Tarantino's Repellent, Shallow Cynicism

Hiram Lee over at the World Socialist Web Site (!) pens by far the best review of Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds I've read so far. Hat-tip to SK for the link:

Inglourious Basterds is a dreadful film. In spite of the ostensibly more serious setting of the Second World War, one finds in this work the same elements one has come to expect from Tarantino's films: gratuitous and psychopathic violence, endless pop culture references, the glorification of revenge, drawn-out and tedious scenes of incidental dialogue, a self-conscious use of camera movement and editing, and pervasive cynicism. All of this is delivered with a sly wink toward the audience. The pyrotechnics, as usual, cover up for the film's lack of depth and essential tediousness.

Tarantino has an encyclopedic knowledge of film history, or portions of it, but it doesn't do him much good. He takes the path of least resistance at every point. The writer-director favors low-budget "grindhouse" material: martial arts films, "blaxploitation" works from the 1970s, "midnight movies" and spaghetti westerns. Treated entirely uncritically, these have been the primary influence on Tarantino, and not works that would have provided a richer understanding of life. Anti-intellectualism and laziness are here made into a program.

Tarantino's obsessive, unfocused interest in all things cinematic and his lack of concern with real life is a fatal weakness and leaves the director open to the influence of definite social processes that he hasn't even begun to understand. This is not to say that Tarantino is simply an innocent who stumbles blindly into the foul territory in which he so often finds himself. He is drawn to it, delights in it, and actively promotes it.

The "heroes" of Inglourious Basterds are sadistic killers who relish their mission of torturing, killing and even scalping their enemy. Fighting fascism with fascism. Precisely what is one to make of this?

...

As it is, Tarantino's use of World War II and the Nazis in his latest work is entirely false and gratuitous. Tarantino's motivation for setting his film during the Second World War had nothing to do with making sense of that period, the history of which he rewrites at virtually every step of the way. Rather, as Tarantino told the Los Angeles Times, he thought "It'd be really cool to do a spaghetti Western using World War II iconography." In other words, the war is simply another setting Tarantino can exploit and use as his own playground for self-indulgence.

...

In the film's final moments, Aldo Raine carves a swastika into the forehead of a prominent Nazi. This, like the rest of the film's violence, is shown in graphic detail. The camera angle then changes so that we see Aldo from the tortured Nazi's point of view. Raine looks at his carving (and into the camera) and says proudly to a comrade and to the viewers in the audience, "I think this might just be my masterpiece." The film ends with this comment. It is a moment that deserves to go down as one of the most cynical in recent film history.

Not much to add, except that Christoph Waltz was rather good, and was the only reason I watched this stupid and coarse movie to the end.

Comments

[noribori]

Well, the "heroes" of IB are so obviously painted as dislikable killers that you could ask yourself about the intention behind it. I don't think "Fighting fascism with fascism" is a convincing answer (or a convincing question). That's like watching "Itchy & Scratchy" and complaining about the violence.
However, I'm the wrong person to defend that movie. I neither liked it a lot nor did I hate it.
Tarantino should make an animated TV series of that movie (and Hitler dies at the end of each episode).

[Alex]

Waltz was really excellent, and some of the dialogue was very good. The Apfelstrudel scene with Melanie Laurent was my highlight of the year. Nightmarish.

Otherwise I was also very taken aback by the so-called "heroes" of the movie. Tarantino could have completely omitted the story of the murderous and torturous basterds and would have made a better movie.

Diane Krüger was dreadful as always.

[onchyophaga]

@noribori:

It's beautiful. Fascinating. And truly sad. Can't think of it though, without M.M.-Westernhagen's "Johnnie Walker / ist mein bester Freund" coming to my mind - slightly different on the musical side ...

"Blutsbrueder" is to recommend as well, a kind of Tatort-Spin-Off road movie where he the Feingeist crosses swords with good old Schimanski ...

[Till]

"Fighting fascism with fascism. Precisely what is one to make of this?"

Well, I think a writer from the "World Socialist Web Site" should be able to answer that :-)

[noribori]

ARTE yesterday broadcasted "Du bist nicht allein – Die Roy Black Story", a biopic featuring Christop Waltz. He plays an ambitious musician wasting his lifetime on singing shallow pop songs and tearjerkers. I haven't seen it, but Waltz received much praise for this role.
It will be rebroadcasted 06.09.2010 at 14:45 and 14.09.2010 at 14:45.