INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Post-Release - Page 7

Hell, he doesn't even understand the psychological reasons behind Landa's "lame" pipe gag.

I think the answer to this may very well lie in how he let Project Kino develop personally...

They've all been like that apparently.

Sorry for the derail moment.

Quite possibly. However, this occurs well before he discovers the KINO plot. He has far more to gain in allowing the Basterds to succeed than Shosanna.

I'm not going to call you a jackass, because that would be stupid, but I am curious as to how you can fully engage for The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and think Inglorious Basterds is dull. I'm not saying one's better than the other, but I've known lots of people that find TGTB&TU to be a long boring slog that moves at a snail's pace. I've seen that extended staredown threeway duel at the end elicit laughter. Hearing the criticism that this is boring strikes me the same as when I heard that.

That's true too, it may simply come down to the suggestion someone else made earlier in the thread, he has no particular interest in catching her anymore than he did when he let her go at the farmhouse. That, and he has obviously changed his tune from embracing his name of 'jew hunter' in 1941 to wishing to distance himself from it in 1945.

He knows, she knows he knows, he knows she knows he knows - his intellect is shown off and that's enough for him.

Again, pure speculation but the scene certainly supports that interpretation in my opinion.

Baby steps, my friend. I didn't want to blow his mind too fast.

nice work Quentin.. loved the ending.. at first was confused at the suicide ending in the cinema (but then they wouldn't be so inglorious eh?) , that and the brilliant Landa surrendering himself to the most notorious Nazi killer on the continent.. but hey, if that's all i can complain about its a fine film.. QT films are worth a lifetime of multiple rewatches, and they all seem to mature well..

the cat and mouse play with dialogue and still frame shots really drove the tension to the breaking point multiple times.. its a series of conversations between people, where one knows they've been had, and the other confident in his suspicions.. a tough format for an interesting movie, leave it to Quentin to not be satisfied with a weak performance..

Well I'm not sure what you are trying to say, that he was a trooper amongst the Nazis? Impossible considering his name and religon. He is certainly crazy, but I think he's killing the Nazis in the montage scene because he is a Jew and they are trying to exterminate his kind. Not due to anger at some punishment being doled out.

He was a trooper for the Nazis. Landa even refers to his promotion. I'm guessing that if he was a Jew, it was hidden from his superiors, but that's not why he became a Basterd. He's a Basterd because he likes killing Nazis.

I think it's amusing that, in the original plans, they were going to send Stiglitz into the theatre. Wouldn't he have been a dead giveaway that something was up? The dude had built up a considerable rep (Landa sure knew who he was).

Was anyone expecting the Operation KINO chapter to end with a prominent Wilhelm scream the moment you learned Max's daddy's name?

Being kinda sick of the whole Wilhelm Scream 'inside' joke, I'm really glad it didn't happen. But jesus... even wondering about THAT made added to the suspense of that scene.

I was totally expecting it too, especially since it showed up in Kill Bill vol. 1 and the DVD of Death Proof.

I swear I heard it later on, but I can't remember when.

Man... I had kept my expectations low despite Devin's (and others) glowing reviews.

But this film slowly but surely knocked me on my ass. Quentin's still got it, that's for sure. I've love all his films, except Jackie Brown and Resevoir Dogs. I like those, but they've never really grabbed me like his other efforts.

A long-winded diatribe about this film's greatness is escaping me, but my bullet-point version goes like this.

LOVED:
-Landa. At first I thought all the praise was overblown, despite that amazing opening scene. But by the end... I was sold. One of the best villains in some time. Top Shelf.

-Pitt. It's an "easy" gag, but the debut of his "best Italian" had me on the floor.

-The oh so perfect slow burn technique.

-"...then you don't mind if I go out speaking the King's." That and the whole bar scene.

-The climactic theater scene. That was pure, unadulterated magic right there. I wanted it to last so much longer, just so I could bask in its awesomeness. When her specter-like image was solidifying in the smoke, I almost teared up from that moment's greatness. Just powerful, ballbusting, satisfying cinema right there.

-The "episodic" nature of the film.

I'm going to refrain from ranking this one in the Tarantino pantheon this early. But to say this thing grew on me after leaving the theatre would be a huge understatement. I saw it last night, and already want to see it again badly.

One bad note... I live in the south (Pensacola, Florida). There were a disgusting amount of scattered laughs (some near guffaws) during the meal when the Nazi (I forget who) was talking about "our Negros" and why we win the Olympics. I know sometimes that sort of dark material can be funny at the same time, but in that instance, I didn't see it as funny in the slightest. That moment felt more like it was only meant to show how disgusting the Nazi's were to more than just the Jews, not trying to be humorously colorful (ala "Dead Nigger Storage"). But... that's what you get when you live in a racist hotbed like this area.

Oh yeah, I heard it too. It was probably during the massacre in the theater. But I don't remember for sure either.

Doesn't diatribe have a negative connotation?

I'm usually not able to catch it the first time, but I was able to here and I wasn't even listening for it. It was in The Nation's Pride film. It was when a soldier fell off of some sort of perch or ledge after getting shot, I do believe.

See, I actually think it was the least easy gag. In order from easiest to... er... not easiest.

1) Pitt speaking fluent, accented Italian
2) Pitt speaking fluent Italian with his Tennessee accent intact
3) Pitt only knowing the Italian for yes, no, thank you and words about food

1 and 2 seem easier to me because they would be the least expected. 3 is the gutsiest because it's, quite honestly, exactly what you should expect from him. But it works because the character was so over the top.

That's it! Thanks.

Ditto!

There's one is Reservoir Dogs too, I forgot. Damn that Wilhelm!

Shoshanna's plotline never really intersects with the Basterds until the very end, and even then I'm not sure she knows what's up with those guys. Everyone probably would have died in the fire she sets anyways, so the title characters didn't really change the outcome, except perhaps saving Landa. Its kinda weird.

Oh, I also fucking LOVED the way in which most of the characters being European/in a period film seemed to mask Tarantino's usual "chattiness."

Sure, this film was talky as hell, but it didn't feel talky in the way that his other films often do (though I still love them to death for it).

Fuck, this thing grows on me more and more with each thought.

But it could be argued that the Basterds distracted Landa from Shoshanna's plot. And of course, the Bear Jew kills Hitler and Goebbels. Ah, I love deflating my own weird observations.

I heard some laughs in my theatre as well. I didn't think of it as racist until you mentioned it, just people reacting to something so offensive. At least I hope that's why people laughed.

My memory might be shitty because I'm not certain why Landa kills von Hammersmark. He was already going to let Operation Kino continue, so I don't understand his motivation. Can anyone help me out?

I'm not saying I'm 100% right about this. Believe me, I LOVE to laugh at something awful just because of the sheer awfulness of it. But this moment just didn't strike me that way. Perhaps this is just one of those rare instances of me being too much of a "dirty liberal."

It probably has a hell of a lot to do with where I live that I automatically assume that those laughing heartily MUST be laughing in the sense of, "boy, that Nazi's got them niggers pegged though, don't he?"

To me 1 is what you'd get in Top Secret and would've fucked the film over the edge into parody so pulling it off would be damn near impossible. 3 is what you'd get in Allo Allo or Hogan's Heroes and would equally fuck the film over the edge into parody. 2 is what you'd get if Wes Anderson was directing and might work in Inglourious Basterds but probably wouldn't be as funny as 4.

4) Aldo speaking a little Italian and understanding a little more than that while retaining every bit of his own accent was the most believable way to play it and still let it get laughs.

When I first saw Julie Dreyfus in the movie, I thought it was a young Monica Bellucci for a second.

Loved it. Although I thought the bar scene was a bit too long and that the Brit Captain was pretty much a waste. And while Landa was a great villian, I'm not ready to put him in my "all time greatest villians" lineup.

That's an angle of comparison I hadn't thought of, ranking his films in terms of how chatty they feel. Not how chatty they are by word count, because that may turn out different (and it'd be a pain in the ass to work out anyway) but by how much you feel like it's a bunch of yapping for yapping's sake. I'd call Jackie Brown the least chatty, followed by Pulp Fiction. Inglourious Basterds probably ties next with Reservoir Dogs. I think for me it all comes back to how real the conversations feel.

...sorry couldn't help myself

There's a weird feeling in most people I know where they admit to actually LIKING the film, but WANTING to see a different film, i.e. a movie about the Basterds. What's so interesting is that, even though QT has these interesting and bad ass and all around entertaining rag tag group to play with, he doesn't make them the focus. It's tempting, and would be easy to, but really, we've SEEN movies about a rag-tag group of guys fighting Nazis. What we haven't seen is a movie quite like this, that meshes so many different tones and characters so perfectly.

Just got back from seeing this, and GOD DAMN! I'm pretty much gay for anything Tarantino does, so I'm kinda predisposed to liking this, but it exceeded all of my expectations. I know a lot of folks around here were saying District 9 is the best movie of the year, but they are flat out wrong. I can't see anything topping Inglourious Basterds (though I look forward to seeing some movies try), and while it's probably a long shot, with the category expanded to 10, I'd love to see it get a nomination for best picture. But that's just me. God damn, what a movie. Cannot wait to see it again.

I mean, people claim they like them, then bitch about Kill Bill 2 and this film concerning pace. I can't believe they remember the pacing of Leone's best. I think a lot of kids that claim they're film fans really have no patience and just THINK they like GBU and OUATITW.

Also, hearing a lot of complaints about how people didn't want any of the "cool" characters to die, like Hugo and Donnie and whatnot. If you've done your job as a writer and director, the audience shouldn't want ANY of your characters to die. The fact that people get ticked off about Hugo dying just goes to show how successful that character was.

That's what I love about this movie: even if you get a classy introduction, are featured prominently, and are set up to have a vital role in the film...that in no way means you're safe.

Ah, gotcha. Agreed.

Lots of theories so far, but I think the easiest one is Landa not wanting to share any of the glory. He's taking plenty of credit for the plan, and von Hammersmark getting the Basterds into the premiere takes some of the shine off of his supposed involvement. Killing her works either way. If the Basterds don't make the deal, he's already eliminated her. If they do make the deal, he gets credit for everything she actually did.

It's gonna be a long time before I can't help but think of this movie while drinking a glass of milk.

If I have a complaint, it's that the film was made about 67 years too late. It's the most righteous, vicious, and yet graceful propaganda film every set to celluloid. Had this film been presented before the eyes of every American artist, soldier, and gun-toting Jew during the Third Reich, WWII would've been over the following week, its that much of a fucking charge to anyone working against the atrocities in any way shape or form, and there isn't a wrong note in the whole thing.

Shit, I even kinda liked Eli Roth* and Mike Myers. And I tend to hate the shit out of both of those guys. That takes talent.

*Speaking of which: Call me nerdy, but I honestly and sincerely wonder if QT's played Team Fortress 2.

I thought the same thing.

"BONK!"

I honestly can't believe this movie exists. I feel like I've been hearing about it for 15 years.

People that complain about that must have simply never seen a Tarantino film before...



...I mean it isn't like it's not a staple of the guys work or anything

That's because if you've been listening to Quentin since Pulp Fiction, you actually have been.

I'm surprised (not really) that the conservative critics that are reading a conservative agenda into the whole thing missed the part where Hans called the Basterds terrorists. They were suicide bombers. Not to say that Tarantino is a particularly leftist, this was probably just his way of making things a little more ambiguous.

I had a different interpretation. I took it that von Hammersmark's cruel end lied in the fact that she was a fellow German, and even casual acquaintance, who attempted to deceive and outsmart him. While obviously the Basterds, and the allies in general, would obviously plot against him, her, as a fellow countryman, would be seen as particularly unforgivable in his eyes, as she was attempting to defeat him at his proudest and most practiced game.

The people having problems with Tarantino's pacing probably fell asleep half way through the opening scene of OUATITW.

Anyway I was man-crushing on Fassbender so hard during his last scene in the tavern. 'I'm going to finish my whiskey, smoke my cigarette and then I'm going to start shooting and we will all die.' If there isn't an Erol Flynn fantasy biopic with him as an adventurer/spy/actor/serial womanizer being developed already specifically for Fassbender, Hollywood is worse that I thought.

I realized I'd seen Christian Berkel in a Nazi movie lately and looked him up. It turns out he's in 5 of the last 6 Nazi movies I've seen most recently: Inglourious Basterds, Valkyrie, Miracle at St. Anna, Black Book and Downfall. The only one he wasn't in was The Counterfeiter. He was also apparently in something called Flammen & Citronen, which was also about WWII stuff, and something called Leningrad, which I'm guessing is also WWII related.

If there's any justice and Waltz gets a best supporting Oscar (it should be lead, but we all know that won't happen) it'll make for a weird trifecta. It'll be three years in a row where that award has gone to an absolutely deserving, iconic villain, each pretty much topping the last: Bardem in No Country, Ledger in Dark Knight, and, hopefully, Waltz in this. It's been a good few years for cinematic villains.

Great interview with Christoph Waltz:http://podcast.931jackfm.com/kcbs2/1916007.mp3

Saw it yesterday afternoon, just a brilliant, brilliant film. There's so much going on in there it'll take me dozens of views to take it all in.

It seems to me that just about everyone who comes into contact with Shozanna mistakes her for an innocent, even naïve French girl- maybe because she owns a movie theatre they regard her as intrinsically harmless (even Landa)? For me that makes her the central character in a movie that's essentially about the real-life impact of cinema. She literally ends the war with a movie projection. Meanwhile, the whole meticulously planned Kino-operation is basically useless. The nazis are toast with or without the Basterds.

And regarding the expectations of a more traditional 'guys-on-a-mission' movie: I love how that one's actually playing offscreen.. the Basterds are set up, we get one scene that shows them not even in action, just being sadistically mean to captured Germans. After that, their adventures play out in the background, as rumours amongst the nazis and allies. And the demise of Stiglitz &co, and later the screw-up of Operation Kino is very true to the genre... remember The Dirty Dozen? Their mission basically goes completely haywire, only a few of the Dozen even survive.

I disagree; Landa's willingness to end the war and kill the High Command tell us he has not particular loyalties to Germany or the Nazi government. I think he kills von Hammersmark because 1)he's a sociopath and 2)he doesn't want to share credit for ending the war.

Landa doesn't recognise Shosanna the second time he sees her. He's curious about her because he's head of security, and the premiere is moved to her premises so he wants to question her when everyone else has gone. Ordering the glass of milk holds no significance to him, but it does to her.

He's only on to the plot once he sees the devastation in the Tavern and sees Hammersmarck, and even then he's not onto HER plot. He's just onto the plot the Basterds are involved with. The only time I felt he might recognise her is when he says "I had something to ask you...but it's slipped my mind now". To me that suggested there was SOMETHING about her he couldn't put his finger on, but he just dismisses it instead.

Note that Landa doesn't even SPEAK to her for the rest of the film. He's completely unaware of who she is.

According to QT Landa kills Hammersmarck because she was a traitor. It's the only time he loses his cool and it's because she was considered somewhat of a poster-child for Germany. It's the same reaction that Wilheilm has in the Tavern.