Re-Writting History

The Film Inglorious Basterds is a movie by Quentin Tarantino. I learned about this movie through my brother, Danny,who had watched it with a few of his friends. Back when we had cable, one afternoon, it came on Fx Movies. My brother told me he had liked the movie, it was humorous and had a lot of action scenes. He also mentioned that almost the entire movie was in French and German. I've always been interested in other languages so I decided I would watch the movie. It turned out to be one of my favorite movies. The films background is set in the 40's in Nazi occupied France. A mission set out to kill as many German officers is put into action by a group, made up mostly of American Jews . While British spies plot to kill Adolph Hitler. At the same time a Jewish woman sets out her personal vendetta against the Nazis. In the end, all three fronts cross paths in a fiery climax ,ironically, in a cinema. Now, being acquainted to Tarantino's other works, I can say that this film will always be a cult favorite. The over- the- top-bloody scenes, eclectic and interesting group of characters, mixed with Quentin Tarantino's trade mark style of filming to match, makes anyone tired of the done-to-death movies, giddy with excitement as well as a win for morally superior humans, though, Nazi sympathizers may not enjoy it.

So Much Blood!

Intro to the Bear Jew

Like in most of Tarantino's films, blood, is practically a need more than a want. However, instead of adding it for overall shock value, this film uses an excess of blood to add perhaps a bit of humanity back into an evil backdrop. Too much blood?Never! The brutal acts in almost all the scenes of this film are directed towards officers of the Nazi party making them crucial in arousing passionate Hell-Yeahs from the audience.

German soldier gets clubbed to death

Perhaps one of the best scenes of the movie is when the Bear Jew is introduced. The Bear Jew (Donny Donowitz) is the poster child of Jewish revenge. As part of a troop(nicknamed 'The Basterds by German soldiers) aimed at killing any Nazi that stumbles on to their path, the Bear Jew is probably the most- lets just say- enthusiastic of the bunch. Rather than scalping German soldiers his killed,  which is how The Basterds do their biding, "He beats German soldiers with a club" wait...no " He bashes their brains in with a baseball bat" either way the end result involves a lot or red gooey stuff. The aim of The Basterds is to strike fear onto the Nazis the way they do through intimidation and torture. No one needs to tell us of the atrocities committed by the Nazis and their Fuhrer, sixth grade should have taken care of that. So when Donny picks up that old beaten up bat and hits a home run off the heads of every German officer his righteous baseball bat graces, you could say its pretty justified and its probably the only humanity Nazis will ever experience in their lives. This fact resonates well with us because its exactly what we think about when we are first learning about WW2.

Stiglitz killing German officers

Another example would be Hugo Stiglitz, a man who matches Donny Donowitz vigor ,but who out numbers him in scalping and overall rampage. This guy is as brutal as they come. Hugo was interestingly a German enlisted soldier who killed 13 Gestapo officers ( Nazi Germany secret state police). My favorite scene is when the film shows what looks like a blooper reel of Stiglitz killing those officers, it was laughably ridiculous. I couldn't look away and I found myself looking up the scene on YouTube daily just to re-live the moment all over again.
Hugo is the most interesting of the group because he was once part of the German army. One can't help but ask did he go into the army with the intent of killing German officers?or did he realize that he was part of the bad side of history. Regardless you see that Stiglitz possess a level of humanity through his killing by killing those perpetuating evil.

Aldo Raine gives Landa a swastika

Finally we come to the scene where Lt. Raine  carves a swastika on Col Landas forehead.Originally Landa had surrendered and made a deal with an O.S.S commander  where in he tries to get away with war crimes claiming he was a double agent and part of "Operation Kino" meaning his crimes would have been a necessary evil to his cover with the Germans. His conditional surrender ,among others, included the purchase of land in Nantucket Island. Of course this does not sit well with Lt Raine. Raine asks Landa, "I image you gonna take off that handsome looking SS uniform of your, ain't ya?"Landa is silent. "That's what i thought...if i had it my way ,you'd wear that goddamn uniform for the rest of your pecker suckin life...but...that aint practical...so I'm gonna give you a little somethin you can't take off. Aldo Raine whittles a swastika on Landas forehead proclaiming it his masterpiece. This part was surprisingly the only part where I cringed .Aldo has Landa pinned beneath him while he squirms in agony. Aldo feels he cannot let Landa get away with his war crimes and live a comfortable life on Nantucket Island so he brands him for the rest of his life. Aldo's determination symbolizes an endless quest to hold those responsible for the suffering in the world by giving him a dose of humanities revenge.

Nazis, Vedettas, and Aldo Raine

In spite of the two fronts in the movie ( Good guys vs. Nazis) almost every character brings a unique dimension to the film. Even though each character is on either side of the war, they all have various reasons for why they do, say and think.

Burn the Town

One such characters is Shosanna Dreyfus. After the murder of her entire family, by the hands of Nazis under command evil slicker Col Hanz Landa, she becomes the owner of a small cinema. Although her intention was not to become involved with the premier of a German film she takes advantage of this to execute revenge for her family and the Jewish people. In one of the most memorable scenes appropriately  titled "Revenge of the Giant Face", Shosanna has taped over a nationalistic film being shown in her cinema for German Night played by Fredrick Zoller, a German soldier turned actor who is romantically interested in Shosanna.

Giant Face

Zoller in film: Who has a message for Germany?
-Cut to Shosannas giant face on the screen
Shosanna : "I have a message for Germany.That you are all going to die! Marcel...burn the town. Marcel ignites the theater room filled with  high ranking German officers and the one and only,Hitler. The room up in flames, you seen Shosanna laughing, not on the screen, but on all the smoke. She then says a line that runs chills up my spine. " This is the face of Jewish revenge".
What I find funny about this is that at the same time there are American soldiers, English and German spies trying to do the exact same thing but Shosanna is the one who ends up killing everyone even without the knowledge of Col Landa, who, throughout the movie had figured pretty much everyone out.


Col Hanz Landa

wait for the cream

This charmingly evil man nicknamed the "Jew Hunter", is my favorite of all the characters. He is in charge of rounding up all the Jews left in France. His mannerism, small talk, and pauses in his speech are what really make this character for me. Apart from the superb acting by Christoph Waltz. Landas seemingly innocent conversations seems to harbor hidden knowledge of everyone  he speaks to. No one ever knows if he knows something about another character, but small clues suggest he does. The restaurant scene is the best example of this. After Shosannas family is murdered she makes a run for the woods near the house she lived in. Col Landa  stood being her as she ran trying to shoot her from the back but she was too far, meaning he never saw her face. This is key because when Shosanna agrees to use her cinema for German night,Landa, is the one who has to brief her in as standard procedure. She is seated at a table with Zoller and other officers when Landa walks in. He doesn't know her, but she knows exactly who he is. Now alone at the table, Landa offers her to try the strudel. when the waiter asks what they will drink. For him "A cup of expresso" for Shosanna "A glass of milk". Shosanna must have screamed inside. He either purposely ordered her milk to let her know he knows who she is, because she was housed by a dairy farmer or it was a terrifying coincidence. Again, we cant be to sure because Landa is just that cunning, manipulative, and sneaky that one just assumes that he must know or its just his intense personality . And just when you think things cannot get more tense, Landa takes out some cigaretts.
Landa: "I did have something else I wanted to ask you"
*soul crushing pause*
Landa:"But right now, for the life of me, I cant remember what it is. Oh well, must not of been important."
The intensity of that pause and Landa's expression bares resemblance to when he interrogated Mr Lapadite.


For some reason I could not upload the video, so here's the link
https://youtu.be/lydYhl1982Y


"Gorlami"
With all the charm of a  hillbilly from Tennessee, Aldo Raine brings some hilarity into  Inglorious Basterds in a way that does not take away the seriousness and grittiness of the film.One such moment is the famous "Italian Scene". Under cover as Bridget Von Hammersmark Italian friend, Aldo Raine, "Enzo Gorlomi", tries to introduce himself to Col.Landa at the premier of German night.
Bridget introduces three Italian friends. After introducing DonnyDonowitz(Antonio Margheriti)

Briget: A very talented cameraman, Enzo Gorlomi.
Landa: Gorlomi...? *in Italian* I'm i saying it correctly...?
Raine: * speaks Italian in a thick southern American accent*  UhhYes. Correct.

 Aldo butchers his last name over and over again

If they ever had a fighting chance of passing as Italian, Aldo ruins it. Its so bad and so insanely obvious it made me laugh and cringe at the same time. But even with the laughable moments in the movie it did not make the movie seem in light of whats actually happening. I still felt the emotions of the Resturant scene, the scene when shosannas family is murdered, even the seen when Bridget it strangled to death by Landa. Its seems with all the darkness in the film Tarantino sprinkled just the right amount of laughable moments at appropriate times.

'Tarantian'

Within all of Tarantino's works you'll find that when something is about to get serious, there's a sudden change in mood. An assault of various so called 'Tarantian' techniques reach their pinnacle to establish some sort of theme or event, usually involving how a specific shot is taken, music or dialogue.

The Pipe scene                                                            

This scene I think establishes the character Col Landa spectacularly, partly because of the amazing acting of Christoph Waltz.Col. Landa has come to the Lapadite home on French cow country. Landa tells Mr Lapadite "Any information that would make my job easier will not be met with punishment. Quite the contrary, it will be mt with reward". Here we see Landas words are at work. Lapadite expression is visibly shaken. His eyes glistening with tears. Landa sees this and looks at him as if to say "I've got you". A long pause is endured until Landa speaks again. "You are harboring enemies  of the state, are you not?". Lapadite unable to keep his cool no longer lets out a low breathy "Yes". Landa gets up, and the sound of a faint siren is heard. Then as soon as Landa's soldiers come in, it sounds as the siren is right out side the door. A hail storm of bullet directed towards the floor boards where the Dreyfuses (Jewish family) are hidden  irrupts. All of this combined sets the mood, first of uncertainty about whether of not Lapadite will hold off any longer. Then of great sadness as you see him crumble with the words of Col. Landa. The siren sound lets you in on whats about to happen. A culmination of the scene and the murder of the Dreyfuses.

"Bergsteigen?"
Another scene that establishes a mood is the scene in which German actress( British spy)Bridget Von Hammersmark explains to Col Landa how she "Broke" her leg mountain climbing. The real explanation is that it was shot but divulging this would rat her out about her alliance with the British. Col Landa however already knows how she hurt her leg, but decides to play with her mind; true to his off-putting personality.
Landa: "How did you hurt you leg"
Bridget:" Mountain climbing"
Landa:"Mountain climbing?"
Landa: *Overly-exaggerated-maniacal laugh*
Here Landa is just having a ball. You can tell he doesn't believe a word Bridget has just said and proceeds to rub it in her face. You cant help but think what a little worm Landa is but at the same time it makes you laugh because it so insanely obvious that Landa enjoys what he does. He likes to mess with peoples minds. He lets them mess up. He's a masochist.




Revenge of the Giant Fave
Nothing gets a person more pumped up than when your getting ready to enact revenge on a bunch of dirty Nazis. Add some David Bowie's "Cat people" in the background, close-ups, and panoramic shots, you got a hell of a montage.
Shosanna  gets prepared from German Night in her cinema. In a few scenes we see her applying make-up. I've never seen the application of make-up look so empowering and especially not in this context. The close-ups on her face and her eyes make it look like she's even more determined than she could have led on otherwise. The  David Bowie in the background is like an earlier "Eye of the Tiger". And lastly the scene where Shosanna leans on her balcony overseeing  the unsuspecting guest we see her view , a panaramic view of all the major officers of the Nazi party, and then Shosanna, with a smile on her face.

5 out of 5 would recommend

This movie had all the makings of an awesome movie. The over use of blood, strange but complementary concoction of character, and Quentin Tarantino's trade mark directing style makes viewers want to stalk every masterful filled  scene . Although it is not an accurate representation of history as Daniel Mendelsohn said "You get to witness a horribly familiar Holocaust atrocity--with a deeply unfamiliar twist"- to put it lightly. Quentin likes " The power of the cinema that fights the Nazis...but not just as a metaphor , but as a literal reality". From 35 mm nitrate films burning up the cinemas to endless references to old Hollywood movies, Inglorious Basterds is a tribute to the film industry as well as satisfactory to our feelings. However some have argued that the Jews in this film are no worse than the Nazis. For example Mendelsohn says that " Do you really want audiences cheering for a revenge that turns Jews in carbon copies of Nazis". I say its the least Nazis deserve. They had no humanity or mercy why should the Jew hunters. Are we really going to say "Hey, Shosanna, just let it go".I sure wouldn't. Overall i'd say give this movie a go. If violence is not your thing, look at the acting, or dialogue, either way you'll find something and it will make you a Tarantino fan for sure.





Mendelsohn], [Daniel]. [EBook When Jews Attack]. [Newsweek]: [Publisher], [2009]. [Ebook Host]. Web. [8/24/2009 ].