Identity Conflicts

Rating: 9/10 (30 August 2009)

I always wondered if there would ever be a film that would make me create an account on IMDb to leave my thoughts for others to ponder on. Normally, I see other people's comments and find them reflecting my own adequately, but this time my opinion seems unique enough to me to elaborate on it.
The film hit me on two levels of my identity that normally work well with each other when watching a film made in US, but, alas, not this time:
1. The German
Born and raised in Germany, son to a French mother and a German father, indoctrinated with anti-Fascist ideology throughout my whole socialization process, being taught to always be aware of the neo-Fascist threat, always wavering between fearful revulsion for and sneering dismissing of their ideas of superiority over other races, nations and other sets of belief than their own, I watched this film and felt... repelled! Nazi characters that I have no other choice but to feel pity and admiration for, be it for bravery and devotion (the "batting" scene), ingenuity and brilliancy (nearly every scene with Christoph Waltz) or an unbreakable fighting spirit (the "nation's pride"'s fight for Shosanna's sympathy)??? No way! In my opinion those people that were once German like me, with the same cultural background of the Age of Enlightenment... They lost their right to be seen and particularly being depicted as admirable human beings the minute they embraced and acted by the ideology of the Third Reich! Showing them as somewhat tragic victims or, even worse, glorifying them as quasi-heroic examples for good character with minor flaws only evokes false and misguided sympathy in the uneducated and the ignorant, spreading tolerance for their ideas! Ideologically, this is an awful movie!
2. The Cosmopolitan
Jeez, German part of me, just chill! Isn't it enough that the whole world already thinks you have no sense of humor? Do you really have to prove the cliché right by going on a rampage against a fictional piece of art? And, by the way, this film was awesome, even by the means of ideology! I mean, the brilliant story aside, just think about Tarantino's multicultural approach on the production of the film: utilization of accurate and clever dialogue in 4 languages; involvement of numerous native speaking cast and extras; his choice to shoot most of the film in Germany, thereby providing jobs and strenghtening the economy of your region... Do I really have to go on? Oh, and if my memory serves me right, wasn't there this day some time ago when you strolled through the alleys of Görlitz Old Town, saw the preparations for the shooting and wished you could be part of this film? I smell hypocrisy, my friend!
All in all this production is an admirable example for an inspired international and politically outstanding co-operation, that I wish more producers would follow. OK, maybe some of the plot elements are somewhat arguable, but remember: It is a fictional story of revenge, not a documentary, deploying fictional characters. Therefore, your argument against Tarantino's right to depict the Nazis as associable human beings is not valid. Also, in the end justice prevails and the bad boys, whose flaws are BTW much bigger than their good traits, get what they deserve, so the glorification you speak of doesn't happen at all. Now, my angry German friend, just sit back and relax, and let the people out there make up their own minds, OK? Good boy!
Craziest and most entertaining movie I've seen in a loooong time!