Inglourious Basterds/Kick-Ass

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Source of findings for below

One of the most significant aspects of postmodernism in this regard is the use of pastiche to other media texts and the inclusion/alteration historical facts, within a piece of media. This can be seen in Inglourious Basterds, a film based around the time and events of World War II, however the events within the film are almost completely fictional, for example Adolf Hitler died by committing suicide as it became apparent the war was lost, in this film he is killed in a suicide mission (arranged by the ‘Basterds’, a military unit fighting against the Nazis) in which a Jewish cinema owner hosts the premiere for a new Nazi propaganda film, then sets the cinema on fire, killing Hitler. Although entirely fictional, the overall presentation of the film would imply it is a reflection of real-life events. Postmodern texts frequently blur the lines between real life and the reality presented within the text, the audience willingly accept this regardless of the fact the film is clearly artificial, and often hints towards this using narrative devices such as splitting the film into chapters, a convention normally seen within children’s fairy tales, used here for a completely different reason. This historical inaccuracy may be controversial as the film isn’t a ‘real’ war film in terms of the plot it portrays, and because it may be seen as disrespectful to war veterans due to the way in which the film represents war in a humorous way. ‘Inglourious’ contains multiple scenes of extreme violence to the point of being gratuitous, showing the film doesn’t take itself seriously despite being based around extremely serious real-world events, this glorifies a violent approach, even representing the ‘good guy’ Basterds as thuggish, as is seen when they are ordered to collect scalps from every Nazi they kill. This could cause controversy as the Basterds are a group of Jewish soldiers, which are represented as the heroes of the film against the Nazis, yet are still shown to be violent, as if to advocate violence as being the ‘right’ thing to do. Inglourious Basterds is directed by Quentin Tarantino, who is known for producing postmodern films such as Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, and Pulp Fiction. These films, together with Inglourious, have attracted controversy over the amount of creativity or original thought which has gone into the creation of each film. A characteristic of postmodernism is the heavy use of influences, or direct lifting of elements from other media texts. Inglourious Basterds doesn’t have a specially composed soundtrack, but lifts music from other films and artists, for instance a David Bowie track entitled “Cat People (Putting Out Fire)” is used as background music in the scenes leading up to the Basterd’s plan to burn down the cinema.
The selection of music is not only controversial in the use of others’ work, but also because the music used doesn’t fit the time period; Cat People was released in 1982, but is being used as a soundtrack to a World War 2 film.

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My View

Taratino's Inglourious Basterds is a paradox as it contradicts the way Adolf Hitler died, whereas in the movie he was murdered by the 'Basterds' with the unknown assistance of the cinema owner (Shosanna Dreyfus) and her assistant (Jacky Ido), in comparison to real life historic story that Adolf Hitler committed suicide when figuring out he was losing the war.
Whereas the music from other war films in inglourious basterds worked well because war when you hear a soudntrack from a war film you may also think of a different film which takes your mind of the current film, however because it is in the same genre it works because in war movies their is always a battle/war in commence. In kick-ass the soundtrack seemed to work against the film because when you heard the 28 days later soundtrack even though the soundtrack may have fitted the scene and worked, it therefore did not work as it made the audience who have seen 28 days later think of that specific film, therefore taking the audience's mind onto another film.

Kick-Ass Soundtrack Criticism