Gotta love Tarantino showing off his influences. OK, you’ve already seen the entire list of music used in “Inglourious Basterds,” and as per Tarantino’s usual m.o., he’s pilfered songs from his favorite movies including songs by David Bowie and many cuts once more from Ennio Morricone (who’s movie songs were all over the “Kill Bill” films). And you’ve just read about the minor tweaks he made to the film in the editing room. Well, some music revisions have been made as well. We suggested one way to “fix” the film (which we saw at Cannes and didn’t love) was to switch out some of the songs and the director did just that.
“Harvey wanted me to add more music, he asked me to go through my music collection again and just find a couple more pieces,” Tarantino told DealMemo. “So, I found four [new] cues, and one of them is the main theme from the Jack Cardiff movie “Dark of the Sun” [also known as “The Mercenaries” in some countries] which I’d always wanted to use.”
How does this song, written by French composer Jacques Loussier, and the film show off Quentin’s influences? For one “The Dark of the Sun” tells the story of a band of mercenaries sent on a dangerous mission during the Congo Crisis. Pretty familiar, right? Also the cast in the film includes, Rod Taylor (who plays Winston Churchill in ‘Basterds’), Yvette Mimieux (clearly the name inspiration for the now-excised character of Madame Mimieux) and Jim Brown (a QT favorite).
Here’s the song in question. It’s actually pretty grand. We dig it.
Here’s the “Dark of The Sun” original trailer in case you’re interested. It’s pretty grindhouse schlocky — right up Quentin’s alley.