Inglourious Basterds (2009)

In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same.

Director:

Quentin Tarantino

Writer:

Quentin Tarantino

Stars:

Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent, Eli Roth

Top 250 #108 | Won 1 Oscar. Another 75 wins & 63 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brad Pitt	...	Lt. Aldo Raine
Mélanie Laurent	...	Shosanna
Christoph Waltz	...	Col. Hans Landa
Eli Roth	...	Sgt. Donny Donowitz
Michael Fassbender	...	Lt. Archie Hicox
Diane Kruger	...	Bridget von Hammersmark
Daniel Brühl	...	Fredrick Zoller
Til Schweiger	...	Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz
Gedeon Burkhard	...	Cpl. Wilhelm Wicki
Jacky Ido	...	Marcel
B.J. Novak	...	Pfc. Smithson Utivich
Omar Doom	...	Pfc. Omar Ulmer
August Diehl	...	Major Hellstrom
Denis Ménochet	...	Perrier LaPadite
Sylvester Groth	...	Joseph Goebbels

Storyline

In Nazi-occupied France, young Jewish refugee Shosanna Dreyfus witnesses the slaughter of her family by Colonel Hans Landa. Narrowly escaping with her life, she plots her revenge several years later when German war hero Fredrick Zoller takes a rapid interest in her and arranges an illustrious movie premiere at the theater she now runs. With the promise of every major Nazi officer in attendance, the event catches the attention of the "Basterds", a group of Jewish-American guerilla soldiers led by the ruthless Lt. Aldo Raine. As the relentless executioners advance and the conspiring young girl's plans are set in motion, their paths will cross for a fateful evening that will shake the very annals of history.

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Plot Keywords:

nazis | german | soldier | france | jewish | 

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Taglines:

Mélanie Laurent Is A Basterd

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong graphic violence, language and brief sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [ru]

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English German French Italian

Release Date:

21 August 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Inglorious Bastards

Filming Locations:

Babelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$75,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£3,596,415 (UK) (21 August 2009)

Gross:

$120,523,073 (USA) (11 December 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Weinstein Company, The, A Band Apart

Technical Specs

Runtime:

153 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tim Roth was in talks with Quentin Tarantino to play Lt. Archie Hicox.

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Goofs

After Mathilda has taken Bridget's place to join the quiz game with the soldiers, bartender Eric leaves the counter and walks over to assist her. He is shown standing left behind her. Then the camera cuts to the officers' table. In the background Eric is shown standing behind the counter again.

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Quotes

Marcel: [in French; subtitled] What the fuck are we supposed to do?
Shosanna Dreyfus: [in French] It looks like we're supposed to have a Nazi premiere.
Marcel: Like I said, what the fuck are we supposed to do?

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Crazy Credits

The film uses the 1963-1990 Universal Pictures logo.

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Connections

References Hitler--Dead or Alive (1942)

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Soundtracks

"ONE SILVER DOLLAR"
(Un Dollaro Bucato) (1966)
Written by Gianni Ferrio
Performed by The Film Studio Orchestra
Courtesy of Victor Entertainment, Inc., Japan.

User Reviews

No Matter How You Spell It

..."Inglorious" as our local theater decided to display its title on their marquee, minus the second word. It is terrific cinema.

I don't hesitate to recommend this film to all but the over-squeamish. Let them never know what they're missing.

I did hesitate to give it ten stars because of my experience of Tarantino's previous films. In every case, save "Reservoir Dogs," they have improved with additional watching.

So although I gave it ten stars, I did so reluctantly. It leaves me no "up" to go to.

Yes Christoph Waltz is the Nazi we've all imagined the worst to be. He is cultured, sophisticated, suave and most sadistic, the kind of man who can make a glass of milk a threat and who puts out his cigarette abruptly in a strudel, grinding it into the whipped cream as if he were grinding his heel into a victim.

To understand Tarantino's films, you need only have a sense of dialogue, color and pacing. The colors are as bright as necessary and when necessary, brighter yet. In the French farmhouse of the opening scene, they are muted and dark, but excessively so. Outside a brilliant sun is shining, but in the one room of the house, everything is bathed in shadows and black.

It is a brilliant setting for an interrogation by Waltz, as the "Jew Hunter" of the SS, who dangles his host French farmer over the precipice of revealing what he cannot reveal numerous times, then pulls him back with obsequious lines of friendship and understanding.

A second sadistic German, well-played by August Diehl, later functions as important actor in the final plot twist. Diehl's Nazi Major, who has an ear for German accents, is almost as good as Waltz....almost.

Film classes will study much from this movie. They should look lovingly at the superb pacing. Tarantino knows just how long to draw out a scene, building suspense in the manner of Hitchcock, then at just the breaking point, suddenly coming to a resolution.

For color, look for a final shot at a French Theater, where its secretly Jewish proprietor is staging a surprise for the upper reaches of Nazi leadership.

We see her, played by Melanie Laurent, awaiting the hated German dignataries who will arrive for a film preview of the latest Deutsch film masterpiece, a propaganda piece about a German hero and his dubious accomplishments.

Laurent is framed on a balcony, reflected in the glass mirrors of the gorgeous theater, her red lips and low cut dress reflecting everywhere the intensity of her designs on her guests. It is a single shot that would be worth an entire film.

There are thankfully many more such images, many more paced scenes of exquisite dialog and suspense.

In short, see it. I'm sure you'll see it again and again.