Film Analysis & Comparison:
Miracle At St. Anna (2008) - Directed by Spike Lee
Inglorious Basterds (2009) - Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Miracle At St. Anna (2008) - Directed by Spike Lee
Inglorious Basterds (2009) - Directed by Quentin Tarantino
‘Miracle At St. Anna’ is a war drama that retells the story of a priceless Italian artefact that was stolen during WW2. The protagonist is unclear from the start however by the end the audiences are aware of how the entire story unfolds. Majority of the narrative is told through flashback, approximately 20 minutes into the film the audience is shown a rapid change in location and time, from 1980s New York to 1940s Italy during WW2. We follow a group of American soldiers known as the ‘buffalo soldiers’ who have the objective of meeting up with the rest of the group, however after a dispersal of the their troops and an ambush from the German’s, the soldiers are separated and forced into a small city with Italian civilians. Mystery is used throughout to engage the audience, continually adding multiple enigmatic traits to the film until they are revealed later in the film, giving the audience a sense of progression. A large part of the narrative, while being focused in the past, is also focused on a boy named Angelo (Matteo Sciabordi), however we don’t even learn his name until very late into the film. Much of the film’s dialogue is also in foreign languages, while the prime language of the filmmakers is English, the film also included Italian and German in order to make the film much more immersed into the world it is trying to portray. The film explores themes of loss, mystery, survival, war, violence and interpretation.
‘Inglorious Basterds’ is a action/comedy film set in the 1940s during WW2, in Nazi occupied France. The protagonist is unclear in the film as it is set into several intertwining stories that all serve purpose to the grand narrative. The film opens with a scene in order to introduce the main antagonist Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) to the audience, is unique personality serves to create a central hated villain for the duration of the film. The film adopts many morbid comedic elements in order to demonstrate the reality of perhaps even the exaggeration of violence in times of war. At first each individual story seems quite distant from one another, although as the film progresses, the constant switch between them all allows the audience to see the connection between the world of each story. The interesting and unique narrative structure many seem a little confusing, keeping track of all the characters can seem difficult, although the filmmakers complement this by discarding any unnecessary characters by killing them off, this give the audience a peace of mind and allows them to focus on the important characters that are left. The narrative of the film boils down to a plot to kill all the leading members of the Nazi party during the premiere of a new German film inside of a theatre, several paths cross all trying to achieve the same thing, resulting in a bloodbath and the end of the war. The film explores themes of conspiracy, violence, persecution and trickery.
One large comparison between ‘Miracle At St. Anna’ and ‘Inglorious Basterds’ is that they are both war dramas set during WW2. Lots of little things about the two film aline such as their repeated use of foreign language and basis around the influence of the Nazi occupation. However they both focus on an entirely different approach to the matter, ‘Inglorious Basterds’ takes the comedic side of the argument by using each element of the war and its fictional story in order to present a way to make fun of the characters and their involvement with the war. Each main character in the film contributed to the final outcome of the film is some way, although none of them end up the way that they thought they would. This perhaps was the filmmakers intention, to show how the reality of a war driven society is that no-one wins and achieves what they though they would. ‘Miracle At St. Anna’ takes a different approach by creating a much more real and contained world, with little outside influence as hassle. The audience hopes from the beginning that everything will be sorted out right and it is apparent that the protagonist Hector Negron (Laz Alonso) survives and will proceed in life. Both films are based on how people dealt with the occupation of countries by the Nazi’s, how they overcame these difficulties, whether it was through violence, negotiation or conspiracy. Technically speaking however, bt=oth films are very similar. The way in which they are made show several similarities. For example, the cinematography of each focuses on the gore, the lines flying of and the scalping and marking of Nazi soldiers. Close-ups are used to show the audience these small details, but also to show emotion and help create a much greater bond between the characters and the audience.
‘Inglorious Basterds’ is a action/comedy film set in the 1940s during WW2, in Nazi occupied France. The protagonist is unclear in the film as it is set into several intertwining stories that all serve purpose to the grand narrative. The film opens with a scene in order to introduce the main antagonist Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) to the audience, is unique personality serves to create a central hated villain for the duration of the film. The film adopts many morbid comedic elements in order to demonstrate the reality of perhaps even the exaggeration of violence in times of war. At first each individual story seems quite distant from one another, although as the film progresses, the constant switch between them all allows the audience to see the connection between the world of each story. The interesting and unique narrative structure many seem a little confusing, keeping track of all the characters can seem difficult, although the filmmakers complement this by discarding any unnecessary characters by killing them off, this give the audience a peace of mind and allows them to focus on the important characters that are left. The narrative of the film boils down to a plot to kill all the leading members of the Nazi party during the premiere of a new German film inside of a theatre, several paths cross all trying to achieve the same thing, resulting in a bloodbath and the end of the war. The film explores themes of conspiracy, violence, persecution and trickery.
One large comparison between ‘Miracle At St. Anna’ and ‘Inglorious Basterds’ is that they are both war dramas set during WW2. Lots of little things about the two film aline such as their repeated use of foreign language and basis around the influence of the Nazi occupation. However they both focus on an entirely different approach to the matter, ‘Inglorious Basterds’ takes the comedic side of the argument by using each element of the war and its fictional story in order to present a way to make fun of the characters and their involvement with the war. Each main character in the film contributed to the final outcome of the film is some way, although none of them end up the way that they thought they would. This perhaps was the filmmakers intention, to show how the reality of a war driven society is that no-one wins and achieves what they though they would. ‘Miracle At St. Anna’ takes a different approach by creating a much more real and contained world, with little outside influence as hassle. The audience hopes from the beginning that everything will be sorted out right and it is apparent that the protagonist Hector Negron (Laz Alonso) survives and will proceed in life. Both films are based on how people dealt with the occupation of countries by the Nazi’s, how they overcame these difficulties, whether it was through violence, negotiation or conspiracy. Technically speaking however, bt=oth films are very similar. The way in which they are made show several similarities. For example, the cinematography of each focuses on the gore, the lines flying of and the scalping and marking of Nazi soldiers. Close-ups are used to show the audience these small details, but also to show emotion and help create a much greater bond between the characters and the audience.
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