got his medal for killing Jews, all of a sudden the camera tilts and shows the close-up of the question at an angle. Werner’s response of “bravery” is also shown at an angle. These two shots begin to betray this romanticized ideal of bravery with their jarring camera placement. It tells the audience this isn’t normal; it’s a little off.
3:30 – 4:24: We’re shown about 10 more seconds of music swelling and German idealism, until, at the 3:40 mark, The Bear Jew finally smashes Werner’s brains in. The music stops abruptly, the Basterds cheer, and the violence is unsettling. At the 3:45 mark, the camera zooms out to another overheard shot, again taking the audience out of the action they’ve been so close to. As with before, this shot is used to condemn the actions taking place on screen. We see the other German soldiers scared out of their minds, the Basterds laughing and making horrible jokes (albeit it funny ones too), and The Bear Jew puffing his chest out in a display of pride. Finally, The Bear Jew brings the German soldier who we’ve seen reacting to all of this insanity for the duration of the clip over to Aldo.
4:24 – end of clip: Aldo brings down the translator, Cpl. Wicki (Gedeon Burkhard) as Reactionary German is interrogated to the whereabouts of the same patrols his countryman just died protecting. He divulges the information quickly in order to save his own life. At the 4:34 mark, the camera begins quickly moving from Aldo as he questions, to the translator as he translates, to Reactionary German as he answers, and back. A laugh track is inserted as the German points out the location as fast as he can. The camerawork and laughter are used to switch the scene back to its former lighthearted tone. The scene again becomes comedic. It’s funny that this German would so quickly give up the information his countryman died protecting. In this way, the film maintains being entertaining and avoids becoming preachy as it asks the audience three questions: 1) Was it really brave of the first German to die protecting information that was so easily obtained? And 2) Why did the Basterds go through such an extravagant, seemingly unnecessary, farce with The Bear Jew to obtain such easily elicited information? And 3) Are these guys heroes or not? After all, one man is killing for his country, one man is dying for his country - both can be seen as heroic. One man is a Nazi, the other is beating a guy to death with a baseball bat - both are the exact opposite of heroism.
At the end of the day, this is a scene designed to conflict the emotions of the viewer. The things we find unsettling, like the brutal violence, the odd camera movements, the drawn out length of the scene, and even some of the comedic moments, unsettle because they aren’t what we’ve been trained to expect as viewers. We expect a man dying for his country to save lives and become a hero. Instead, we get to watch him being viciously beaten to death and those lives sacrificed immediately after that. We expect a man killing for his country to do so with honor and a sense of duty. Instead, we get psychopaths who do so sadistically and with great joy.
I think it’s easy to paint the movie as anti-American, or anti-soldier, but I don’t think that’s the case. I’d call it more anti-manipulation. Art is a powerful tool, and it should be used with great care. You know, typical Spiderman stuff – with great power comes great responsibility. It shouldn’t be used as a political tool or propaganda, but to enlighten. Tarantino hopes you are enlightened by his film, but if you fall into the traps of comedy and cool that he so masterfully sets for his audience, you in effect prove his point regardless of whether or not you understand that.
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