One of the Jews in this squad is referred to as "The Bear Jew" and is mentioned several times during the film by other people, but he is never actually physically seen until a Nazi commander is captured and refuses to give up information to the basterds. In conversation Aldo Raine says “You must of heard about the Bear Jew”, this tells the audience that he is notorious/infamous amongst the Nazis and that he is like a “myth” to the soldiers. This also raises enigma codes as the audience want to know why he well known and what he has done to gain such a reputation. The commander , when asked if he knows what The Bear Jew does, responds with “he beats German soldiers with a club” this gives a quite vulgar and violent view of him and gives connotations of quite a thuggish and brutish person due to the use of the word "club". Raine then expands on what he says by saying "he bashes their brains in with a baseball bat", this once again gives very violent imagery and supports the nickname given as bears are usually seen as very fearsome and vicious animals. This gives further indication to his personality and appearance as bears are also quite large and powerful. However this perception is slightly changed when you hear his voice as it is quite high when compared to expectations.
The shot then changes to a dark tunnel where a rhythmic tap is heard of the baseball bat being hit against the tunnel wall. The sound slowly gets louder and louder as he gets closer and closer. This makes him a very intimidating character as the tension keeps raising since you don't know what he looks like. The dark lighting of the tunnel also makes him seem a very negative character and gives opposite expectations to his "good guy" persona. Outside of the tunnel several weapons are lined up giving further connotations of violence. The fact that he is situated in a tunnel also gives the audience an idea of a "den" which reinforces imagery of a bear.Non-Diegetic sound is then played in the form of music, the music further raises the tension and contains various low notes which make his character seem more sinister.
The shot then continuously switches between the entrance to the tunnel, the German Commander and another German soldier who is sweating with fear and on the brink of tears. The close up of this soldier gives more indication into what The Bear Jew is like as it provides evidence for the fact that he is well known. It also shows the audience the effect he has on the soldiers and how terrifying he appears to be.
When he exits the tunnel the music reaches a climax and he is seen wielding a prop baseball bat which shows his violent side. As he walks towards the German commander a point of view shot is used to show how intimidating he looks to the commander. A low angle shot is then used when he talks to the commander to show that he has the power in the conversation. The rest of the Basterds cheer which shows he is well respected. When raising the commanders medal with his bat he asks "Did you get this for killing jews" this shows that he has a lot of anger towards the Nazis and is passionate about killing them. He then slowly lowers his baseball to the commanders head before taking a massive swing which knocks him over. Here the music suddenly cuts out whilst he batters the commander on the floor. Even though the German is twitching and clearly in pain he doesn't flinch which shows his ruthlessness.
After finishing he then makes several baseball themed remarks whilst continuously swearing, this represents his character as it is very vulgar and he talks about killing the man very casually and jokingly showing his attitudes towards violence.
Well done Jordan. This is a very good analysis of how the character of Bear Jew is constructed. You have shown well how his character is introduced and his place in the narrative. An impressive response.
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