Quentin Tarantino: Proud of His Basterds
Pulp Fiction Director Says - This Just Might be My Masterpiece
Oct 16, 2009
Inglourious Basterds is a Spaghetti Western war film; thus, many references and shot angles are in tribute to John Ford and Sergio Leone to name a few Western directors. Though what makes Basterds an exciting film; is in the craft of its storytelling. Not only are the sequences well-interconnected, but also the film references are pertinent and meaningful to the story. The film is particularly engaging in the novel representation of cliche characters and its refreshing representation of WWII.
The White Hell of PIz Palu
The White Hell of Piz Palu stars Leni Riefenstahl before she became a well-established director for the Reich. The Jewish girl who escapes Col. Landa, Shosanna Dreyfus, appears at the beginning of Chapter 3, taking down the letters of this film from her cinema. As she removes the letters, she is approached by Private Zoller who tries to captivate her with his knowledge of films. Firstly, Shosanna appears on a higher level than the Nazi, standing on a ladder looking down on Zoller. In many scenes she comes from above, the projector room, the top of the stairs, or the top of the ladder, and she descends on the Nazis. The other main Jewish characters, the Basterds, also are introduced above the Nazis, standing on a train trestle in the opening of Chapter 2. Secondly, Shosanna removing the letters of this film foreshadows her attempt to liquidate the Nazis. Though 'Hell' in Riefenstahl's film is about a snowy mountain; 'Hell' is an important reference to what the Nazis did to the Jews in the camps and suggests what the ultimate Jewish revenge might entail: burning the Nazis. Thus, Shosanna becomes the face of vengeance for her people, by burning the Nazis in her cinema.
The Worthy Nemesis of the Basterds
Colonel Hans Landa is a well-matched antagonist for the Basterds; he is clever, accomplished and he has a nick-name too: the "Jew Hunter". It is engaging to watch his wits pitted against the Basterds and inevitably by the mistake of a British agent and a German agent, Aldo and his Basterds are captured and some murdered. Col. Landa's prowess is demonstrated not just in his reputation, but also in his unexpected meeting with Shosanna in Paris. He calmly sits across from her like he did with M. LaPadite and orders her strudel with creme and a glass of milk; coolly displaying that he knows exactly who she is. Curiously enough, he allows her to escape a second time, which may be attributed to the fact that his support of the Nazi regime was waning.
Landa's cleverness is also apparent in his deducing that Bridget Von Hammersmark was in league with the Basterds. In finding her shoe and the autographed handkerchief, he surmises who she is. Thus, at the premiere, he invites her into the office of the cinema, and with a twisted Cinderella reference, places her shoe back on her foot. He then knows for certain that "the Man in the White Suit" (an Alec Guinness film) is a Basterd, and Lt. Aldo Raine is finally captured.
Revenge of the Jews
The final cinema scene has several shot references to Fritz Lang's Metropolis, including Shosanna as the Giant Face and Zoller ascending the stairs. Shosanna, as she wanders through the crowd in red, is called Danielle Darrieux in reference to the film Madame de..., in which Darrieux plays a lovely comtesse whose name is never revealed.
Inglourious Basterds is a well-written script with a wealth of subtext to keep the suspense alive. The internal and external references give the film depth and keep the film engaging for cinephiles.
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