Draft Coursework

Inglorious basterds – Revenge of the giant face.

Inglorious Basterds attempts to provide a historical, postmodernist homage to cinema. Tarantino rolls Adventure, Drama and War into a ball and produces Inglorious Basterds. The scene I have chosen is the Revenge Of The Giant Face. A Jewish girl who escaped the Nazi’s grasp after her family died horribly in her presence dominates the scene.

The opening scene presents us with a long shot with static movement. Shosanna is following the rule of thirds, acting as the framework of the window in the centre of the shot. The use of mirrors directs the viewer to the central window no matter where you look whilst also containing the overpowering use of the Nazi Flag. The mise en scene would suggest that by the dominating use of the Nazi flag, Shosanna’s life is being overruled by Nazi dominance. The use of mirrors on both sides of the shot provides us with a use of symmetry whist simultaneously emphasising that Shosanna is figuratively and literally surrounded by the Nazi regime. Specifically in the mirror to the left of the shot it shows me a reflection of Shosanna looking out of the window in sorrow or contemplation, looking directly at a Nazi Flag which is much bigger than her, the mise en scene of the flag would continue to emphasise the fact that the Nazi regime is much bigger than herself. It made me feel as if Shosanna has no power whatsoever as all she can do is face the people who had killed her family. The mise en scene contains red wall paper, red Nazi flags and a Red Dress this suggests that whilst using the usual connotation of red meaning blood she is also figuratively and literally surrounded by blood, be it the blood of her family or the collective blood that the whole Nazi regime created.

A cross dissolve to another long shot grants me a zoomed in version of the opening scene, this time the window is dominating the scene, the reflection of Shosanna is clearer and I am now able to see outside. The use of a cross dissolve made me feel like a lot of time has passed, that she is contemplating or taking some time to herself, this also makes me wonder what else is going to happen afterwards leaving me with a sense of wonder. I can also see a movie themed poster outside of the window; the mise en scene of the poster only furthers the fact that Inglorious Basterds is a homage to cinema as it provides me with a sense of historical cinema. Again the Nazi flag is shown within the scene to further imply that the Nazi flag is surrounding Shosanna. I would like to note that the only movement you can see in the scene apart from the slow waving of the Nazi flags is Shosannas breathing, you can actually see her chest move as she breathes in and out, this gave me the feeling that she is brooding.

Another cross dissolve then presents us with a mid shot, non-diegetic sound becomes more prevalent, which makes me feel like it’s foreshadowing events ahead. Shosanna is well dressed in this shot and she is looking down which suggested to me that she is sad or judging others, I came to the conclusion of judgement because she is looking down throughout the window, looking at the street outside. The mise en scene of the poster outside reflects the females’ emotion inside as both are looking emotionless which could be attributed by the possibility of brooding.