Note: for those of you who have not seen the film yet, I should warn you this entry contains a serious spoiler, as it reveals the movie's final scene.
One of my favourite movies is Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, named after Enzo G. Castellari's 1978 macaroni combat film, The Inglorious Bastards.
Set in World War II, the plot is divided into two parallel stories, one about young French Jewish cinema proprietor Shosanna, who seeks revenge for the murder of her family, the other about a group of Jewish American soldiers led by first lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt). Their objective is the same: to kill the Nazi high command.
My favorite scene is the very last one. Hitler is assassinated along with his generals, but unscrupulous SS colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) is alive and on his way to freedom, as he managed to broker a deal with US intelligence agency. Aldo Raine and his companion, Utivich, are in charge of escorting Landa with his radio operator, but Raine can’t stand the fact that the astute general will escape unpunished. He could easily kill him, but he has to respect the agreement. However, we witness an unexpected turnaround. Raine shoots the radio operator and has Utivich collect his scalp. Finally, Raine asks Landa the well-known question if he is going to take off his uniform after all. The German officer doesn’t say a word, as he knows what is going to happen. Raine, guessing what the answer is, takes out his knife as he tells Landa that he’s going to give him some uniform he will never be able to take off. As he did to all the German soldiers whom he spared lives before, he carves the symbol of the swastika on the colonel’s forehead, claiming that "it just might be my masterpiece".
Throughout the film, Colonel Landa shows an extreme intelligence and ability of adapting to any situation, but in the end he makes a fatal mistake by underestimating his opponents.
Besides the fantastic characterization made by the excellent cast led by Pitt and Waltz, I have to highlight the wonderful soundtrack, which includes eight tracks composed by the great Ennio Morricone. To give you a taste of Morricone's fabulous music in the film, this is just one small sample:
Thanks Jelena! I think I told you guys in class how much I loved "Basterds", which made me change my dubious, as it were, mind about Tarantino's film-making and his always controversial flicks.
You know, if I had to choose one particular moment from the movie, I'd rather go for the "glorious" Nazi cinema scene. You know, to me it's so so visually (and sonically - at least it was in the movie theatre!) STUNNING! However gory and graphically violent it may look to the weaker-minded, I just can't help loving it!
Great scene of a great movie indeed!! I think the power of this scene isn't the rawness of the images but its long-lasting consequences. I'm sure Hans Landa, a splendid Christoph Waltz, would rather have been killed than scarred and exposed as a known Nazi for the rest of his life. I really believe that this is a film one must see in Original Version because of the great variety of languages and accents.This is clearly shown in the bar scene where one can even feel the tension between the characters.
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