I had not read any reviews, so I too was surprised at the ending – I was waiting to see how both plots failed.
I loved the Bowie song (was it from Cat People) as Shosanna prepares for the premier.
I can’t buy that it was just a coincidence that Major Hellstrom, who grabbed Shosanna from the theater and delivered her to the meeting with Goebbels, also turned up in the tavern and inserted himself into the group of plotters. There were some other unusual notes surrounding that scene and those characters:
– Ms von Hammersmark pointedly “invites” the Major to join the group, perhaps to avoid suspicion, but there were moments when she could have “politely” suggested that they wanted some privacy.
–Also, when Raines is interrogating her, she never actually denies being a double agent.
–When Landa comes across Hellstrom’s body in the tavern, he refers to an act of “insubordination.” This either ended up on the cutting room floor, or was a deliberately vague point in the script.
Is it possible that von Hammersmark was setting up Raines and when Landa decided to turn on the Gnatzees he had to kill her to make sure the plot proceeded? Just a thought…
I enjoyed the film, wasn’t expect it to focus on the suspense as much as it did. The only part I disliked was at the very end- the Landa vs. Aldo scene where he’s about to be marked, there was a lady in front of me who just started ranting and raving at how excited she was that Pitt’s character was going to hurt the Nazi. That took me out of the scene a little, and made it very meta for me. As her behavior was her whooping and hollering from the very moment they get out of the car and walk to the border (She was hoping for something to happen and that the Nazi would suffer) and on and on and on, until he finally gets marked.
It really irritated me to see that- as she would have been perfect in the theater of Germans then. Her behavior was the same as theirs. But I just don’t like people who talk in the movies when I’m watching them for the first time.
True enough, I suppose. And since I saw the movie after having read this thread, I came in psychologically prepared. But even so, I couldn’t avoid or silence that nagging little voice in my head that kept on saying : “you know for a fact that out there, in the sticks of America, there’s gonna be one hick crowd who’ll take it for fact. At least one. At least one. At least one.”
I’m not insane, I’m not insane. All I wanted was a Pepsi
Nazi or not nazi, I had to look away when they “branded” Landa, cause I fucking felt the knife. Jeez, that was brutal. And, for some reason, worse than the scalpings. Maybe because he was alive at the time ?
Oh yes, also had to add : while the French was surprisingly good for a Hollywood movie, I was kind of ticked that both Shoshanna and Marcel kept talking about “détruire par le feu” the theatre. Literally : destroy it with fire. Now why the hell didn’t they just say “we’re going to burn it down” ? There’s French for that, and argot French for that, and brutal French for that. Why they went for the highly ritual/weird French for that is beyond me.
Again, especially weird considering the rest of the French was highly colloquial (I admit, I laughed out loud during Shoshanna’s final scene when she asks the sniper to bolt the door, and he doesn’t get the hint, and she answers with that oh so Parisian, dismissive “oh, laisse tomber” complete with rolled eyes.)
Just got back.
Wife and I loved it.
And laughed at all the inappropriate parts.
That nazi “Jew hunter” was awesome - deserves an award.
“Is there a Bingo?”
I'm pretty sure Landa was referencing Hugo Stieglitz. He was wearing an officer's uniform. Landa was being sarcastic; after killing 13 SS members, Stieglitz obviously wouldn't have been promoted. I was actually wondering why none of the other nazis recognized Stieglitz--he seemed pretty infamous according to his backstory.
You are right of course – I thought he was looking at Hellstrom’s body when he said that line, but he was looking at Stieglitz. My mistake.
I’m still very fascinated by Hellstrom’s being in the Tavern that night. OK, the enlisted men were there celebrating (though when the shooting began they had their weapons out incredibly fast for a group that should have been caught off guard), but Hellstrom wasn’t – he was sitting in a back corner reading…
Yeah, but he hadn’t done anything in the film, and suddenly he’s just there, having been captured doing… I don’t know, it’s not explained.
That’s the problem. There are supposed to be eight Basterds, but we only pay attention to a few of them, and the guy with Aldo at the end wasn’t one of them.
I love that part. One hand it was the first funny part in the entire movie and broke the tension momentarily. On the other hand, it was just before the massacre and Landa pulled it out to send a very clear message: I know what’s going on, and I am completely in control right now.
Thank you. I completely missed the fact that it was the same guy since we just barely saw him the first time.
Well, different Basterds (other than Aldo) are featured at different times. First it was the ones in the bar, then the two at the movie theater, then Aldo and the Little Man. As for the other two, I remember a scene from the trailer in which Samm Levine ran down a hallway firing a machine gun in each hand. So It’s possible that we will find out what happened to him and the other one in a deleted scene.
I just want to pop in to applaud QT for making a number one box office film with lengthy dialog sequences in foreign languages / sub-titled. If the average american audience member had any idea there was going to be this much sub-titling they would have stayed away in droves. Another QT joke on us, I suppose. Also, the actor playing Landa (Christoph Waltz) spoke in English, German, French, and a short bit of Italian. Can anyone think of an american actor who would even dare such a feat?
I think Landa knew who she was, or was at least very suspicious. What was confusing at the time was why he let her go. It made sense later as you find out he likes to hold on to information as power, and was at least considering an end game to stop the war and get pardoned.
I think it would have been a better movie without the basterds, but they did need the scene with the German prisoner in the begnning to set up the ending.
The scene with Shoshana’s face projected onto the smoke will be a classic. That actress and the guy who played Landa will have to win best supporting actor/actress. The cinematography was sunning as well: that opening shot of the motorcade approaching and the above mentioned scene.
Yes, I too was convinced he knew who she was when he ordered milk for her at the restaurant, then as she’s about to go says “wait, I have another question” - cue his “hard face”.
One thing I wonder is : Marcel (the black projectionist) is behind the screen, where all the flamables are. Was he supposed to die while Shoshanna escaped ? Or did she intend on burning all along ?
-Re: June 44 - didn’t Hitler say something about the Allies being “on the beaches?” Made me assume it was after D-Day.
-That Cat People tune is one of my all time faves. Really cranked it up for me at the right moment.
-laughing at violence: at least for my wife and I, I think a lot of it had to do with discomfort over unexpectedle seeing such violence, then laughing at the realization that you were “entertained” by such a thing.
-Was anyone else exhausted after the movie? My wife and I both commented that we felt as tho we had just gotten done with a workout or something. All of the tension from those long scenes, as well as the shocking scenes, was quite a workout.
-I’ve gotta see this again. I have been recommending it more than any film I can remember recently. And my wife just brought home Snatch for our enjoyment yesterday, to enjoy another Brad Pitt performance.
I think the tearful embrace between Shoshanna and Marcel indicated that they both thought they would die. As the doors were barred and Marcel was the only one who had the key, I think Shoshanna would have been trapped. That and there would be no way for Marcel to get out (unless there was some back door that he wouldn’t have locked except when he ran out).
I was after I saw this movie. I felt mentally exhausted. So my friend and I decided to go and watch GI Joe afterward.
Made me love IG even more. And GI Joe was hilarious especially after watching QT’s take on a “war” movie, and then to watch the GI Joe “war” movie sorta thing.
Good times.
I think I’ll need to see IG one more time at some point too.
