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How to Use Spoken Language As Style – “Inglourious Basterds”
Quentin Tarantino’s World War II historical fiction revenge film, Inglourious Basterds, makes specific stylistic choices with regard to language which significantly affect the quality of the film by providing characterization, generating thematic tension, and even directly influencing the plot. Generally speaking, the choice of which language to use in a film is almost done by default, particularly in films where only one language is spoken. Many films which directly portray speakers of different languages interacting choose to ignore the challenges associated with that problem in favor of easily advancing the plot. But, in Inglourious Basterds, Tarantino’s masterful use of language moves beyond a mere aspect of style, and doubles as a strong indicator and generator of specific elements of subject: plot, characterization, and tone. In this piece, we will analyze three scenes which typify how Tarantino takes advantage of language to enhance the story with this unique and fascinating stylistic choice.
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The Basics of the Aesthetics of Film and Cinema
In the mission statement of this blog, I indicated that I would be approaching the field of film criticism from the perspective of a particular school of aesthetics – Romantic Realism. But, in order to establish what is meant by “Romantic Realism”, to explain its principles and apply its methods of analysis, there is a little background work that must be done first. There is a hierarchy to any field in philosophy, and we can’t begin with Romantic Realism without first discussing aesthetics as a whole, particularly in the context of film. This is the purpose of my first post on aesthetics – to define precisely what is meant by “film aesthetics”, and to provide a foundation on which we can build more complex ideas.
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The State of Hollywood and Self-Conflict: A Review of “Birdman”
Alejandro Iñárritu’s Birdman, Or: (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) dedicates itself to providing commentary on the state of the dramatic arts, especially in Hollywood, while also offering a haunting, too-familiar meditation on ego and inner conflict. These two foci are married through telling the story of an actor named Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) who is desperately trying to make his mark on the New York drama scene by directing and acting in his own adaptation of a Raymond Carver short story called, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. Years ago, Riggan played a superhero named, “Birdman” in a trilogy of movies that, while successful, labeled him as an unserious, talentless Hollywood actor and he desperately wishes to shed this characterization of himself.
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The Things We Think and Do Not Say – A “Plot and Theme” Mission Statement on Film Critique
I have enjoyed movies for the majority of my life. I think my first memories of movies were seeing Oliver and Company in the theater at the age of three, and watching Star Wars at a similar age and mishearing Darth Vader’s pleas to Luke as, “You don’t know the power of the Duck Side”. Fortunately, my understanding and enjoyment of movies has matured somewhat since then, and in this blog I will make a concerted effort to review and discuss movies in a serious, artistic, and hopefully informing and fun way. In an ideal world, I will not disappear into my own ass.
Film Criticism and Fiction Writing by Derek Jacobs
