Katherine Dowdy
Staff Writer
kldowdy@valdosta.edu
Inglourious Basterds is not your average WWII movie. This is the fall of Hitler and the Third Reich through the eyes of Quentin Tarantino. Apart from the more historically accurate WWII films, Tarantino provides a witty account of vengeance for the Jews in Nazi Germany.
Inglourious Basterds opens with in Nazi-occupied France when 18-year-old Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent) witnesses the murder of her family conducted by Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). The scene ends with Shosanna’s escape as she desperately runs from the Nazis, drenched in her family’s blood. Later, making her way into Paris under a new identity where she owns and co-operates a cinema that will host a “Nations Pride Premier” and become the location point for Operation Kino.
Chapter Two introduces the Inglourious Basterds with Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) and their purpose to “do one thing and one thing only; and that’s killin’ Nazi’s.”
Later in the film, the Inglourious Basterds cross paths with famous actress Bridget Von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger). After discovering that she is also an undercover agent, the Basterds join forces with her in carrying out Operation Kino. The objective of Operation Kino is to end the war by blowing up Hitler and his officers in the cinema.
The movie comes to an explosive ending climax when Operation Kino is carried out simultaneously with Shosanna’s own operation of revenge. Hitler and his supporters are forced to look into the face of those he harmed, and feel the same pain they inflicted on many.
This amazingly creative film offers something for both male and female audiences. Writer and director Quentin Tarantino offers two strong, independent female leads. For both female and male audiences, an obvious attraction in the casting of this movie is to no other than Brad Pitt. However, for the few males that don’t admit to having a man-crush on Pitt, Tarantino upholds his legendary reputation by providing non-stop irony and action.
For everyone that knows Tarantino’s work, however, they can tell you that his movies are not for those that have a weak stomach.
One example is shown when Lt. Raine brands a Swastika in the foreheads of the Nazi’s that the Basterds allow to live for dispensing classified information. Lt. Raine explains that once the Nazi is set free, he can just take his uniform off and forget about the horrible things he has done and caused. This brand is, as Lt. Raine says, “something you can’t take off,” and serves as a permanent reminder of the individual’s part in the Nazi group.
Therefore, nothing less than explosive, bloody action can be expected of the legendary writer/director. If you are not able to stomach Nazi’s getting scalped, numerous killings and what seems to be 10 seconds of the gruesome murder of Hitler, then this movie is not for you.
However, if you want to see an alternate view of WWII in the mind of Quentin Tarantino, you will be sure to check out this highly ironic and forceful account of retribution against Hitler and his followers.