Best Scene: Inglourious Basterds
Ok. So…I know, this site isn’t about Quentin Tarantino. This website isn’t dedicated to his genius film making. Or his classics that are timeless brilliant cinematic treats like Pulp Fiction. Or the way he writes a screenplay; his delicious characters and developed storylines full of twists and turns. Or his soundtracks. Or his ultra-violent fantasy thrillers. Or or or.
*cough*
Ahem,
This site isn’t about Tarantino. That being said, I am going to fan girl over him (and someone else) one last time in this new feature Best Scene. Here I will pick the greatest scene in a film and hail it up (ok, that is pretty much is summed up with the title Best Scene.) Today is Inglourious Basterds.
(Source: Wikiepedia)
After lengthy conversations about this, and feel free to disagree, Inglourious Bastereds is one of Tarantino’s weakest work. Not that it isn’t highly entertaining but compared to, say, Jackie Brown, it misses the mark. The storyline is weak (Shosanna aside) and misses some complete depth that a film about Nazi hunting American Jews could have gained. Whereas his latest Django Unchained has emotion, development and history, Basterds is all about killing Nazi’s.
(Source: https://wwwbillblog.blogspot.co.uk/2009_08_01_archive.html)
(Dammit, he wants his Nazi Scalps!)
Inglourious Basterds works well with the notion of killing Nazi’s. There is some terrific acting and some juicy scenes. Who could forget the bar scene? The moment when Bastereds’ Hugo Stiglitz (Til Schweiger,) Lt Archie Hicox (Micheal Fassbender) and Cpt Wilheilm Wicki stroll into a French Tavern full of Nazi Officers dressed as Nazi Officers meeting the German spy/actress Bridget Von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) and surprising things go wrong.
But it’s not the best. In fact, what holds Inglourious Basterds up above dissolving into tedium, boredom or Kill Bill 2 (yeah, I said it,) is one guy.
This guy.
Played delightfully by Christoph Waltz (yes, him again,) Colonel Hans Landa of the SS, is the most gripping character in Basterds. And he is one of the most creative, well written and well portrayed villian. Of course, a lot of that goes to Waltz' Oscar Winning performance. Instead of a vile, easy to hate Nazi officer that we are all used to, Landa is brilliantly charming. Waltz gives the character a quality of the silver tongued devil; holding thoughtful and polite conversations only to turn at the very end, revealing his sinister truth. Tarantino admitted that Landa was hardest character he has written and nearly stopped Inglourious Basterds before it got off the ground….until he found Waltz and damn, aren’t we all glad he found Waltz?
There are many epic moments of Hans Landa. In fact, most of his scenes are unforgettable from the outrageous laugh he has when he is lied too to the opening scene where he is set up as one of the greatest villians of all time. That scene with the cows, the floorboards and the epic door shot;
(Source: https://pressplayporpoop.tumblr.com/post/2870035329/shots)
Nearly gained the best scene award.
But there is one chilling scene that makes your skin crawl and edges your butt a little closer to the screen.
I’m talking about the restaurant scene.
Let’s set the scene. Emmaunelle Minuex (Melanie Laurent) is the French owner of a small cinema in Nazi occupied Paris. When famed German Solider Frederick Zoller takes a liking to her, she soon finds herself at a restaurant surrounded by Nazi officers with Joseph Goebbels (that’s head of Nazi propaganda and Hitler’s right hand man, Joseph Goebbels) at the head. They are all talking about moving German film premiere Nation’s Pride to Emmaunelle’s movie, much to her disgust. In enters Hans Landa, the smiling snake standing inches above her. Of course, Emmaunelle isn’t Emmaunelle Minuex at all. She is Shoshanna Dreyfus who had her family brutal executed in front of her due to, Hans Landa. Desperate to get lunch over with and leave before Landa discovers her, Shosanna is more than hesitant when Hans Landa asks for a word. Cue the most tense moment in the whole movie.
(Source: yay-jj.blogspot.com)
(I don't know what I want more.....Waltz or strudel.)
Why is it so great? Because you don’t know the extent of Landa’s knowledge. He hints at it subtly throughout the conversation. I say conversation, it is more Landa telling her what to do. That’s whats brilliant about the writing of Landa and this scene, he just takes control. Whether he is teasing her as he knows who she really is or just telling her how the film night is to be run, he is darkly delicious (as a crème strudel.) He drags a simple conversation of painful moments through ordering strudels to offering cigarettes to his pauses. And that sly clue with the glass of milk. Ah, did anyone else scream at the screen?
Waltz is brilliant at timing. He takes a crucial and heart pulsing scene and adds more to it. A good actor would have done well, but a great actor like Waltz? He owns this scene. And the climax…
(Landa lights Shoshanna, as Emanuelles, cigarette.)
Landa: There is something else that I wanted to ask you
(Shoshanna takes the cigarette away from her mouth. This is it, this is when he tells her he knows.
Landa stares intently at her for a good minute
.
(He then smiles.)
Landa: But right now, for the life of me, I can't remember what it is.
Must not have been important.
Oh, oh oh oh oh………
Erm.
I mean.
It is a well written, superbly acted and greatly executed scene. Definitely Oscar winning stuff.
TTFN
Cookie.
