Perrier LaPadite

**Perrier LaPadite** is a minor character in Quentin Tarantino's 6th film, *Inglourious Basterds*. He is a French farmer that hid the Dreyfuses from the Nazis.

## Biography

### Early life

Little is known about Perrier LaPadite's early life. He was born in France, and has three daughters. He was married, but there's no info about his wife or her whereabouts. Due to his location in Nancy, France, he is a cattle farmer.

### Chapter One - Once upon a time... In Nazi-occupied France

Perrier LaPadite is first seen using an axe on a tree stump blemishing his property. However, simply by sight, it is unsure if he has been at this stump for the last year, or just started that day. One of this daughters, Julie, is seen hanging their sheets. She hears and then notices a Nazi car with two motorcycles coming and alerts her father. Perrier sees the vehicles and stops chopping the stump and embeds his axe into it. He then looks over his shoulder and watches the Germans approaching. He asks his other two daughters, who just came out, to go back inside and asks Julie to get him some water to wash himself. He pulls a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the sweat from his face, and waits for the Nazi convoy to arrive. After Julie has the water ready, he orders her into the house, shouting 'Don't run!' when her pace quickens.

After he washes himself, he greets SS Colonel Hans Landa. The Colonel asks for permission to enter his house, and LaPadite welcomes him inside. After Landa sees his daughters, LaPadite welcomes Landa to sit at the table. He asks Suzanne to give him some wine, but Landa declines and instead asks him for some milk. LaPadite asks Julie to close the window. Charlotte's eyes look at the floorboards and quickly up at LaPadite who is looking at her sternly. After Landa drinks the milk and thanks him and his cows for the milk, he invites LaPadite to the table and asks him if he can talk to him in private. LaPadite then asks Charlotte to take the girls outside. Inside, Landa asks LaPadite permission to switch to English. LaPadite tells Landa that he doesn't understand the reason of his visit, as the Germans had already searched his house 9 months earlier and found nothing. Landa tells LaPadite he is aware of that, but that it is routine to search areas again. LaPadite, starting to feel nervous, asks the Colonel if it's alright to smoke his pipe, to which Landa approves, as it's his house. The SS military then asks him if he heard anything about the Dreyfuses, to which LaPadite tells him that he heard rumours, the Dreyfuses have fled to Spain. When Landa asks LaPadite about the Dreyfus's members and their ages, LaPadite proceeds to tell the Colonel what he wants to hear as the latter takes notes.

After finishing gathering the information, Landa asks LaPadite for another glass of milk before he leaves. As LaPadite pours him one, Landa questions LaPadite about his knowledge of his reputation, or the "nickname" (The Jew Hunter) the people of France had given him. After frustratingly stating that he has no interests in such thing, LaPadite finally acknowledges that he was aware of it. Landa then proceeds to explain why he "loves" his "unofficial title", why he was put in charge of the hunt for the Jews, and the attributes that the German and Jewish people share with certain beasts. After a lengthy explanation, Landa discreetly gives LaPadite the warning that he is fully aware of what human beings are capable of once they abandon their dignity, then asks LaPadite for permission to smoke his pipe as well to ease the tension.

As he smokes his pipe, Landa tells LaPadite that his job requires him to perform a thoroughout search of his property, and that if there are any irregularities to be found, they most certainly will be. He then says that any assistance LaPadite could offer to help make the Colonel's job easier would not be met with punishment, on the contrary, reward, specifying that should LaPadite's family would no longer be bothered by German occupying forces in France. After that, Landa stays silent while giving LaPadite a fixed and menacing stare, showing visible aggression unlike his initial friendly demeanor when entering the house. Landa then directly asks LaPadite if he is hiding "enemies of the state". Knowing he can no longer do what his humanity told him to, LaPadite breaks and tearfully answers "yes". He then follows Landa's order to point out the areas the Dreyfuses are hiding underneath the floor boards. Landa orders LaPadite to follow his act and pretend to be leaving the house while actually signalling the German soldiers outside to storm in and open fire at the hiding Jews, to LaPadite's horror. All the Dreyfuses, except Shosanna, who manages to flee, are killed.

LaPadite is not seen afterwards. It's implied that Landa kept his end of the bargain and left his family alone.

## Personality

LaPadite appears to be highly empathetic with the ordeal the Jewish people were going through under Nazi's oppression, as displayed by his assistance with the hiding of the Dreyfus family, and also when he lied to Hans Landa by telling him that the Dreyfuses had escaped and made their way into Spain.

Like most of the people in the world, LaPadite has no love for the Nazis as shown through his irritations with the presence of Hans Landa in his house, particularly when Landa questioned his knowledge about the nickname "The Jew Hunter". LaPadite also displayed a certain level of courage, even though he was clearly nervous and sighing a lot when Landa began asking about the Jewish families in the area

LaPadite's character was also portrayed in a way that the viewers can see clearly that he was only as human as anybody. When LaPadite realized he could no longer lie for the Dreyfus because Landa threatened him with the safety of his family, LaPadite burst into tears and complied with the Colonel's subsequent orders. This shows that LaPadite is a caring and loving father and will do anything for his daughters, even if it cost him dignity. While only a minor character, LaPadite has served as a means to display Hans Landa's prowess and fearsome charisma, while his abandonment of dignity set off the events that would eventually led to Shosanna's vengeance, and the death of Hitler as the result.

## Behind the scenes

Perrier LaPadite was portrayed by Denis Ménochet.

Denis Ménochet was the first person to audition for the role.

Famous actor Jean Reno was previously offered role of Perrier LaPadite, but he turned it down. Vincent Lindon revealed in 2017 that he too declined the role.

Despite playing father and daughter in this movie, Ménochet is only nine years older than Léa Seydoux, who plays Charlotte, and six years older than Tina Rodriguez, who played Julie.

## Trivia

* LaPadite's pointless attempt to chop the wood stub from the beginning of the film, foreshadows his failed attempt to hide the Dreyfuses from Landa.
* It is interesting to see that Monsieur LaPadite've never told in words where it was hidden Jewish family, nodding to each question of Colonel Landa ... is not accidental then the similarity between the name LaPadite and "l'a pas dit" (from French, literally, "did not say").