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Inglourious Basterds
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox film
| name = Inglourious Basterds
| image = Inglourious Basterds poster.jpg
| alt = Official poster
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = Quentin Tarantino
| producer = Lawrence Bender
| writer = Quentin Tarantino
| starring =
| music =
| cinematography = Robert Richardson
| editing = Sally Menke
| studio =
| distributor =
| released =
| runtime = 153 minutes
| country =
| language =
| budget = $70million
| gross = $321.5million
}}
'Inglourious Basterds' is a 2009 war film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Daniel Brhl, Til Schweiger and Mlanie Laurent. The film tells an alternate history story of two plots to assassinate Nazi Germany's leadershipone planned by Shosanna Dreyfus, a young French Jewish cinema proprietor, and the other by the British but ultimately conducted solely by a team of Jewish American soldiers led by First Lieutenant Aldo Raine. Christoph Waltz co-stars as Hans Landa, an SS colonel in charge of tracking down Raine's group. The title was inspired by Italian director Enzo G. Castellari's 1978 Euro War film 'The Inglorious Bastards', though Tarantino's film is not a remake of it.
Tarantino wrote the script in 1998, but struggled with the ending and chose instead to direct the two-part film Kill Bill. After directing 'Death Proof' in 2007, Tarantino returned to work on 'Inglourious Basterds'. A co-production of the United States and Germany, the film began principal photography in October 2008 and was filmed in Germany and France with a $70 million production budget. It premiered on May 20, 2009, at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival, and received a wide release in theaters in the United States and Europe in August 2009 by The Weinstein Company and Universal Pictures.
'Inglourious Basterds' grossed over $321.5 million in theaters worldwide, making it Tarantino's highest-grossing film to that point, until it was surpassed in box office by 'Django Unchained' (2012) and 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' (2019). The film received generally positive reviews with Waltz's performance as Hans Landa being singled out for praise, but some criticized the historical liberties taken. It also won multiple awards and nominations, among them eight Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay). For his role as Landa, Waltz won the Cannes Film Festival's Best Actor Award, as well as the BAFTA, Screen Actors Guild, Critics' Choice, Golden Globe, and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Plot
In 1941, SS-Standartenfhrer Hans Landa interrogates French farmer Perrier LaPadite as to the whereabouts of a Jewish family, the Dreyfuses. Landa suspects the Dreyfuses are hiding under their floorboards, which LaPadite tearfully confirms in exchange for the Nazis promising to no longer harass his own family. Landa orders his soldiers to shoot through the floorboards, killing all the Dreyfuses except for the young Shoshanna, who manages to escape.
Three years later, Lieutenant Aldo Raine recruits eight Jewish-American soldiers into "the Basterds", a new commando unit formed to instill fear among Nazis by killing and scalping them behind enemy lines. The team includes Sergeant Donny "The Bear Jew" Donowitz and the Austrian-born Corporal Wilhelm Wicki, who serves as their translator; they soon add a rogue German soldier, Sergeant Hugo Stiglitz, as the ninth recruit after saving him from a death sentence for killing several Nazi commanders. The Basterds successfully ambush a German patrol in France led by Sergeant Werner Rachtman, who refuses to provide the Basterds with classified military information and is ultimately beaten to death by Donowitz. In Germany, Adolf Hitler interviews the sole survivor of the ambush, Private Butz, who shows a swastika that was carved into his forehead by Raine to ensure he'll forever be branded a Nazi even after the war's end, but does not reveal that he disclosed the classified information to the Basterds.
Shoshanna has gone into hiding in Paris, operating a cinema under the name Emmanuelle Mimieux. She meets German sniper Fredrick Zoller, famed for killing 250 Allied soldiers in a single battle and who recently starred as himself in 'Stolz der Nation' ('Nation's Pride'), a Nazi propaganda film which dramatizes his famous battle. Infatuated with Shoshanna, Zoller convinces Joseph Goebbels to hold the grand premiere of 'Stolz der Nation' at her cinema, which will be attended by several high-ranking members of the Nazi Party including Goebbels, Hermann Gring and Martin Bormann. Landa, as the head of security for the premiere, interrogates Shoshanna, who barely maintains her cover despite recognizing Landa as the man who executed her family. Shoshanna plots with her Afro-French lover and projectionist, Marcel, to set the cinema ablaze during the premiere, killing the Nazi leaders in attendance.
Meanwhile, British Commando Lieutenant Archie Hicox, a former film critic who specialized in German cinema, is chosen to lead a separate British attack on the 'Stolz der Nation' premiere with the help of the Basterds. Hicox, Stiglitz and Wicki go to a tavern in German-occupied northern France and disguise themselves as Nazi officers to meet with Allied spy Bridget von Hammersmark, a German film star who's been invited to the premiere. Hicox draws unwanted attention from Wehrmacht Sergeant Wilhelm and Gestapo Major Dieter Hellstrm during the meeting, and inadvertently blows his cover by using a British hand gesture rather than the Continental European equivalent. A gunfight ensues, resulting in the death of everyone in the tavern except for von Hammersmark, who is shot in the leg, and Sergeant Wilhelm. Raine arrives and negotiates with Wilhelm for von Hammersmark's release, but she shoots Wilhelm dead when he lowers his guard. The Basterds take von Hammersmark to a nearby veterinary clinic for medical treatment; Raine briefly tortures her, believing that she set his men up, but stops when she convinces him of her loyalty. Von Hammersmark then reveals that Hitler will also be at the premiere, and Raine decides that the mission can continue with himself, Donowitz and Basterds soldier Omar Ulmer taking the place of Hicox, Stiglitz and Wicki.
Landa, shortly before the premiere, arrives at the tavern to investigate and finds a shoe left behind by von Hammersmark, and a napkin with her signature. On the night of the 'Stolz der Nation' premiere, Von Hammersmark encounters Landa after arriving with Raine, Donowitz and Ulmer disguised as Italian filmmakers, with timed explosives strapped to their ankles. Landa then takes von Hammersmark to a back room, where he executes her after using her lost shoe to prove that she was in the tavern.
Raine and Basterds soldier Smithson Utivich are taken prisoner and brought to Landa, who tells them that he'll allow their mission to proceed if they help him to avoid being tried for crimes against humanity when the war is over. Landa makes radio contact with Raine's OSS superiors and negotiates a deal wherein he will be given safe passage through the Allied lines to America, a full pardon, and various other privileges in exchange for allowing the Basterds to wipe out the Nazi leadership and bring the war to a swift end.
During the screening, Zoller slips away to the projection room and attempts to force himself on Shoshanna. She resists, but eventually lets him in and tells him to lock the door, shooting him as his back is turned. As Shoshanna watches the film, however, she starts to feel pity for Zoller, whom she then realizes is still alive. She walks over to Zoller and lays her hand on him, but he suddenly turns to face her and fatally shoots her multiple times before finally succumbing to his own wounds. As the film reaches its climax, the projector starts playing Shoshanna's spliced-in footage, which shows her telling the audience that they are about to be killed by a Jew. Having locked the auditorium doors, Marcel ignites a pile of flammable film behind the screen, and Shoshanna's image continues laughing as the theater goes up in flames. Ulmer and Donowitz, in line with the Basterds' attack plan, break into the opera box containing Hitler and Goebbels and shoot them both dead in a hail of machine gun fire, before turning their guns on the crowd below; eventually, their explosives detonate and completely destroy the theater, killing everyone inside.
Landa and his radio operator drive into Allied territory alongside Raine and Utivich, the only surviving Basterds. Upon arriving, Landa surrenders himself to the Basterds, but Raine shoots the radio operator dead and orders Utivich to scalp him. Raine then confronts Landa about what he plans to do in America and quickly concludes that Landa will try to hide from his Nazi past, which Raine finds unacceptable. To rectify this, Raine restrains Landa and carves a swastika into his forehead, claiming that it might just be his "masterpiece".
Cast
* Brad Pitt as Lieutenant aka "The Apache", the battle-hardened commanding officer of the Basterds. Raine is a coal miner and bootlegger from the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, where he fought against the Ku Klux Klan. He survived a lynching and is a descendant of Jim Bridger and the Bridger family. He was a member of the Devil's Brigade where he was trained in guerrilla warfare.
* Mlanie Laurent as / Emmanuelle Mimieux, an 18 year old Jewish cinema owner whose family was executed by Landa when she was 15 years old. Shosanna manages to escape due to luck and Landa's decision to not pursue her. Most of The Bride's attributes from Tarantino's 'Kill Bill' come from Tarantino's original development of Shosanna for 'Inglourious Basterds' which he started to work on before 'Kill Bill'. Originally Shosanna was an assassin who had a list of Nazis she would cross off as she killed, whom Tarantino described as a Jewish Joan of Arc. Tarantino later switched the character attributes over to The Bride and later redeveloped Shosanna into the version who appears in the film.
* Christoph Waltz as 'Standartenfhrer' Hans Landa, a ruthless SS officer. Known by the sobriquet "The Jew Hunter".
* Eli Roth as Sergeant aka "The Bear Jew" a brooding member of the Basterds who executes Nazis with his baseball bat. In Tarantino's screenplay Donowitz is likened to Joshua and his bat to the sword of Gideon. Roth channeled actor Tony Curtis for his portrayal per Tarantino's direction. Donny is the father of Tarantino-created film producer Lee Donowitz (Saul Rubinek) who appeared in 'True Romance'.
* Michael Fassbender as Lieutenant Archie Hicox, a British commando and former film critic who assists the Basterds on their mission in France. Hicox was patterned after actor George Sanders.
* Diane Kruger as Bridget Von Hammersmark, a German film star turned spy for the Allies. Tarantino based Hammersmark on Hungarian actress Ilona Massey. For her portrayal of the character Kruger was inspired by German actress Hildegard Knef.
* Daniel Brhl as Fredrick Zoller, a German army sniper whose story is made into a propaganda film. He was inspired by Matthus Hetzenauer. Tarantino also created Zoller as a Nazi Audie Murphy.
* Til Schweiger as Sergeant Hugo Stiglitz, a former German army soldier who murdered numerous Gestapo officers and is recruited by the Basterds.
* B. J. Novak as Smithson "The Little Man" Utivich, short and slightly built member of the Basterds unit.
* Gedeon Burkhard as Wilhelm Wicki, the translator and Austrian-born member of the Basterds unit.
* Jacky Ido as Marcel
* Omar Doom as Omar Ulmer, member of the Basterds unit.
* Samm Levine as Gerald Hirschberg, member of the Basterds unit.
* August Diehl as 'Sturmbannfhrer' Dieter Hellstrom
* Denis Mnochet as Perrier LaPadite
* Sylvester Groth as Joseph Goebbels
* Martin Wuttke as Adolf Hitler
* Mike Myers as General Ed Fenech
* Julie Dreyfus as Francesca Mondino
* Richard Sammel as Sergeant Werner Rachtman
* Alexander Fehling as Sergeant Wilhelm
* Rod Taylor as Winston Churchill
* Snke Mhring as Butz and Walter Frazer
* Paul Rust as Andy Kagan, member of the Basterds unit.
* Michael Bacall as Michael Zimmerman, member of the Basterds unit.
* Carlos Fidel as Simon Sakowitz, member of the Basterds unit.
* Ken Duken as "Mata Hari" soldier
* Christian Berkel as Eric
* Anne-Sophie Franck as Mathilda
* La Seydoux as Charlotte LaPadite
* Tina Rodriguez as Julie LaPadite
* Lena Friedrich as Suzanne LaPadite
* Jana Pallaske as Babette
* Rainer Bock as General Schonherr, member of the Nazi high military command.
* Michael Scheel as General Frank, member of the Nazi high military command.
* Buddy Joe Hooker as Gaspar
* Christian Brckner as Kliest
* Hilmar Eichhorn as Emil Jannings
* Patrick Elias as Jakob Dreyfus
* Eva Lbau as Miriam Dreyfus
* Salvadore Brandt as Bob Dreyfus
* Jasper Linnewedel as Amos Dreyfus
Director Enzo G. Castellari also makes a cameo appearance in the film at the movie premiere. He previously cameoed as a German in his own 'The Inglorious Bastards' and reprised the same role in this film, but under a different rank and SS organization. Bo Svenson, who starred in Castellari's 'The Inglorious Bastards', also has a small cameo in the film as a US colonel in the 'Nation's Pride' movie.
Additionally Samuel L. Jackson narrates the movie, Harvey Keitel voices the Office of Strategic Services Commander, Bela B. appears as an usher and Tarantino appears as an American soldier in 'Nation's Pride' and a scalped Nazi. Two characters, Mrs. Himmelstein and Madame Ada Mimieux, played by Cloris Leachman and Maggie Cheung, respectively, were both cut from the final film due to length.
Production
Development
Tarantino spent just over a decade creating the film's script because, as he told Charlie Rose in an interview, he became "too precious about the page", meaning the story kept growing and expanding. Tarantino viewed the script as his masterpiece in the making, so felt it had to become the best thing he had ever written. He described an early premise of the film as his "bunch-of-guys-on-a-mission" film, "my 'Dirty Dozen' or 'Where Eagles Dare' or 'Guns of Navarone' kind of thing".By 2002, Tarantino found 'Inglourious Basterds' to be a bigger film than planned and saw that other directors were working on World War II films. Tarantino had produced three nearly finished scripts, proclaiming that it was "some of the best writing I've ever done. But I couldn't come up with an ending." He moved on to direct the two-part film 'Kill Bill' (20032004). After the completion of 'Kill Bill', Tarantino went back to his first storyline draft and considered making it a mini-series. Instead he trimmed the script, using his script for 'Pulp Fiction' as a guide to length. The revised premise focused on a group of soldiers who escape from their executions and embark on a mission to help the Allies. He described the men as "not your normal hero types that are thrown into a big deal in the Second World War".
Tarantino planned to begin production in 2005. In November 2004, he delayed production and instead took an acting role in Takashi Miike's Western film 'Sukiyaki Western Django,' and intended to make a kung fu film entirely in Mandarin; this project foundered. He directed 'Death Proof' (2007), part of the double feature 'Grindhouse', before returning to work on 'Inglourious Basterds'.
The film's title was inspired by the English-language title of director Enzo G. Castellari's 1978 war film, 'The Inglorious Bastards'. When pushed, Tarantino would not explain the first 'u' in 'Inglourious', but said, "The 'Basterds'? That's just the way you say it: 'Basterds'." He later stated that the misspelled title is "a Basquiat-esque touch". He further commented on 'Late Show with David Letterman' that 'Inglourious Basterds' is a "Quentin Tarantino spelling". Tarantino has said that the film's opening scene, in which Landa interrogates the French dairy farmer, is his "favorite thing" he's "ever written".
Casting
Tarantino originally sought Leonardo DiCaprio to be cast as Hans Landa, before deciding to have the character played by a native German-speaking actor. The role ultimately went to Austrian Christoph Waltz who, according to Tarantino, "gave me my movie" as he feared the part was "unplayable". Pitt and Tarantino had wanted to work together for a number of years, but they were waiting for the right project. When Tarantino was halfway through the film's script, he sensed that Pitt was a strong possibility for the role of Aldo Raine. By the time he had finished writing, Tarantino thought Pitt "would be terrific" and called Pitt's agent to ask if he was available.
Tarantino asked Adam Sandler to play the role of Donny Donowitz, but Sandler declined due to schedule conflicts with the film 'Funny People'. Eli Roth was cast in the role instead. Roth also directed the film-within-the-film, 'Nation's Pride', which used 300 extras. The director also wanted to cast Simon Pegg in the film as Lt. Archie Hicox, but he was forced to drop out due to scheduling difficulties with Spielberg's 'Tintin' adaptation. Irish-German actor Michael Fassbender began final negotiations to join the cast as Hicox in August 2008, although he originally auditioned for the role of Landa. B. J. Novak was also cast in August 2008 as Private First Class Smithson Utivich, "a New York-born soldier of 'slight build'".
Tarantino talked to actress Nastassja Kinski about playing the role of Bridget von Hammersmark and even flew to Germany to meet her, but a deal could not be reached and Tarantino cast Diane Kruger instead. Rod Taylor was effectively retired from acting and no longer had an agent, but came out of retirement when Tarantino offered him the role of Winston Churchill in the film. This would be Taylor's last appearance on film before his death on January 7, 2015. In preparation for the role, Taylor watched dozens of DVDs with footage of Churchill in order to get the Prime Minister's posture, body language, and voice, including a lisp, correct. Taylor initially recommended British actor Albert Finney for the role during their conversation, but agreed to take the part because of Tarantino's "passion." Mike Myers, a fan of Tarantino, had inquired about being in the film since Myers' parents had been in the British Armed Forces. In terms of the character's dialect, Myers felt that it was a version of Received Pronunciation meeting the officer class, but mostly an attitude of "I'm fed up with this war and if this dude can end it, great because my country is in ruins." Tarantino met Mlanie Laurent in three rounds, reading all the characters on the first round. On the second meeting, he shared the lines with her; the third was a face-to-face dinner. During the dinner, he told Laurent, "Do you know somethingthere's just something I don't like. It's that you're famous in your country, and I'm really wanting to discover somebody." Laurent replied "No, no, no. ... I'm not so famous." After four days, he called to finalize her for the role of Shosanna. Samm Levine was cast as PFC Hirschberg, because, according to Levine, Tarantino was a big fan of 'Freaks and Geeks', which starred Levine.
Isabelle Huppert was originally cast in the role of Madame Mimieux before being fired due to creative differences. It was also reported that Catherine Deneuve was considered for the role.
According to French musician and actor Johnny Hallyday, Tarantino had originally written a role for him in the film.
Filming
Tarantino teamed with The Weinstein Company to prepare what he planned to be his film for production. In July 2008, Tarantino and executive producers Harvey and Bob Weinstein set up an accelerated production schedule to be completed for release at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009, where the film would compete for the Palme d'Or. The Weinstein Company co-financed the film and distributed it in the United States, and signed a deal with Universal Pictures to finance the rest of the film and distribute it internationally. Germany and France were scheduled as filming locations and principal photography started in October 2008 on location in Germany. Filming was scheduled to begin on October 13, 2008, and shooting started that week. Special effects were handled by KNB EFX Group with Greg Nicotero and much of the film was shot and edited in the Babelsberg Studio in Potsdam, Germany, and in Bad Schandau, a small spa town near Germany's border with the Czech Republic. Roth said that they "almost got incinerated", during the theater fire scene, as they projected the fire would burn at , but it instead burned at . He said the swastika was not supposed to fall either, as it was fastened with steel cables, but the steel softened and snapped. On January 11, 2013, on the BBC's 'The Graham Norton Show', Tarantino said that for the scene where Kruger was strangled, he personally strangled the actress, with his own bare hands, in one take, to aid authenticity.Following the film's screening at Cannes, Tarantino stated that he would be re-editing the film in June before its ultimate theatrical release, allowing him time to finish assembling several scenes that were not completed in time for the hurried Cannes premire.
Music
Tarantino originally wanted Ennio Morricone to compose the film's soundtrack. Morricone was unable to, because the film's sped-up production schedule conflicted with his scoring of Giuseppe Tornatore's 'Baara'. However, Tarantino did use eight tracks composed by Morricone in the film, with four of them included on the CD.
The opening theme is taken from the pseudo-folk ballad "The Green Leaves of Summer", which was composed by Dimitri Tiomkin and Paul Francis Webster for the opening of the 1960 film 'The Alamo'. The soundtrack uses a variety of music genres, including Spaghetti Western and R&B. Prominent in the latter part of the film is David Bowie's theme from the 1982 film 'Cat People'. The soundtrack, the first of Tarantino's not to include dialogue excerpts, was released on August 18, 2009.
Release
, Mlanie Laurent, and producer Lawrence Bender at a premiere for the film in August 2009
When the script's final draft was finished, it was leaked on the Internet and several Tarantino fan sites began posting reviews and excerpts from the script.
The film's first full teaser trailer premiered on 'Entertainment Tonight' on February 10, 2009, and was shown in US theaters the following week attached to 'Friday the 13th'. The trailer features excerpts of Lt. Aldo Raine talking to the Basterds, informing them of the plan to ambush and kill, torture, and scalp unwitting Nazi servicemen, intercut with various other scenes from the film. It also features the spaghetti-westernesque terms 'Once Upon A Time In Nazi Occupied France', which was considered for the film's title, and 'A Basterd's Work Is Never Done', a line not spoken in the final film (the line occurs in the script during the Bear Jew's backstory).
The film was released on August 19, 2009, in the United Kingdom and France, two days earlier than the US release date of August 21, 2009. It was released in Germany on August 20, 2009. Some European cinemas, however, showed previews starting on August 15. In Poland, the artwork on all advertisements and on DVD packaging is unchanged, but the title was translated non-literally to 'Bkarty Wojny' (Bastards of War), so that Nazi iconography could stylize the letter "O". Tarantino didn't misspell the title to differentiate his film from the 1978 movie by the same name. He said it instead was a creative decision which he initially refused to explain, simply saying that Basterds was spelled as such because that's just the way you say it.
Promotion in Germany and Austria
Universal Pictures adjusted the film's publicity materials and website in Germany and Austria to comply with both countries' penal laws, as the display of Nazi iconography is restricted there: the swastika was removed from the typography of the title, and the steel helmet had a bullet hole in place of the Nazi symbol. The site's download section was also revised to exclude wallpaper downloads that openly feature the swastika. Though advertising posters and wallpapers may not show Nazi iconography, this restriction does not apply to "works of art", according to German and Austrian law, so the film itself was not censored in either Germany or Austria.Home media
The film was released on single-disc DVD and a two-disc special-edition DVD and Blu-ray Disc on December 15, 2009, by Universal Studios Home Entertainment in the United States and Australia. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on December 7, 2009, in the UK. On its first week of release, the film was number two, only behind 'The Hangover', selling an estimated 1,581,220 DVDs, making $28,467,652 in the United States.The German version is 50 seconds longer than the American version. The scene in the tavern has been extended. Although in other countries, the extended scene was released as a bonus feature, the German theatrical, DVD, and Blu-ray versions are the only ones to include the full scene.
Reception
Box office
'Inglourious Basterds' grossed $120.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $200.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide gross $321.4 million, against a production budget of $70 million. It became Tarantino's highest-grossing film, both in the US and worldwide, until 'Django Unchained' in 2012.Opening in 3,165 screens, the film earned $14.3 million on the opening Friday of its North American release, on the way to an opening-weekend gross of $38 million, giving Tarantino a personal best weekend opening and the number one spot at the box office, ahead of 'District 9'. The film fell to number two in its second weekend, behind 'The Final Destination', with earnings of $20 million, for a 10-day total of $73.8 million.
'Inglourious Basterds' opened internationally at number one in 22 markets on 2,650 screens, making $27.49 million. First place openings included France, taking in $6.09 million on 500 screens. The United Kingdom was not far behind making $5.92 million (3.8 m) on 444 screens. Germany took in $4.20 million on 439 screens and Australia with $2.56 million (A$2.8 m) on 266 screens.
Critical reception
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 89% of 332 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 7.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "A classic Tarantino genre-blending thrill ride, 'Inglourious Basterds' is violent, unrestrained, and thoroughly entertaining." Metacritic, which assigns a rating on reviews, gives the film a weighted average score of 69 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
Critics' initial reactions at the Cannes Film Festival were mixed. The film received an eight- to eleven-minute standing ovation from critics after its first screening at Cannes, although 'Le Monde', a leading French newspaper, dismissed it, saying "Tarantino gets lost in a fictional World War II". Despite this, Anne Thompson of 'Variety' praised the film, but opined that it was not a masterpiece, claiming, "'Inglourious Basterds' is great fun to watch, but the movie isn't entirely engaging ... You don't jump into the world of the film in a participatory way; you watch it from a distance, appreciating the references and the masterful mise en scne. This is a film that will benefit from a second viewing". Critic James Berardinelli gave the film his first four-star review of 2009, stating, "With 'Inglourious Basterds', Quentin Tarantino has made his best movie since 'Pulp Fiction'", and that it was "one hell of an enjoyable ride". Roger Ebert of the 'Chicago Sun-Times' also gave the film a four-star review, writing that "Quentin Tarantino's 'Inglourious Basterds' is a big, bold, audacious war movie that will annoy some, startle others and demonstrate once again that he's the real thing, a director of quixotic delights." Author and critic Daniel Mendelsohn was disturbed by the portrayal of Jewish American soldiers mimicking German atrocities done to European Jews, stating, "In 'Inglourious Basterds', Tarantino indulges this taste for vengeful violence bywell, by turning Jews into Nazis". Peter Bradshaw of 'The Guardian' stated he was "struck ... by how exasperatingly awful and transcendentally disappointing it is". While praising Christoph Waltz's performance ("a good actor new to American audiences"), David Denby, of 'The New Yorker', dismissed the film with the following words: "The film is skillfully made, but it's too silly to be enjoyed, even as a joke. ... Tarantino has become an embarrassment: his virtuosity as a maker of images has been overwhelmed by his inanity as an 'idiot de la cinmathque'". Journalist Christopher Hitchens likened the experience of watching the film to "sitting in the dark having a great pot of warm piss emptied very slowly over your head".
The film also met some criticism from the Jewish press. In 'Tablet', Liel Liebowitz criticizes the film as lacking moral depth. He argues that the power of film lies in its ability to impart knowledge and subtle understanding, but 'Inglourious Basterds' serves more as an "alternative to reality, a magical and Manichaean world where we needn't worry about the complexities of morality, where violence solves everything, and where the Third Reich is always just a film reel and a lit match away from cartoonish defeat". Anthony Frosh, writer for the online magazine 'Galus Australis', has criticized the film for failing to develop its characters sufficiently, labeling the film "Enthralling, but lacking in Jewish content". Daniel Mendelsohn was critical of the film's depiction of Jews and the overall revisionist history aspect of the film, writing "Do you really want audiences cheering for a revenge that turns Jews into carboncopies of Nazis, that makes Jews into "sickening" perpetrators? I'm not so sure." While Jonathan Rosenbaum equated the film to Holocaust denial, stating "A film that didn't even entertain me past its opening sequence, and that profoundly bored me during the endlessly protracted build-up to a cellar shoot-out, it also gave me the sort of malaise that made me wonder periodically what it was (and is) about the film that seems morally akin to Holocaust denial, even though it proudly claims to be the opposite of that." When challenged on his opinion, Rosenbaum elaborated by stating, "For me, 'Inglourious Basterds' makes the Holocaust harder, not easier to grasp as a historical reality. Insofar as it becomes a movie convention by which I mean a reality derived only from other movies it loses its historical reality."
'Inglourious Basterds' was later ranked #62 on a BBC critics' poll of the greatest films since 2000. In 2010, the 'Independent Film & Television Alliance' selected the film as one of the 30 Most Significant Independent Films of the last 30 years.
Top ten lists
'Inglourious Basterds' was listed on many critics' top ten lists.* 1st Mick LaSalle, 'San Francisco Chronicle'
* 1st Kyle Smith, 'New York Post'
* 1st Noel Murray, 'The A.V. Club'
* 2nd Elizabeth Weitzman, 'New York Daily News'
* 2nd James Berardinelli, 'Reelviews'
* 2nd Owen Gleiberman, 'Entertainment Weekly'
* 2nd Scott Foundas, 'L.A. Weekly'
* 3rd Rene Rodriguez, 'Miami Herald'
* 3rd Nathan Rabin, 'The A.V. Club'
* 4th Mark Mohan, 'Portland Oregonian'
* 5th Lou Lumenick, 'New York Post'
* 5th Peter Hartlaub, 'San Francisco Chronicle'
* 5th Roger Ebert, 'Chicago Sun-Times'
* 5th Richard Roeper
* 5th Frank Scheck, 'The Hollywood Reporter'
* 7th Joe Neumaier, 'New York Daily News'
* 7th Joe Williams, 'St. Louis Post-Dispatch'
* 8th Claudia Puig, 'USA Today'
* 8th J. Hoberman, 'The Village Voice'
* 8th Kimberly Jones, 'Austin Chronicle'
* 9th Marc Savlov, 'Austin Chronicle'
* 9th Mike Scott, 'The Times-Picayune'
* 10th Keith Uhlich, 'Time Out New York'
Accolades
Christoph Waltz was singled out for Cannes honors, receiving the Best Actor Award at the festival's end. Film critic Devin Faraci of 'CHUD.com' stated: "The cry has been raised long before this review, but let me continue it: Christoph Waltz needs not an Oscar nomination but rather an actual Oscar in his hands. ... he must have gold". The film received four Golden Globe Award nominations including Best Motion Picture Drama and Best Supporting Actor for Waltz, who went on to win the award. The film also received three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations and went on to win the awards for Best Cast and Best Supporting Actor, which was awarded to Waltz. The film was nominated for six BAFTA Awards, including Best Director for Tarantino, winning only one awardBest Supporting Actor for Waltz. In February 2010, the film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor for Waltz, and Best Original Screenplay. Waltz was awarded the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
In popular culture
* On June 15, 2010, the YouTube account of CollegeHumor uploaded a video titled "Grammar Nazis", referencing the titular phrase and the 'Inglourious Basterds' scene with the Jewish family hiding under the floor.
* On December 5, 2010, "The Fight Before Christmas", the eighth episode of 'The Simpsons' 22nd season, featured an 'Inglourious Basterds' parody sequence during a World War II flashback.
* The film was parodied in the 'Robot Chicken' episode "No Country for Old Dogs", in the sketch "Inglourious Reaterdz".
* When the Jewish, , American football player Gabe Carimi was drafted in the 2011 NFL Draft's first round by the Chicago Bears, he was nicknamed "The Bear Jew", which was Eli Roth's character's nickname.
* The 2018 television show 'Total DramaRama' has an episode titled "Inglorious Toddlers", which involves the character of Noah being sent to a military academy.
See also
* Jewish Brigade a unit of Jewish Soldiers formed by the British to fight the Nazis in WW2
* Special Interrogation Group a unit of German-speaking Jewish volunteers formed by the British
* Nakam also referred to as "The Avengers" or the "Jewish Avengers", a Jewish partisan militia which targeted Nazis
* List of films featuring fictional films
* Quentin Tarantino filmography
* Bastards (2006 film)
References
Buy Inglourious Basterds now from Amazon
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