Saturday, October 3, 2009

Inglourious Basterds part 2


Inglourious Basterds was equally great the second time, especially since I was treated by my parents. Free!

It's a bit of a different experience the next time--a little less tense, a little more funny. I was allowed the luxury to giddily anticipate some of my favorite moments. Stiglitz!

This time, I got the sense of how much everyone is role-playing throughout this film. The double agent whose profession is actress is not acting any more or less than Colonel Landa, or the basterds who have infiltrated the cinema. Also, there is a self-conscious feeling throughout, as if characters are launched on a narrative trajectory, following a set path towards a set end, like Rosencratz and Guildenstern. The plot holes are glaring, but it almost seems as if Tarantino left them intentionally untied. With chapter titles and random narration from an unknown source, this film never attempts to convince us that it is anything but fiction. When Landa allows Shoshanna to escape, it is almost as if he knows that he will meet up with her later on. Landa seems practically omniscient--so brilliant that he orchestrates the events of the entire film.

My favorite scene is the one in the bar, a playful, lengthy experiment in tension. I especially like when they are playing the card game. In their game, fictional characters and real historical figures carry equal weight. Von Hammersmarck makes a comment about whether the nationality of a character depends on the setting of their narrative or the nationality of those who created the character. Could this be a reference to the film? Aha!

I would see it again, too.

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