Decoding Cinema’s Most Tens Moment | Inglourious Basterds
Welcome to Directors Spotlight, I’m Mahesh and today we’ll be discussing Inglourious Basterds’ La Louisiane Tavern Scene or as I simply call it, the fucked up bar scene.
The bar scene in “Inglourious Basterds” is unforgettable because of how Quentin Tarantino builds suspense. Set in the tight space of La Louisiane Tavern, the scene shows how conversations and small actions can create huge tension. As the characters talk, the stakes slowly become clear, making the audience feel more and more on edge. When the scene explodes into a chaotic shootout, it’s both surprising and expected, showing Tarantino’s knack for building suspense until it bursts.
Without a doubt Tarantino is a master of building tension and most importantly stretching it long without burning out the audience. Breaking down the bar scene will help us understand how Tarantino build suspense with normal conversations and small actions and how he keeps the audience on edge throughout the scene.
So this is going to be a fun video essay where we’ll delve into the different aspects of filmmaking like shot compositions, narrative structure and the pacing to uncover Quentin Tarantino’s mastery of building tension. I hope you watch the video till end, so that, hopefully your understanding of cinema might broadened a little bit, and of course, it will also help my video to reach a wider audience, being said that lets start the video.
Pacing
The scene before the bar scene that is in the exterior of basement tavern, where Aldo seems a bit concerned about the location von Hammersmark chose, Though the British officer explains, “She wasn’t picking a place to fight. She was picking a place isolated and without Germans.” This scene then cut on to the Nazi soldiers playing a game in a bar along with a lady, as we know is Bridget von Hammersmark.
This is what happens in movie, the final cut that I guess we’ll have seen. But if one look at the screenplay, the scene in the exterior of basement tavern is bit more long, in screenplay after Lt. Hicox says this, “She wasn’t picking a place to fight. She was picking a place isolated and without Germans.” they see a Nazi soldier from the window, as one of the bastards’ remarks, “Lieutenant, I hate to be contrary, but I got me a Nazi pissin’ on Louisiana two o’clock.” Then they had a bit more discussion while looking at the Nazi soldier, and most importantly the camera follows that soldier as he enters in the tavern after doing his business, and then it goes to the shot where the soldiers along with Hammersmark playing a game in the bar.
And in the movie the bar scene starts with this dialogue of that soldier, where he is guessing the name on the card, stick to his head Okay, “So I’m a male, fictional, literary character, from the past. I’m American, and that’s controversial.” While in the screenplay these soldiers had five more dialogues before this one. Also in movie, this soldier successfully guessed the name of on his card, then while celebrating the pretended Nazi officers enters the basement and Hammersmark walked up to them almost right away. However in the screenplay they enters the basement while this soldier was still guessing the name and Bridget remains seated at the Nazi soldiers table until this soldier guessed his card.
Basically, Tarantino has significantly changed the screenplay while adapting it on to the screen; he has predominantly removed dialogues and scenarios in order to simplify things for audience, to make transitions and scenes more seamless. Like he directly cut from Lt. Hicox dialogue to the Nazi soldier guessing the name on his card, removing the scenario of the Nazi soldier pissing outside the tavern and even some initial dialogues of this soldier who was guessing the name on the card, it not just significantly makes the pacing more seamless but also establish the shot with a lot more simplicity, without taking the audience out of the drama. And same goes with the arrival of our pretended officers in the basement after the soldier guessed the name.
In the whole Basement Tavern scene, beside what we’ve discussed Tarantino has removed and adjusted a lot of dialogues and scenarios, wherever he has seen an opportunity to simplify things and improve the overall pacing and rhythm of the scene. This eventually helps to make the scene more tense, because if audience get confused about something then they might not follow the scene the way filmmaker wants them to, hence removing unnecessary conversations and scenarios, sometimes adjusting them in more simpler manner helped not just the pacing but also the core intent of the scene, in this case that is, build the tension and keeps the audience on edge throughout the scene.
Shot Compositions
As Satyajit Ray says, filmmakers job is to tell the story in best possible way, how much can you tell, how telling can you make an image. Cinema, considering it is a visual medium your image must talk about the place your characters are, translating the emotional and psychological impact of the location on characters to the audience.
Considering the intent of the bar scene which is to keep the audience on edge throughout the scene, Tarantino first of all set the sequence in a low ceiling basement tavern, creating a claustrophobic environment. The low-key lighting emphasizes the dark, confined nature of the setting, with a strong contrast between light and shadow, a hallmark of noir cinematography. The warm, dim light from the table lamps and the wall sconce adds to the period authenticity, while the shadows maintain an atmosphere of suspense and foreboding.
Even if you pay attention to the color scheme of the cloths characters are wearing, they significantly help to establish the tone. Like the black and grey colors of the Nazi uniforms immediately evoke a sense of fear and control, Hammersmark wearing a brown suit and a fedora not just adds to the period authenticity but also the brown color, while neutral, blends her in, into the setting. The overall muted and dark color palette of the clothing contributes to the heavy, oppressive atmosphere. The lack of bright colors reflects the somber, high-stakes environment. The armbands with red and black swastikas worn by the officers are particularly striking, drawing immediate attention and symbolizing danger, authority, and oppression.
So what we’ve discussed until now is the underlying, ever present setting of the La Louisiane Tavern, which creates the tense atmosphere and subconsciously sustains the tension in viewers mind even if everything looks normal between the characters. Now we’re going to breakdown the shot compositions in order to understand how Tarantino has directed particular conversations, actions and scenarios.
Tarantino doesn’t start the scene with wide establishing shot of the tavern; rather he establishes the setting through tight shots of Nazi soldiers table, playing the game along with von Hammersmark. The first sort of wide shot of the basement tavern comes when our pretended officers entered in the basement, this shot first time gives the idea of the basement to the audience; a low ceiling, claustrophobic, dimly lighted dark structure, with two long tables, one occupied with the Nazis.
By incorporating the wide shot with the arrival of pretended officers not just build anticipation but also help the pacing; as we saw that the scene starts from the Nazi soldier, which directly cut from the previous conversational scene, maintaining the rhythm of the screenplay.
When pretended officers entered the basement, all the soldiers stand up, in that shot the camera is placed below the eye line of the soldiers and not far enough from them, creating a tight frame with low angle shot. On the contrary, the reaction shot of the pretended officers is taken from the distance with camera on their eye level as they stand close to each other with a bit free space around them. Basically these shots make officers look vulnerable, while the Nazi’s as a threat, establishing an underlying tens tone, utilizing the Nazi soldiers’ presence.
Then it cuts to Hammersmark’s close up, but that too is unusual, it is a tilted frame with lot of empty space on one side that creates unease, continuing the tension. Next to it is the over the shoulder shot, often used to depict conversations’, capturing who is talking to whom, making audience feel included in the dialogue. As this shot is from Bridget’s perspective that captures the officers in a medium shot, standing close to each other with empty space around them, still makes them look vulnerable.
Next to it is a wide shot with pretended officers in the middle, actual Nazi’s in the background and the bottles in the foreground. This shot establishes their respective positions in the basement while continuing the tension; the bottles in the foreground are not there to create a depth of field but to rather create a tight, claustrophobic frame. Actually, all the wide shots after this are framed similarly. For example, when Bridget is about to walk away from the Nazi soldiers’ table, there is a gramophone in the foreground. Likewise, when she meets with our pretended officers, there are glasses in the foreground.
Then there are regular medium close ups of the officers, capturing the conversation. The shot then pans out to depict another character as he talks; it again helps the pacing, keeping things simple.
Interesting shots appear again when the Nazi sergeant interrupts them; first, we see this close-up of von Hammersmark. The camera placement in this shot the detail of her expression, drawing the viewer into her moment of contemplation or decision. The lighting is low-key, with a strong contrast between light and shadow, highlighting her face and the object she’s holding while casting deep shadows on the rest of her features and the background. This chiaroscuro effect heightens the dramatic tension and focuses the viewer’s attention on her expression and the object. In between that muted and earthy color palette, the red lipstick adds a touch of vibrancy and perhaps danger, emphasizing her lips which are slightly parted, suggesting she might be on the verge of speaking or reacting.
The sergeant is depicted from a low angle shot, projecting him as a threat that’s looming on the pretended officers. It is then basically is a shot reverse shot, capturing their conversation but the camera is placed close to Bridget’s face, continuing the tension.
But as sergeant explains that he just wants an autograph, the next shot captures Hammersmark through a medium close up, in a freer and relaxed way, as her face is also evenly lit in this shot contrary to the previous one where the light created a hard contrast on her face.
Then the sergeant intrudes again and points out the accent of the captain, the shots after that mostly depicts their conversation, however the camera then zooms out from the characters to reveal the Gestapo Major, whom we’ve seen earlier in the movie. He is standing in the foreground, well dressed, the backlight casts his silhouette dramatically with others sitting in dim light, makes him appear authoritative. The simultaneous shots follow this authoritative depiction of major, like the next shot depicts him from the low angle, from the perspective of the officers table, everyone beside the major is sitting or quietly standing, he is the only one freely walking in the tavern.
Then as major interrogates the captain, the camera is positioned at a mid-level, slightly above the seated characters from the perspective of the Major, emphasizing his authority and the tension in the room, as his presence looms over the seated characters, drawing attention to both the individual expressions and the collective anxiety of the group. The camera placement in this scene is strategically chosen to establish a sense of power dynamics. The interaction continues through shot reverse shot, both the shots depicts major’s authority and others vulnerability.
After this tense interrogation when the major joins the table, the shots are framed mostly to capture their interaction, however the setting and the situation continuous the tension. Then major suggests to play the card game that other soldiers were playing, captain was about to refuse but Bridget says yes, as the major walks out to get the cards, we get to see this close ups of Hicox and Stiglitz, capturing the escalating tension.
Then as the captain gave himself away, the shot capture major’s reaction, foreshadowing the upcoming conflict. For a while then we’ve a silent tense movement of characters close-ups, creating a sense of dread. After the drink we get to see the insert of the gun, as major points at the captain, followed by another insert of the guy behind the counter holding his gun. The major and the captain continue their conversation with those extreme close-ups, maintaining the tension. Another shot then captures the guns pointed at each other, depicting the probable outcome of the possible outburst. And then as we all know boooom.
Narrative Structure
Whenever I study a movie or a scene or any visual art forms that exist within a timeframe, Narrative structure is something that I’m naturally most tilted towards. It is something that I always first notice, though I believe, unlike other aspects of filmmaking, narrative structure is the most abstract of all, as you never know whether filmmaker did even consciously created a structure or while writing it created itself, I feel most of the time it must’ve created itself. So whenever I delve into the dissection of a narrative structure, I always see it as a mere method to understand the writing and its impactful elements better.
In case of the bar scene I’ve dissected it in three categories, establishing part, confrontation part and the underlying tension part. The establishing part is obviously the section where Tarantino establishes the tension. It is the last phase of the previous scene and the initial phase of the bar scene. The confrontation part is the one where we witness the literal tense moments; these are the actual high points in the scene or as they’re often widely referred to, plot points. While the underlying tension part, are moments when everything looks normal, but the situation and previously occurred events creates an invisible turmoil that continues in the scene like a tipping bomb. These two parts confrontation and underlying tension are intertwined throughout the bar scene after establishing the tension.
Tarantino starts to establish the tension from the very exterior scene of the basement tavern, where Aldo and the Englishman came to know that the meeting with Hammersmark is going to be in a basement. As the English captain reassures Aldo, the scene cuts to the Nazi soldiers inside the basement, the arrival of our pretended officers and the brief standoff style get together; successfully establish the ever-present tension thought the bar scene in the form of the Nazi soldiers.
Then we’ve a segment of underlying tension as Hammersmark goes and sit with the officers and they have a brief discussion, that get a bit tens when Wilhelm approached them but he just wanted an autograph, so the underlying tension continues until captain confronts him and Wilhelm catches his accent, Now it is an confrontation segment that further escalates as Gestapo Major comes into the picture, this continues until the major goes and sit with the officers.
Now again it is an underlying tension segment, as first of all, the major interrogates the captain, then he suggests playing that card game soldiers were playing, before captain refuse Bridget approve majors idea. This extends his stay on the table, gradually building tension. Then he starts guessing the name on his card that prolongs this pressure cooker situation for a bit more and finally captain confronts him. He in return intimidates him with that smooth slap on his face.
In that intimidation the captain gives himself away and the final outburst happens before a bit tipping bomb kind of conversation. The Aldo and Willie’s situation is like a cherry on the cake that extend the whole scene for a bit more long and it is also partly, I feel what makes this bar scene memorable, the scene feels like never ending when you first watch it, it keeps on going without losing the tension.
The essence of this chapter is that after establishing the situation, that is, the meeting with Bridget is going to be in a small basement with full of Nazi soldiers in it, Tarantino constantly creates situations like, Willie wants autograph, then he catches the accent, out of nowhere the major arrives, he comes and sit with them, they starts playing the card game, after the burst Aldo arrives and Bridget is alive, then they discuss the way out.
In-between these situations he feeds normal conversations and things, like Willie will explain how great fan he is of von Hammersmark or they will actually play the card game with the major, which then feels tense because of the given situation and helps to extend the period of tension before the final outcome.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, the screenplay vs movie comparison taught us that, even if you’re adapting your own writing on the screen, the excision is still not a bad idea if it can make things simple. One should always look forward to simplify complicated scenarios by removing or rearranging them, in order to make our scene more seamless. The breakdown of shot compositions highlights the importance of the setting, lighting, costumes, and camera placement. When done well and in coordination with each other, these elements can make an image speak for you. Narrative structure, being an abstract and subjective element, still helps us understand how Tarantino establishes tension and sustains it for a remarkably extended amount of time.
So that was all I’ve to say, I hope you liked the essay and I hope it gave you something in return for your time. Thanks for reading, have nice day bye :))
By Mahesh Bochare.
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