Green Energy
Um. . . Hmm. . .
Ok. It's a film by Tarantino. And although I have not seen a great many of his movies maybe I should have kept that in mind.
Or maybe, having seen both Defiance and Valkyrie in the very recent past, I should have altered my expectations.
This is no drama. This is no comedy. This is no action movie. This is, to me anyway, farce.
The Nazis are not portrayed as "a pack of pompous trash -- thoroughly trivial bad guys." They are portrayed as complete buffoons. Goebbel's crying tears of joy in a theater next to Hitler because he has been complimented by the Fuehrer? C'mon. A compassionate (well, sorta) SS Major?
If anyone out there remembers the movie Walker with Ed Harris from 20 or so years ago, that's what this is, moved from Nicaraugua to Paris.
It's no spaghetti Western but does use spaghetti Western music.
And if you're looking for rivers of blood and steaming piles of gore, it's largely not there. There is some killing of Nazis in graphic fashion but not what you would expect from the trailers. And there are LONG conversations in French or German, subtitled. Ok. I admit it. I started nodding off a bit during these and didn't miss anything.
While the Nazis may well have been "pompous trash" they were by no means buffoons. Portraying them as such diminishes the horror they perpetrated. And it diminishes how their victims suffered.
Some may not think that important but consider at tonight's show (10:15) there was a large representation of young people. They don't get enough proper history in school now. This only reinforces the idea that the Nazis are ancient history, maybe it wasn't as bad as we've been told. Maybe warnings about future holocausts are overblown.
And, in fact, a number of comments I heard from the younger generation were disappointment in the film.
If this were intended allegory (and I'm not saying Tarantino meant it that way) as to our current situation with the Jihad then we'd be in trouble, because it would paint the Jihadis as ignorant, incompetant buffoons.
And you all know better than that.
- Islam - Not Nazism - Was The Motivation Of The Mufti
Andrew Bostom's written some history of the Mufti Haj-Amin el-Husseini, who was a collaborator with the nazis during WW2, and makes a point about how his motivations stem from the Koran. One could say it was Islam that was one of - if not the only...
- A Comment From A Friend Of Mine Who Has Seen Inglorious Basterds
My friend Sonic Charmer sent this comment over to me in an email a little earlier today. I thought I'd post it in light of all the other commentary thus far. (I was going to see it tonight, but I cracked a tooth, and I'm not in a very good mood...
- Tarantino's Anti-semitic Inglorious Basterds
Joy o' Joy. This post should anger some of you!!! Enjoy, but know that some plot twists get given away herein. Quentin Tarantino’s new film, Inglorious Basterds, has been hailed for helping to improve the image of Jews. Instead of being victims,...
- Inglourius Basterds
I've always enjoyed WW2 films. I never tire of watching the Nazis get defeated at the hands of freedom. But this film takes that idea to the hilt. The first trailer of Quentin Tarantino's latest film, which stars Brad Pitt as a Nazi-killing commander,...
- Some Muslims Don't Want To Kill Us!
I have no doubt that there are many muslims that just want to improve their lives and benefit from the freedom and democracy - which means better living standards - and have no thoughts whatsoever about killing non muslims. However it is a well proven...
Green Energy
Basterds
Um. . . Hmm. . .
Ok. It's a film by Tarantino. And although I have not seen a great many of his movies maybe I should have kept that in mind.
Or maybe, having seen both Defiance and Valkyrie in the very recent past, I should have altered my expectations.
This is no drama. This is no comedy. This is no action movie. This is, to me anyway, farce.
The Nazis are not portrayed as "a pack of pompous trash -- thoroughly trivial bad guys." They are portrayed as complete buffoons. Goebbel's crying tears of joy in a theater next to Hitler because he has been complimented by the Fuehrer? C'mon. A compassionate (well, sorta) SS Major?
If anyone out there remembers the movie Walker with Ed Harris from 20 or so years ago, that's what this is, moved from Nicaraugua to Paris.
It's no spaghetti Western but does use spaghetti Western music.
And if you're looking for rivers of blood and steaming piles of gore, it's largely not there. There is some killing of Nazis in graphic fashion but not what you would expect from the trailers. And there are LONG conversations in French or German, subtitled. Ok. I admit it. I started nodding off a bit during these and didn't miss anything.
While the Nazis may well have been "pompous trash" they were by no means buffoons. Portraying them as such diminishes the horror they perpetrated. And it diminishes how their victims suffered.
Some may not think that important but consider at tonight's show (10:15) there was a large representation of young people. They don't get enough proper history in school now. This only reinforces the idea that the Nazis are ancient history, maybe it wasn't as bad as we've been told. Maybe warnings about future holocausts are overblown.
And, in fact, a number of comments I heard from the younger generation were disappointment in the film.
If this were intended allegory (and I'm not saying Tarantino meant it that way) as to our current situation with the Jihad then we'd be in trouble, because it would paint the Jihadis as ignorant, incompetant buffoons.
And you all know better than that.
- Islam - Not Nazism - Was The Motivation Of The Mufti
Andrew Bostom's written some history of the Mufti Haj-Amin el-Husseini, who was a collaborator with the nazis during WW2, and makes a point about how his motivations stem from the Koran. One could say it was Islam that was one of - if not the only...
- A Comment From A Friend Of Mine Who Has Seen Inglorious Basterds
My friend Sonic Charmer sent this comment over to me in an email a little earlier today. I thought I'd post it in light of all the other commentary thus far. (I was going to see it tonight, but I cracked a tooth, and I'm not in a very good mood...
- Tarantino's Anti-semitic Inglorious Basterds
Joy o' Joy. This post should anger some of you!!! Enjoy, but know that some plot twists get given away herein. Quentin Tarantino’s new film, Inglorious Basterds, has been hailed for helping to improve the image of Jews. Instead of being victims,...
- Inglourius Basterds
I've always enjoyed WW2 films. I never tire of watching the Nazis get defeated at the hands of freedom. But this film takes that idea to the hilt. The first trailer of Quentin Tarantino's latest film, which stars Brad Pitt as a Nazi-killing commander,...
- Some Muslims Don't Want To Kill Us!
I have no doubt that there are many muslims that just want to improve their lives and benefit from the freedom and democracy - which means better living standards - and have no thoughts whatsoever about killing non muslims. However it is a well proven...