Provocation: Inglourious Basterds

The music in Inglourious Basterds, and in Tarantino’s films in general, has been analyzed in various articles and books, especially in relation to the depiction of violence. In this context, the fact that the soundtrack consists, for the most part, of preexisting popular music, is interpreted as a way of creating distance and irony on the one hand, or as a way of making the violence digestible, or even enjoyable, on the other. The music’s style and history have not been dealt with in a differentiated manner; instead, music is, in a slightly generalized way, associated with pleasure. In my analysis, I historically trace the use of existing popular music at the nondiegetic level (but also in the sonic foreground) back to the so-called New Hollywood era and the use of “black music,” particularly in the blaxploitation films of the early 1970s. By “borrowing” popular music styles from various films of the 1960s and 1970s to accompany or introduce these empowering moments, the film positions the increasingly globalized popular culture of the 1960s and 1970s as an antithesis to Nazi ideology and culture. By analyzing in detail how music is used before and during violent scenes, I work out its ambivalent function between the empowering effect on the avengers and the death wish of the committed Nazis who solemnly look forward to their downfall.