Oscar Countdown: The hidden message in Inglourious Basterds
Quentin Tarantino’s revision of World War II has spawned debate and commentary across both Jewish and non-Jewish communities. Some have bashed it for trivializing the horrors of the Holocaust and making a caricature of a gruesome war. Others have said it is an ingenious method of giving modern Jews the chance to go back in time and do now what they wish they could have done then, especially considering how many Nazis escaped punishment.
The violent fantasy film weaves together two simultaneous plots:
- The story of Jewish American soldiers led by Raine, an Apache chief, whose sole mission is to punish Nazis by capturing, torturing, killing and scalping them.
- The tale of Shosanna, a beautiful, young Jewish woman who narrowly escapes death after witnessed the brutal murder of her entire family. She goes on to become a Parisian cinema owner, and after a coincidental meeting with the man who killed her family, she sets in motion a plot to burn down her theater with the leaders of the Third Reich inside including the mastermind behind the genocide of six million Jews, Hitler himself.
The theme of the heinous human rights violations that occurred during the Holocaust is obvious, but there’s another that some have missed: how crippling revenge can be.
Getting deep
It’s no coincidence that Tarantino picked the hatred of the Nazis as a topic. The term itself has become synonymous with evil and immorality. Tarantino uses this to show that culturally acceptable hatred can breed a mob mentality that is no less evil.
Think about it: In one scene, just before the Nazis are burned alive, we see them cheering on a movie about a German sniper picking off American soldiers one by one. In the following scene, the audience is put in the exact same position, but in the reverse. Did you get excited when you witnessed the assassination of Hitler and Joseph Goebbels, one of his closest associates and most devout follower? Did you applaud, hoot and holler when the German soldiers were shot from the balcony? Did you feel a sense of pleasure when Lt. Aldo Raine whipped out his Bowie knife and began carving a swastika into a Nazi’s forehead? If your answer was yes to one or both, how is your behavior different from that of the Nazis when they were watching their propaganda film? It isn't.
If you got a sick feeling in your stomach at the thought of this, that’s probably what Tarantino wanted. He wanted you to complemplate: Is it okay to cheer the death of a person, regardless of how wicked they are?
More Oscar Countdown
Check out how we've rated the other movies nominated for a 2010 Best Film Oscar:
