Video Essays

With any luck, new video essay drops tomorrow afternoon.

New content! Indiana Jones - The Face of Jewish Vengeance. A totally vanilla, non-clickbait title in no way designed to provoke attention.



In all seriousness, this video is an analysis of how Spielberg structures the Indiana Jones movies around punishing the Nazis, and specifically looks at the cinematic devices that Spielberg uses to undermine myths of Nazi authority and power. Give it a watch if you're interested. I think it could inspire a good discussion.

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I said "with respect" and that makes everything I say okay.

Fair points.



In truth, part of why I chose Basterds as a comparison is because it's one of the few examples I could think that uses a comparable demeaning gaze when it comes to depicting Nazis, particularly in regards to the film's portrait of Hitler. But for all the ways in which Tarantino does subvert and mock Nazism, I do think the film's love of Hans Landa is worth discussing, especially given how many audience members took to him more than anything else in the film. That's not to say I think that's a flaw on the film's part necessarily, in fact it might simply be more a flaw with audiences, but I think the distinction between how Spielberg and Tarantino portray their Nazi villains is one worth keeping in mind. It's not so much that Tarantino falls in with Nazi propaganda, but that the language he uses ultimately reaffirms aspects of Nazi strength and authority, the very myths at the basis of their appeal.

I should probably also mention that I love Inglourious Basterds. I think the film does some brilliant stuff in regards to reclaiming cinema from Nazis and using it against them. Most of those observations were cut from the video simply because it didn't quite fit with the overall thesis I was working on, but I will concede that there is a gap in the video in this regard.

Thanks for the feedback.

True, but I still feel the movie's at points reverent awe of Landa's skill is the sort of celebration that makes him seem cool and appealing. Not saying the film or Tarantino is endorsing Nazism, just that Spielberg's more outright mockery is more effective in terms of deglamourizing Nazism.



This is an interesting point. I didn't consider putting these two in conversation with each other but maybe I should have.



Yeah, I understand the line Basterds has to walk. I think you could even argue Basterds is more effective than the Indiana Jones movies since Tarantino can both mock the Nazis while also acknowledging their horrific evils more pointedly than Spielberg can with Indy. Then again, I guess you could argue sort of the opposite. That in sitting between the dismissive mockery of Indiana Jones and the harsh historical reality of Schindler's List, Basterds is ultimately less effective than either. Maybe. Not sure I totally subscribe to either of these perspectives but it's interesting food for thought.

Let's talk about the opening scene of Once Upon a Time in the West.



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Nice!

Thanks guys.



So I'm 90% sure this means "the opening to OUATITW is one of the best ever", but I'm choosing to interpret it as "this video essay is one of the best ever".

That means a lot. Thank you.