Writings #5: Inglorious Bastards

1 minute read

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Part 5 in a collection of posts where I’ll give some of my thoughts and analysis on essays, short stories, novels, movies, etc. It is not really anything academic, but purely for me to practice my writing.

Inglorious Basterds

A motion picture by Quentin Tarantino

Bearing the mark of its director Inglorious Basterds lives up to the description of Tarantino-esque. Thorough character development and over-the-top violence are littered thoughout the split storyline, as history is rewritten. The ultimate retribution is perplexing, yet leaves the viewer with some sense of justification.

Opening the film brilliantly Tarantino captures the audience with, perhaps, the most enthralling scene of the entire picture. In the commencing sequence Perrier LaPadite (played by Denis Menochet), a French dairy farmer, is interrogated by a German officer aptly nicknamed the “Jew-Hunter”. With torment across his face Perrier is implicated in hiding Jews as he dithers between the safety of his three daughters and the Dreyfus family silently awaiting judgment below the soles of his workboots and a few thin, squeaky boards. Christoph Waltz, who plays Colonel Hans Landa a.k.a. the “Jew-Hunter”, establishes himself as diabolical. While grilling Perrier, his demeanor is calm and proud, despite achieving notoriety through genocide. Unfortunately, the Dreyfus family, barring the daughter Shosanna, does not survive their stay under the LaPadite’s floor. Shosanna, leaving behind her ill-fated family, escapes and begins one of the major sub-plots of the movie. The opening minutes, while they seem purposed to introduce the story of Shosanna Dreyfus, demonstrate the intent of Tarantino’s story. It is not another violent WW2 movie on top of a vast number of others, but will portray a message and meaning.

Meanwhile, parallel to the story of Shosanna, Lt. Aldo Raine (played by Brad Pitt) is introduced as the leader of a rag-tag squadron of Nazi killing Jews. The group stifles enough German operations to garner the attention of Nazi high command and Hitler himself.

WIP…

My Film Rating: 8.1 / 10

– Daniel Nichols

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