Explosive Arts in Inglourious Basterds

Here we see a great encapsulation of the melange of erotic love and war to form an artwork of clearly ideological intent. Set in an alternate historical version of Nazi Germany, Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds focuses in part on the story of Jewish resistance fighter Shoshanna Laurent, who is embroiled in an unrquited love affair with German war hero Friedrich Zoller. Unconsummated erotic love drives Zoller's actions in the movie, and in the first clip we can see his sexual libido for Shoshanna lead to his downfall. In terms of the ideological content of the artwork shown in the film, we can see a two-sided portrayal of wartime justification. The film in question, as we can see in the first thirty seconds of the second clip, is an act of German propaganda. In the world of the film, it is commissioned by Goebbels in order to highlight German heroics in the war and to spur public support for the war effort. Of course, this stated goal is entirely inverted by Shoshanna's actions, which render the film an act of counter-resistance, with the Allied Powers' plan to destro Hitler coming to complete frustration. Although she may die herself as a direct result of eroticised love, Shoshanna is stable to change the course of war by means of art.