Inglourious Basterds Review

Inglourious Basterds is a spaghetti western war film that is continually shocking with its subversions. A spaghetti western is a sub-genre of western films that caught on thanks to the success of director Sergio Leone and his dollars trilogy. Quentin Tarantino uses the conventions of a spaghetti western in order to subvert the war genre. The conventions that Tarantino focuses on are revenge, extreme violence, and bizarre hero names. Tarantino uses these conventions of a spaghetti western in order to consistently surprise the audience. One of the ways that he does this is by introducing characters with carefully thought out back stories, and then killing those characters quite quickly. Another example of subverting the audience is when he makes you expect action because it is a spaghetti western, but instead the film is very dialogue centered. He also subverts expectations by changing the way that history plays out. This subverts the idea that the audience always knows how a historical film is going to play out, and through this technique he creates a film that is almost folklore unto itself. Quentin Tarantino uses the spaghetti western genre for a World War II movie intentionally to create a film that is unlike any other. The reason that I personally feel that this is important is because modern cinema is becoming remakes, superhero movies, and romances. Tarantino creates a film that is unique unto itself and will be remembered for its individuality. This film stresses the importance of considering your audience in your film. Inglourious Basterds is a great example of breaking cliches, subverting expectations, and creating a film that brings something new to the audience.