Examining a Contemporary Feature Film

French New Wave/Auteur Theory and Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino: An Auteur

French New Wave cinema is a cinematic movement of the 1950s and 1960s established by French filmmakers and film critics who founded the Cahiers du Cinema that felt cinema had become too commercialized, formulaic, and unoriginal. This critical contention eventually led to the development of the auteur theory. Throughout various essays and critiques, Cahiers du Cinema critics sought to revolutionize cinema and analyze the function of writer in relationship to director. Cahiers du Cinema critics further argued that directors should be the driving vehicle behind a film and not writers. The criterion for an auteur, as defined by film critics in France and the United States, is still evident to this day. Through his unique writing and directing style, and through the use of mise-en-scene in his most recent film Inglourious Basterds,[footnoteRef:1] Quentin Tarantino has demonstrated he is a contemporary auteur and despite initial claims, the auteur theory is not limited by time and place. [1: Inglourious Basterds, DVD, directed by Quentin Tarantino (United States: Universal Pictures, 2009).]

In "Politiques des Auteurs," Francois Truffaut, one of the founding members of the Cahiers du Cinema and one of the founding fathers of the French New Wave movement, commented on the commerciality and restrictions imposed by Hollywood on cinema and filmmakers. "Politiques des Auteurs" was "an anti-screen-writers article against traditional and commercial French writers for film."[footnoteRef:2] Truffaut complained "that films of this type were writers films, and the film was truly completed when the writer finished writing it; that the director was only a craftsman who went out to get it on film."[footnoteRef:3] Truffaut thus began the argument that despite the limitations imposed by the traditional Hollywood and French cinema system, a director should still be able to imbue a film with his personal style regardless of who wrote the script. American film critic Andre Sarris further commented, "Because so much of the American cinema is commissioned, a director is forced to express his personality through the visual treatment of material rather than through the literary content of the material."[footnoteRef:4] In "A Certain Tendency of the French Cinema," Truffaut stated "the metteurs-en-scene [or directors] are and wish to be responsible for the scenarios and dialogues they illustrate."[footnoteRef:5] [2: Donald E. Staples, "The Auteur Theory Reexamined," Cinema Journal, Vol. 6 (1966-1967), (Society for Cinema and Media Studies, University of Texas Press), 1.] [3: Ibid, 2.] [4: Andrew Sarris, "Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962," Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings, Eds. Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), pp. 562.] [5: Francois Truffaut, "A Certain Tendency of the French Cinema," Cahiers du Cinema, No. 31 (January 1954).]

The limitations imposed on the director by studios and writers thus create an opportunity and the necessity for directors to break away from the subservient role of catering to the demands of others. In order for the director to truly make a statement on cinema, he or she must assume control of what is written and directed. Alexandre Astruc argues,

This of course implies that the scriptwriter directs his own scripts; or rather, that the scriptwriter ceases to exist, for in this kind of film-making the distinction between author and director loses all meaning. Direction is no longer a means of illustrating or presenting a scene, but a true act of writing. The film-maker/author writes with his camera as a writer writes with his pen. In an art in which a length of film and sound-track is put in motion and proceeds, by means of a certain form and a certain story (there can be no story at all -- it matters little), to evolve a philosophy of life, how can one possibly distinguish between the man who conceives the work and the man who writes it? Could one imagine a Faulkner novel written by someone other than Faulkner? And would Citizen Kane be satisfactory in any other form than that given to it by Orson Welles?[footnoteRef:6] [6: Alexandre Astruc, "The Birth of a New Avant-Garde: Le Camera-Stylo," L'Ecran Francais, No. 144, (March 30, 1948), transl. In "The New Wave: Critical Landmarks," by Peter Graham (Secker & Waurburg, 1968). 22.]

It is through this restructuring of the writer/director relationship that the French New Wave movement and the auteur theory arose.

In order for a director to be considered an auteur, one must be able to critically review his or her work as a whole and not individually; "The auteur theory emphasizes the body of a director's work [over] isolated pieces."[footnoteRef:7] While Truffaut claimed the auteur theory was "merely a polemical weapon for a given time and given place," three basic claims of the theory, and subsequently the French New Wave movement are applicable to this day.[footnoteRef:8] [7: Andrew Sarris, "Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962," 563.] [8: Ibid, 561.]

The first fundamental claim made by French New Wave critics, and expounded upon by American critic Andrew Sarris is the auteur theory does not claim to be able to predict the quality of a film based on the film's director and his or her past body of work. "Directors, even auteurs, do not always run true to form, and the critic can never assume that a bad director will always make a bad film."[footnoteRef:9] Fortunately, box office results and a loyal fan base, in addition to a unique directing and writing style, have demonstrated that Quentin Tarantino is a talented and gifted writer and director. While Tarantino's first film Reservoir Dogs only has grossed $2.8 million to date, his second feature film grossed $107 million, and his most recent venture, Inglourious Basterds, has grossed $120 million, which not only shows his films continuously draw in larger audiences, but that during his cinematic directing career, he has found a tried and true method of directing and screenwriting.[footnoteRef:10] [9: Ibid.] [10: "Quentin Tarantino," Box Office Mojo, accessed 29 November 2012, http://boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?view=Writer&id=tarantino.htm]

The second claim of the auteur theory "is the distinguishable personality of the director as a criterion of value."[footnoteRef:11] That is to say, a director's style becomes a factor in determining the value of his or her films. "Over a group of films, a director must exhibit certain recurrent characteristics of style, which serve as his signature."[footnoteRef:12] It is through mise-en-scene, narrative and narrative framing, and editing that Tarantino has been able to create and develop a personal style that is visible in most, if not all, the films he has written and directed to date. Among Tarantino's signature trademarks are a strong female lead; non-linear narrative framing; signature shots including close-ups, long shots, and high-angled shots; using codenames or aliases; anachronistic music; references to popular culture; the proverbial Mexican standoff; and the continued expansion of the Tarantino universe.[footnoteRef:13] [11: Andrew Sarris, "Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962," 562.] [12: Ibid.] [13: "Creator: Quentin Tarantino," TV Tropes, accessed 28 November 2012, http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/QuentinTarantino?from=Main.QuentinTarantino.]

In "Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962," Sarris contends, "The third and ultimate premise of the auteur theory is concerned with interior meaning, the ultimate glory of the cinema as an art."[footnoteRef:14] "The cinema is quite simply becoming a means of expression, just as all other arts have been before it, and in particular painting and the novel."[footnoteRef:15] As such, the role of directors, in addition to the film's writers should be taken into consideration, as the film created will be a direct result of the director's interpretation of a story and the film will provide him with a vehicle for personal expression. In the case of cinema, one needs to look at the different factors that allow film to be considered a work of art, from mise-en-scene to editing to writing. These three claims regarding the auteur theory are shown to be at play in Tarantino's latest film, Inglourious Basterds. [14: Andrew Sarris, "Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962," 562.] [15: Alexandre Astruc, "The Birth of a New Avant-Garde: Le Camera-Stylo," L'Ecran Francais, No. 144, (March 30, 1948), transl. In "The New Wave: Critical Landmarks," by Peter Graham (Secker & Waurburg, 1968).]

Inglourious Basterds is an updated spaghetti western set against the backdrop of Nazi occupied France. The film follows the intertwining tales of the Basterds, a clandestine group of American soldiers on a personal mission to kill as many Nazis as possible; Shosanna Dreyfus, a young Jewish woman who has escaped internment and/or extermination and is out for revenge; and SS Colonel Hans Landa, who is coincidentally tracking the Basterds and who exterminated Shosanna's at the beginning of the film.[footnoteRef:16] [16: Inglourious Basterds, directed by Quentin Tarantino.]

Throughout his career, Tarantino has created and employed a series of trademarks, which enable audiences to distinguish his films from those of other directors; other trademarks include being involved in almost every aspect of film production including acting, music supervision, production, and editing. One of the most obvious mise-en-scene trademarks is the use of non-linear narrative framing. In Inglourious Basterds, Tarantino uses chapters to introduce and establish major storylines and characters. Inglourious Basterds is subdivided into five distinct chapters: "Chapter One: Once Upon a Time…in Nazi Occupied France," introduces the film and helps to establish that the film will similar to a Western, as well as be set during World War II. This chapter introduces the audience to Shosanna and SS Col. Hans Landa; "Chapter Two: The Inglourious Basterds" introduces the covert military unit and explains their mission and the impact they have had on Nazi morale; "Chapter Three: German Night in Paris" once again focuses on Shosanna, however, this chapter is set three years after her first encounter with SS Col. Landa. It is during this chapter that an opportunity to seek revenge presents itself and Shosanna begins to formulate a plan to exact vengeance; "Chapter Four: Operation Kino," shifts focus back to the Basterds and allows the audience to realize that they and Shosanna share a similar vision for attacking the Nazis during a screening of Nation's Pride,[footnoteRef:17] a film that will premiere at Shosanna's theatre in Paris; and finally, "Chapter Five: Revenge of the Giant Face" brings together the Basterds and Shosanna's plan and follows the aftermath of the success of their plans.[footnoteRef:18] [17: Nation's Pride is a Nazi propaganda film within Inglourious Basterds akin to the 1941 U.S. film Sgt. York. Nation's Pride focuses on the military exploits and triumphs of Private Frederick Zoller.] [18: Inglourious Basterds, directed by Quentin Tarantino.]

Throughout his writing and directorial career, Tarantino's films have also featured a strong female lead. In Inglourious Basterds, Shosanna can be considered to be the film's strong female lead. She not only survived being killed by SS Col. Landa at the beginning of the film, but through her success as a film theatre owner demonstrates she has the ability to adapt to her changing environment for continued survival.[footnoteRef:19] Throughout the film, Shosanna does not let herself become a victim, but rather seeks out to exact revenge on the man that hunted down her family, SS Col. Landa, and Nazis in general. While Shosanna is able to carry out her plan to a degree -- and artistically tell the Nazis in attendance at the Nation's Pride film premiere the exact reason why she is intent on killing them -- she is tragically killed in the execution of her revenge and her main target, SS Hans Landa, manages to escape by sheer coincidence; he was in the processes of apprehending the Basterds' leader, Lt. Aldo Raine, who along with two other Basterds -- who did not survive the assault on the theatre, were plotting to blow up the theatre.[footnoteRef:20] To a degree, a it can be argued that Bridget von Hammersmark, a double agent who arranges the details of "Operation Kino," as the Basterds' assault on the theatre was dubbed, is also a strong female lead. She not only risks her life by betraying Germany, but is also caught in the line of fire and is injured in the line of duty. Like Shosanna who is killed before she can personally exact revenge, Bridget is killed after SS Col. Landa discovers she is a double agent, prior to the premiere of Nation's Pride. [19: Ibid.] [20: Ibid.]

In the creation and development of characters, Tarantino frequently assigns his major characters with codenames or aliases. The assignment of codenames and aliases includes, but is not limited to, Shosanna Dreyfus, the Basterds, and SS Col. Landa. In the film, Shosanna assumes the alias Emmanuelle Mimieux after escaping SS Col. Landa at the beginning of the film. In this case, the assumption of an alias is meant to allow Shosanna to conceal her true identity and safely become part of Parisian society. The use of aliases and codenames is also seen among the Basterds; in fact, the term "Basterds" has been assigned to identify the clandestine group of mercenaries. For instance, Lt. Raine is not only known as Aldo the Apache, his Basterd codename, but he also assumes the alias Enzo Gorlomi during Operation Kino; Staff Sgt. Donnie Donowitz is also known as the Bear Jew and assumes the alias of Antonio Margheriti during Operation Kino; Pfc. Omar Ulmer assumes the alias of Dominick Decocco during Operation Kino; and Pfc. Smithson Utivich is also referred to as The Little Man. A codename of The Jew Hunter is also bestowed upon SS Col. Landa; his nickname refers to his ability to track down Jews and identify places where they may be hiding.[footnoteRef:21] The nicknames Tarantino bestows upon the Basterds are not without meaning and are intended to pay homage to directors and actors whom Tarantino admires. Lt. Raine is named after film actor Aldo Rae and Hugo Stiglitz is named after the B-movie actor of the same name. Tarantino pays tribute to directors Enzo G. Castellari, Antonio Margheriti, and Edgar G. Ulmer through the Basterds' aliases. Moreover, Enzo Gorlomi is named after Enzo G. Castellari who directed the 1978 film Inglorious Basterds; Margheriti is one of Tarantino and Eli Roth's -- who plays Donny Donowitz -- favorite directors; and Omar Ulmer is named to pay homage to German Expressionist filmmaker Edgar G. Ulmer.[footnoteRef:22] [21: Ibid.] [22: "Inglourious Basterds Trivia," Internet Movie Database, accessed 29 November 2012, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361748/trivia]

Additionally, the narrative device of a Mexican standoff has been used in many of Tarantino's films and has become one of his signature trademarks. A Mexican standoff can be defined as a situation in which all characters have a weapon pointed on someone else and on themselves so that if anyone shoots or detonates their weapon it is unlikely anyone will survive.[footnoteRef:23] The Mexican standoff trope can be seen during in the aftermath of the massacre at La Louisianne during which Lt. Raine is forced to rescue Bridget von Hammersmark. The Mexican standoff in this sequence is not as obvious as in other films, but rather is implied during the confrontation between Lt. Raine and Master Sgt. Wilhelm, the sole Nazi survivor of the massacre. While Master Sgt. Wilhelm does not believe Lt. Raine's claims of a Mexican standoff, Lt. Raine clarifies the situation: "You got guns on us. You decide to shoot, we're dead. Up top, they got grenades. They drop them down here, you're dead. That's a Mexican Standoff, and that was not the deal. No trust, no deal."[footnoteRef:24] [23: "Mexican Standoff," TV Tropes, accessed 29 November 2012, http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MexicanStandoff] [24: Inglourious Basterds, directed by Quentin Tarantino.]

Throughout his career, Tarantino has also developed and integrated three distinct shots: a close-up shot of feet or a foot, a low-angled shot that gives the illusion that someone is looking up from the trunk of a car, and a long shot used to connect two narratives into a singular one. Tarantino has repeatedly demonstrated a fascination with feet in his films and Inglourious Basterds is not different. In the film, Tarantino exploits the "Cinderella" fairy tale so that he can incorporate this trademark in the film. This trademark can be seen in "Chapter Five: Revenge of the Giant Face" as SS Col. Landa realizes Bridget von Hammersmark was not only present at the massacre at La Louisianne, where she was supposed to rendezvous with members of the Basterds to help put together Operation Kino, but was also responsible for it. In this sequence, Tarantino uses close-up shots as SS Col. Landa informs Bridget von Hammersmark he knows she is a traitor and puts the shoe she left at La Louisianne on her foot. A second close-up shot of her feet is used as SS Col. Landa strangles Bridget von Hammersmark for her treason.[footnoteRef:25] A second signature shot is a low angle shot that gives the illusion of someone looking up from the trunk of a car, or rather, someone who has been taken captive. In Inglourious Basterds this trademark shot can be seen on two separate, but almost identical occasions: during the Basterds' interrogation of Pvt. Butz, a Nazi soldier, while trying to assess the Nazi's position in "Chapter Two: Inglourious Basterds," at the very end of the film, in "Chapter Five: Revenge of the Giant Face," as Lt. Raine and Pfc. Smithson Utivich, two Basterds who were in SS Col. Landa's custody, are released as part of an agreement made between SS Col. Landa and Lt. Raine's commanding officer as a term of SS Col. Landa's "conditional" surrender to the Allies.[footnoteRef:26] One of the trademarks of the Basterds in the film is to carve a swastika into the foreheads of those Nazi soldiers they encounter, but allow to live. These two shots are almost identical. In the first shot, Lt. Raine and Staff Sargent Donnie Donowitz stand over Pvt. Butz as they carve a crude swastika into his forehead. Tarantino uses an extremely high angle and medium close up to allow the audience to see how Lt. Raine and Staff Sargent Donnie Donowitz look like from Pvt. Butz's perspective. The framing of this shot creates an atmosphere of fear and dominance mixed with a touch of sadism. In the second shot, Lt. Raine and Pfc. Smithson Utivich look down at SS Col. Landa as they carve a swastika into his forehead. This shot is composed exactly like the previous, save for the integration of a different Basterd and the costuming of Lt. Raine and Pfc. Utivich.[footnoteRef:27] The third trademark shot employed by Tarantino is a long shot. In Inglourious Basterds, Tarantino employs the long shot in "Chapter Five: Revenge of the Giant Face" as he tracks Shosanna movement across the balcony and down the stairs of her theatre before the premiere of Nations Pride. This shot subsequently ends with Tarantino focusing on SS Col. Landa as he interacts with Bridget von Hammersmark and is introduced to her three covert Basterd escorts. The use of the long shot allows Tarantino to connect two separate plot lines without having to use a jump cut to transition to the next action.[footnoteRef:28] [25: Ibid. ] [26: Ibid. ] [27: Ibid.] [28: Ibid.]

In Inglourious Basterds, music is a major driving force of the narrative. Like many of Tarantino's films, Inglourious Basterds incorporates anachronistic music, yet despite the fact that the music is not reflective of the era, it does not distract from the film's narrative, but rather drives it forward. In keeping with the Spaghetti western feel of the music, Tarantino utilized music by Ennio Morricone, who is well-known for scoring many of Sergio Leone's films. Morricone's music is used to highlight the twists and turns within the film. Additionally, music by David Bowie and Billy Preston also help to push the narrative forward and keep the action moving towards an epic shootout, also found in many of Tarantino's films. Preston's "Slaughter" is played when Hugo Stiglitz's character is introduced; the use of this song helps to emphasize the notoriety behind the character and how he came to be the sole German member of an American clandestine operation.[footnoteRef:29] Bowie's "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" is subsequently played during Shosanna's preparations for the premiere of Nation's Pride during which she plans to burn down the theatre filled with high commanding officers of the Nazi party.[footnoteRef:30] This rare ability to combine contemporary or modern music with a narrative not set during the era in which the music was released is one of Tarantino's strongpoints and a trademark that can be seen in most, if not all, of his films. [29: Billy Preston, "Slaughter," CD, 1972, Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds: Motion Picture Soundtrack, (United States: Warner Bros, 2009). ] [30: David Bowie, "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)," 1982, Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds: Motion Picture Soundtrack.]