Tarantino’s Western begins with “Once Upon a Time… in Nazi Occupied France”, which is a reference to Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West, the father of the Spaghetti Westerns. The music over the credits is also in tribute to Sergio Leone’s film, a remixed Western-style Fur Elise. The opening scene is filmed in Western style, particularly in the fashion of John Ford. For example, the shot from inside the house to the Jewish girl, Shosanna running away, is reminiscent of John Ford’s classic shot from the Searchers. The shack the French farmers live in is reminiscent of those used in Western films; as is their lifestyle: the cattle farmers were frequently the innocent people in Westerns, being terrorized by either gunslingers or Indians. In this case, the LaPadite family is terrorized by Nazis for sheltering Jews.
Jewish Vengeance
The Inglourious Basterds, a group of soldiers on a mission to avenge the Jews, are reminiscent of the Magnificent Seven. An assembled group of gunfighters who help defend the homes of an oppressed Mexican peasant village. The Basterds are lead by Lt. Aldo Raine, also known as Aldo the Apache. He hires 8 Jews to help him on his quest, and whilst in Germany, the group rescues a German soldier, with a rich Nazi-killing past, to aid them. Another device used in Westerns: breaking an outlaw out of jail.
Nazi-Scalping Apache
Lt. Aldo Raine, is referred to as Aldo the Apache because he is son to the Mountain Man Jim Bridges, an ‘Injun’ in the Apache Resistance; hence, his penchant for scalping Nazis. Aldo has a Southern accent, which suggests that he is a Confederate. (The Western film generally takes place after the Civil War and the hero is usually a Confederate from the South). There are several Apache references which may pay homage to John Ford’s Fort Apache or just that in many Westerns, Apaches were the most fierce 'Injuns' to fight. During the card playing game, one of the Germans is Winnetou, the Chief of the Apaches and on the night of Zoller’s Premiere, referred to as the German “Sergeant York”, Emmanuelle Mimieux smears her rouge like war paint, Apache-style.
Western Civilization
Inglourious Basterds takes place in the heart of Western Civilization, Paris. In Westerns, the small towns in the middle of the desert were considered civilized if they a church. In Basterds, Paris is considered a civilized Western town when Goebbels, followed by his entourage, states that Mimieux's cinema “has the presence of a church”, adding that they should bring "Greek nudes" from the Louvre. This statement suggests that Germans are the uncivilized gunslingers who are terrorizing this French town.
Western Shoot Out
No Western would be complete without the bar room shoot out and the bartender with the shot gun under the bar. Thus, in Basterds, the end of the second act closes on a shoot out between the good guys and the bad guys ending in a "Mexican Stand-off".
Tarantino courageously revised sentiments and history in his new film, Inglourious Basterds. Though, Tarantino't film is a remake of Enzo Castellari's Quel Maledetto Tremo Blindato, it is a refreshing reinterpretation of the Spaghetti Western.
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