Inglourious Basterds

Ever since I watched the Hilary Swank starrer ‘Freedom Writers,’ I have started to like Holocaust movies. This was followed by ‘Life is Beautiful,’ ‘The Boy in Striped Pajamas,’ and other related films. Two days ago, I happened to watch a 2009 independent film ‘Inglourious Basterds.’ It’s not a Holocaust film, but I must say that the film hit me for because its like a reversed Holocaust.

This movie chronicles the story of Shosanna Dreyfus, a Jewish refugee who escaped death after she saw her family brutally killed by a Colonel. Years go by after her family’s demise, she appears as the owner of a theater where she meets a war hero whose life story is soon to come out in a movie. The young soldier becomes smitten by her beauty that he decides to show the premiere of his film at her cinema. Shosanna agrees to use her place as the venue not for the sake of the war hero but for the fatal plan she has conceived.

In the course of the story, the existence of a group of Jewish-American soldiers in the Nazi-occupied France who were notoriously feared for scalping and brutally killing Nazis is revealed. This group, led by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), connives with Shosanna in plotting their massive attack against the Nazis. The plot is to wait for the Nazis to gather at the movie and lock them up at the latter part of the film showing. Then, burn them alive – a replica of what they have done to the Jews.

In the end, Shosanna dies with the Nazis in her cinema, but knowing that her plan of vengeance is carried out, she’s a victor.

The film is well-crafted; it’s divided into five chapters showing different but related scenes. The war scenes are not many, yet it appears awful when the scalping done by the Basterds is shown.

What I like about it is the development of the story… it is shown in an orderly fashion yet with a good twist… something that keeps you thinking what’s gonna happen next. And of course, knowing that this is a Quentin Tarantino film, who would never like it?