Tarantino laughs at his own fans

Rating: 1/10 (2 January 2016)

There is one scene that stands out in this movie and in fact, in the entire body of Tarantino's work. The Nazi propaganda film at the end where a fictional German soldier effortlessly massacres his enemies. This scene, directed by Eli Roth, is perhaps the most politically interesting scene in any of Tarantino's films to date. That is, until you realize it's true purpose.
Let's quickly review the essential elements of the mise en abyme which is 'Pride of the Nation':
1. incompetent enemy soldiers die in droves 2. incompetent enemy commander makes unrealistically poor decisions 3. cowardly enemies use innocents as human shields 4. hero is outnumbered but prevails due to patriotism and/or desire for revenge
We may as well be watching The Patriot, American Sniper, Fury, Defiance, or any other war-glorifying, American piece of propaganda. And this is exactly the point we are supposed to take away from the ridiculousness of 'Pride of the Nation'. But, it should then occur to the viewer that the movie we have just watched, Inglorious Basterds, is itself just one of these pointless, war-mongering films with all of the above listed elements.
Never have I seen such callous disrespect of a filmmaker for his own audience. Tarantino is spitting in the face of his fans for enjoying the brutal murder of Hitler (and having enjoyed such a pointlessly violent WWII revenge film) all while 'Pride of the Nation' plays in the background. "You gullible idiots" says he as he laughs at his fans. The audience in the fictional theater in Paris is the audience of Inglorious Basterds.
I would be inclined not to condemn this motif so harshly if the movie itself had more substance to it. Unfortunately, Tarantino whips out all the old stops in this clichéd time waster. Contrived, poorly written dialogue meant to be witty is followed by intense violence which is followed by screaming - end scene. Once again, Tarantino shows that his incapable of deviating even a little bit from this tired formula.