The Only Eli Roth Takedown You Will Ever Need
Sure, his movies are "semi-decent," writes Melissa Lafsky, but look at the big picture: "His persona, actions, and body of work stand for the victory of a wretched set of luck and circumstances that solidify the current septic tank state of the American Dream. [...] Roth's career -- and even the success of Hostel -- has rested on the unbelievably lucky move of becoming Quentin Tarantino's shoulder monkey." Oh yes she did, and then some. If you read one ego-deflating knuckle sandwich of an essay today, make it this one. [The Awl]
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I'm no fan of Roth's work, but any article that so misses the point of Basterds (and Roth's place in it) can only fail at taking him down. The notion that that movies success is dependent merely on the pleasure audiences take in the climactic revenge sequence is ludicrous. That scene is a bold faced condemnation of film audiences who glorify in on-screen violence. It dares us to enjoy what we're watching. That's the whole point. That's why Aldo is looking into camera when he carves that final swastika. He's marking us with his 'masterpiece'.
Roth's involvement in that scene and the rest of the movie is deliberate. Tarantino had him DIRECT the sequences from Nations Pride for goodness sake. This was not an accident. It was a comment about the sadism of film audiences and artistic violence.