Browse: Home / Taco Break: Internal References

Menu

Skip to content
  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Contact Us
  • Login

The-SoluteLogo

A Film Site By Lovers of Film

Menu

Skip to content
  • Features
  • Reviews
  • Long Reviews
  • News
  • Articles and Opinions
  • Other Media
  • The Conformity Machine
  • Dad to the Bone: James Williams on the JOHN WICK series
  • Year of the Month: Jason Tucker on ROAR
  • Film on the Internet: SYNCHRONIC
  • Year of the Month: Highlights of 1981, Month Unknown, Part 2

Taco Break: Internal References

Posted By Tristan "Drunk Napoleon" Nankervis on September 19, 2022 in Features, Short Articles | Leave a response

One of my favourite moments in Inglourious Basterds is in Chapter Four: Operation Kino. Sgt Stiglitz has his gun pointed at the testicles of Major Hellstrom, and he quips “At this range, I’m a real Frederick Zoller.” It could take a first-time viewer a moment to realise that this is not a reference to a movie – or rather, it is, but it’s a reference to a movie within the movie. Zoller is, obviously, the Nazi character that racked up hundreds of kills and then filmed a movie based on his exploits in a previous chapter. Writer/director Quentin Tarantino obviously knows the joy of dropping a reference; having one’s own character do it to one’s own character is a moment of supreme cockiness. I also love that it ends up elevating Zoller from Movie Character to, I dunno, MOVIE CHARACTER. One of the most interesting moments in IB is when Zoller watches his movie in the theater and seems troubled; as Todd Alcott once pointed out, he was fine actually killing all those people, and he was fine staging those kills a second time when shooting the movie, but seeing it up on a big screen with a cheering audience and heroic music has apparently made it hard for him to watch.

My awe at his name being dropped and his mixed feelings at himself onscreen come from the same place: he has been elevated into a concept and a myth. To be Zoller is to be a highly skilled sniper. Elevating objects into myths is what I like doing every day about everything, so you could imagine how I’d be rocked by someone pulling off the ultimate in self-mythology. Bringing this back to the only subject that really matters, there’s a similar moment very late in The Shield where a character quips “So I’m supposed to be Shane Vendrell to whatever Vic Mackey plan you’ve got hatched?”; this is not the only time Vic is elevated to myth (Aceveda gets my favourite moment of this in season five, when he tries to convey to Kavanaugh that Vic is more demonic and frightening than he realises), but it is one of the few that doesn’t directly advance Vic’s plot, and it’s the only one that really conveys how Vic and the Strike Team will be remembered amongst the LAPD after the events of the show.

What are your favourite moments of continuity references in pop culture? Perhaps moments that simply advanced the plot, like the way Stargate shows so effectively solve the current plot using past plot events?

Posted in Features, Short Articles | Tagged inglourious basterds, The Shield

About the Author

tristan.jay.nankervis@gmail.com'

Tristan “Drunk Napoleon” Nankervis

Related Posts

A Collection Of Quotes I Like, Volume III→

The Fictional Characters I Most Admire→

Three Times The Two Main Shitbags On The Shield Were Oddly Sympathetic→

Ready when you are, C.B.The Friday Article Roundup: Behind the Scenes→

  • Comments
  • Popular
  • Most Recent
  • j*****@yahoo.com'
    mr_apollo on Year of the Month: Mon OncleWonderful piece, Sam. It's made…
  • j*****@yahoo.com'
    mr_apollo on Year of the Month: Mon OncleFellow heretic here. I've never…
  • n***********@gmail.com'
    Ruck Cohlchez on Film on the Internet: AN AMERICAN CRIMEI wouldn't have called it…
  • j***********@gmail.com'
    Son of Griff on LIFE ITSELFGlad to hear back from…
  • n*********@gmail.com'
    Jake Gittes on Film on the Internet: AN AMERICAN CRIMEThis is the single most…
  • “The End” of SAVAGES

    34572 views / Posted November 10, 2014
  • What the fuck did I just watch? SPHERE

    27668 views / Posted March 19, 2015
  • Gordon with Mr. Looper

    Attention Must Be Paid: Will Lee

    26501 views / Posted January 7, 2023
  • The Untalented Mr. Ripley: The Craft of Standup Comedy and the Non-Comedy of TOM MYERS

    25648 views / Posted June 26, 2018
  • Scenic Routes: SHOWGIRLS (1995)

    20345 views / Posted November 20, 2014
  • I'm picking the names next time

    The Conformity Machine

    June 7, 2023 / Gillianren
  • Dad to the Bone: James Williams on the JOHN WICK series

    June 7, 2023 / Sam "Burgundy Suit" Scott
  • Year of the Month: Jason Tucker on ROAR

    June 7, 2023 / Sam "Burgundy Suit" Scott
  • Film on the Internet: SYNCHRONIC

    June 7, 2023 / ZoeZ
  • Year of the Month: Highlights of 1981, Month Unknown, Part 2

    June 6, 2023 / Sam "Burgundy Suit" Scott

Last Tweets

    ©2014 - 2016 The-Solute | Hosted, Developed and Maintained by Bellingham WP LogoBellinghamWP.com.

    Menu

    • Home
    • Who We Are
    • About
    • Privacy
    • Contact Us
    • Login
    Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!