Inglourious Basterds

Rating: 8/10 (10 February 2013)

In 1940, France is occupied by Nazi Germany. Nazi colonel Hans Landa found a family of Jews who was hidden in a farm. He killed all of them except Shosanna Dreyfus WHO manages to escape. She has fled to Paris where she acquired a theatre. At the same period, in France, the American lieutenant Aldo Raine has created a group of Jewish Americans. Their name: The Basterds. Their goal: kill a maximum of Nazis and take their scalps. Shosanna Dreyfus and these men have the same goal, they will need to join their forces in order to strike a heavy blow...
This Quentin Tarantino World War II movie shows the exact reality of war. Nazi soldiers are described as preys whereas the basterds are represented as heroes. Tarantino switched the roles. During the second World War Nazis killed Jews with brutality but here it is the Nazis who are roughly executed. However, even if evil is fought by the good guys, there were too much violence for an audience composed of children. Tarantino uses humor in order to appease the brutality of executions. We can see that in the nicknames he uses to introduce heroes. He has given fun nicknames which refer to the different ways they kill Nazis. For example, sergeant Donny Donowitz is called the "Bear Jew", his nickname refers to the brutality he shows. Nazi soldiers are introduced with an other kind of humor. They speak with a German accent and are really afraid of the Basterds. The excessive wrath of Hitler when he had learned that he lost soldiers is also a way to play down the raw reality of the Second World War.
The opposition between Jewish soldiers and Nazis is sometimes too manichean. But we can't criticise Tarantino's vision of WWII for being too manichean because it should be. That was a war with an unambiguous conflict. That allows a great catharsis for the audience: the evil is killed. That catharsis mixed with Tarantino's humor allow the audience to have a good time. The audience can see heroes who were the victims in history take their revenge against Nazi who represent the executioners in history. Overall, that is a realistic and new kind of WWII movie which gives a new image of this war. The fear changes sides. Tarantino's humor makes you leave the theatre with a smile.