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Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Director:
Cast:
Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender
Summary:
In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner’s vengeful plans for the same. (IMDb)
Synopsys:
In German-occupied France, young Jewish refugee Shosanna Dreyfus witnesses the slaughter of her family by Colonel Hans Landa. Narrowly escaping with her life, she plots her revenge several years later when German war hero Fredrick Zoller takes a rapid interest in her and arranges an illustrious movie premiere at the theatre she now runs. With the promise of every major Nazi officer in attendance, the event catches the attention of the “Basterds”, a group of Jewish-American guerilla soldiers led by the ruthless Lt. Aldo Raine. As the relentless executioners advance and the conspiring young girl’s plans are set in motion, their paths will cross for a fateful evening that will shake the very annals of history. (IMDb)
Review
Tarantino makes films about films. He is a student of film and me makes no excuse for that, he uses his influences in all his movies. I the above interview he acknowledges that Inglourious Basterds is a homage to the Spaghetti Western and the caper film. I did feel that way back in 2009 when I first went to the cinema to watch the movie – although I didn’t spot the Spaghetti Western then but it reminded me of one of my all time guilty pleasure film “Kelly’s Hero’s.”
The first 3rd of the movie is classic Spaghetti Western, with the use of cuts between close-up and extreme close-ups. The drama of the opening scene with Col. Landa interviewing the dairy farmer is incredibly tense, although Landa has a slight cartoon-ness to his character, which again is reminiscent of the Spaghetti Western.
While not classic propaganda Tarantino is putting forward his point of view in his films; profoundly influenced by the earlier film “The Battle of Algiers” which is a well-balanced film about the struggle for independence in Algeria from both the French Establishment and the insurgent’s point of view.
The referencing people shot hiding behind false walls echoed in Inglorious Basterds, and the female rebels were hiding in plain sight by dressing as French is explicitly homaged by Shosanna Dreyfus dying her hair blonde and running a cinema in the centre of occupied Paris.
Going back to propaganda the central theme of Inglourious Basterds is the importance of propaganda; Hitler and Goebbels are producing a film about the exploits of a German soldier fort the German market and the allies want to disrupt it.
Obviously, the ending of Inglourious Basterds is fanciful – we know that Hitler was not involved in a shootout at a film premiere in Paris – let alone potentially killed. However, the other themes of the movie are plausible and well presented to the audience (if in a very violent way). It shows the vicious ruthlessness of the SS, shows how soldiers operated behind enemy lines. I could be seen as an accurate portrayal of occupied Paris and of how the war was fought. There the question has asked of some watched this movie with no idea of what happened during the Second World War what would they think or believe?