Inglourious Basterds

In 1941, Colonel Hans Landa, known as the “Hebrew Hunter,” famously interrogates French dairy farmer Perrier LaPadite. Faced with the threat to his family, LaPadite confesses to hiding the Dreyfus family, who are Jewish, beneath his floorboards. Tragically, Landa orders SS soldiers to shoot through the floor, executing the family, while he allows a young girl named Shosanna to escape, setting the stage for revenge.

By the spring of 1944, Lieutenant Aldo Raine is on a mission, assembling a group of eight Hebrew-American soldiers, famously known as the “Basterds.” He demands that each soldier collect 100 Nazi scalps, stressing that they will take no prisoners. The Basterds become a terrifying legend in Nazi circles, prompting even Adolf Hitler to personally interview a soldier, Butz, about their notorious activities. Butz recounts a particularly brutal incident where Staff Sergeant Donny Donowitz, dubbed the “Bear Hebrew,” viciously beats his sergeant to death with a baseball bat when he refuses to give away information. Butz, in a desperate bid for survival, agrees to provide intel but is left with a permanent mark when Raine carves a swastika into his forehead.

Fast forward to June 1944, where Shosanna, now goes by the alias “Emmanuelle Mimieux,” runs a cinema in Paris. There, she catches the eye of Fredrick Zoller, a German sniper whose daring feats have earned him a starring role in a Nazi propaganda film, Stolz Der Nation. Zoller, enchanted by Shosanna, persuades Joseph Goebbels to host the film’s premiere at her cinema, which Shosanna sees as the perfect opportunity for revenge. She conspires to burn down her theater with the help of her black projectionist and lover, Marcel, intending to annihilate the top Nazi leaders attending.

Simultaneously, British cinema critic Lieutenant Archie Hicox is enlisted for “Operation Kino” by General Ed Fenech and Prime Minister Winston Churchill. He meets with the German star Bridget Von Hammersmark in anticipation of the Basterds’ plan to infiltrate the cinema and plant explosives during the premiere. However, a well-meaning encounter at a tavern turns deadly when the suspicious Sturmbannfuhrer Dieter Hellstrom detects Hicox’s peculiar accent. An intense firefight ensues, resulting in the deaths of most involved, leaving only Wilhelm and Von Hammersmark alive. Even as Raine learns of Hitler’s attendance at the premiere, he proceeds with their risky plan, disguising himself and a couple of Basterds as Von Hammersmark’s Italian entourage.

At the highly anticipated premiere, Landa, clever as always, catches wind of Von Hammersmark’s deception and confronts her privately. After confirming her identity through her shoe, he strangles her and then compels Raine to contact his commanding officer, revealing his intentions for personal gain at the end of the war.

During the screening, Zoller sneaks into the projection room, where Shosanna rejects his advances before ultimately fatally shooting him, but not before he turns and delivers a dying shot to her as well. Meanwhile, Omar and Donowitz manage to confront the guards protecting Hitler.

In a chilling twist, a clip of Shosanna gleefully cackling into the cinematographic chaos tells the audience of their impending doom at the hands of a Hebrew. As Marcel ignites highly flammable nitrate film behind the screen, the theatre erupts into flames. Raine and his comrades burst into the hall, gunning down Hitler, Goebbels, and others in a spectacular finale, culminating in the cinema’s total destruction. Afterwards, amid the wreckage, Landa finds himself blindsided when Raine, finally delivering justice, shoots Landa’s radio operator and carves a swastika into Landa’s forehead. Thus, Landa is marked as a Nazi forever.

Last Updated: November 08, 2024 at 02:25