A Lieutenant Aldo puts together a group of Jewish soldiers to kill Nazis and hunt down Hitler. Meanwhile another French Jew, Shosanna Dreyfus, is seeking revenge against the Nazis after they killed her family. She owns her own theater where the Germans are planning to premiere a Nazi film. A lot of people from the Nazi party will be there. It is the perfect opportunity to kill them by locking all the doors so they can’t get out while setting the place on fire.
Blaine: Quentin Tarantino loves to do different genre movies and he wanted to do something with the war genre because he thought it would be fun. It would be fun for Quentin because he also wanted to add humor into it. The idea for “Inglorious Basterds” came to Quentin back in 1998 after he made “Jackie Brown”. He developed a story, but it was too long. It could have been an eight part mini series, but Quentin wanted it to be a movie. So he put it on the side and worked on “Kill Bill” 1 & 2 and “Death Proof”. In early 2008, Quentin decided to go back to the “Inglorious Basterds” project. He looked through the pages that he wrote and decided to start fresh by writing a different script. The thing that remained the same was the characters he had created. He added them into this new story he was developing. It didn’t take him that long to work on this rewrite because he had the whole story in his mind. After the script was finished, Quentin wanted to start “Inglorious Basterds” as soon as possible.
Quentin borrowed the name, “Inglorious Basterds”, from the 1978 film directed by Enzo G. Castellari, one of Quentin’s favorite directors. The original “Inglorious Bastards” took place during World War II and was about a group of American military soldiers escaping from a prison and volunteering to steal a Nazi V2 rocket warhead. Quentin knew he was going to need Enzo’s permission to use the name “Inglorious Basterds”. Enzo was aware of who Quentin was and thought his script was so brilliant. Enzo allowed Quentin to use the name for the title of the movie on condition he make a cameo as a general at the movie premiere. Bo Svenson, who starred in the original “ “Inglorious Bastards", also made a cameo as one of the American Colonel in the Nazi film. My dad, Blaine Harrington III, had read that there were two possible explanations why “Bastards” was spelled with an “E” instead on an “A” and that was Quentin Tarantino wanted to differentiate it from the original “Inglorious Bastards” or because he said that Brad Pitt’s character can’t spell that good and so you saw a close up of a rifle with the name “Inglorious Basterds” carved on it.
Quentin had been wanting to work with Brad Pitt for a while. With Quentin it’s always about what character he creates will feel right for an actor to play. When Quentin was writing the first half of the script he knew that only one person could play the role of Lieutenant Aldo, and that was Brad Pitt. So Quentin finally found something for Brad and him to do together. Quentin met with Brad Pitt at his house with the script for “Inglorious Basterds” and during the conversation all they talked about was the script and movies. The next morning Brad got up and saw a lot of empty wine bottles….apparently they shared a few drinks and Brad believed he might have said yes to the project. He had a hard time remembering if he did or not because he was recovering from a hangover. Six weeks later, he was in uniform on the set of “Inglorious Basterds”. Lieutenant Aldo goes to the Nazi film premiere undercover, pretending he is Italian. My dad, Blaine Harrington III, said that Brad Pitt might have had some kind of prosthetic or something in his mouth or he is holding his face like Marlon Brando did in the Godfather. That’s probably his idea of an Italian.
Quentin Tarantino wouldn’t have made “Inglorious Basterds” if it wasn’t for Christoph Waltz. Quentin wrote the character, Colonel Hans Landa, as a linguistic genius and he wanted an actor who could do his best to bring this character to life. Hans is smart enough to know someone is hiding something. He’s like a detective. Quentin went to Germany to find the right actor to play Hans. A lot of the German actors auditioned for the role of Colonel Hans, but none of them had what Quentin was looking for. Hans also speaks different languages, English, German, French and Italian, and the actor would have to speak them as they were poetry. Quentin was starting to think he was never going to find the right actor to play Hans. He called the producers saying if he didn’t find the right actor soon then he would pull the plug on “Inglorious Basterds”. Quentin is the type of guy who likes to keep his projects a secret and not have anyone know too much about what happens in the movie. If Quentin didn’t find the rights Hans then he would have the script published for the whole world to see. Finally, Christoph Waltz went in to audition and he had read two scenes. Christoph had everything Quentin was looking for in the character. Producer Lawrence Bender was with Quentin when Christoph auditioned and he saw an impressed look on Quentin’s face. After Christoph left, Quentin and Lawrence jumped up and high fived each other and Quentin said “we’re making a movie!"
Being in a Quentin Tarantino film was something completely new for French actress Melanie Laurent. At the time she couldn’t speak English and when she got the script she had her brother read and translate it because he had been learning to speak English. Melanie found the story to be very exciting as her brother was reading it to her. After she was cast as Shosanna Dreyfus, she had to learn how to project movies and operate a movie theater projector. Quentin sent Melanie to L.A. to learn everything a movie projectionist does in 10 days. Melanie had never worked with a director as passionate and energetic as Quentin Tarantino before. She wouldn’t have to ask questions to how she should act or how the scene was going to go because Quentin would explain everything in full detail on what he wanted to see, which made her job easy. Quentin would tell Melanie how to say her lines but to say them in French, like the tone of her voice, her behavior and her attitude. Melanie was amazed that Quentin wrote parts showing that women can be fighters too during World War II even though there may not have been women like that back then and it became an inspiration to her too.
Michael Fassbender was going to audition for the part of Hans Landa and he did everything he could to prepare himself for the audition, even learning how to speak French. But when Michael went in to audition, Quentin already informed him that Christoph Waltz got the part. Michael was very disappointed because he really wanted the part of Landa. A couple of days later, Michael gets a call from his agent informing him that Quentin Tarantino wants to offer the role of Lt. Archie Hicox. Quentin tracked Michael down because he really wanted him to be in the movie. He loved Michael’s audition and Michael was happy enough to be apart of a Quentin Tarantino film. When Michael was 18 he would put together a stage version of “Reservoir Dogs” at a nightclub with his friends. Michael’s character, Lieutenant Archie Hicox, goes under cover with two other members of the Basterds team to this bar in the basement where the Nazis are celebrating because one of them just became a father. Archie accidentally blows his cover and a shoot out happens. Michael liked being apart of that scene, even though Archie gets his nuts blown off and dies, but still he got to work with great actors in that scene. It took two weeks to shoot that scene, but before they shot it Quentin had the actors rehearse because Quentin likes his actors to prepare themselves of how they are going to act in a scene. Quentin became an inspiration for Michael. His energy and passion helped Michael push himself to do his best to give a great performance for this movie.
Mike Myer’s parents were born in Liverpool England, his father was in the Royal Engineers and his mother was in the Royal Air Force. A lot of the stuff that Mike Myers had to listen to at the dinner table growing up was World War II. Mike got a call one day asking if he would like to play a British general for Quentin Tarantino’s next movie and Mike was all for it because he’s a big Quentin Tarantino fan. Mike Myers loves making movies and doing specific genres just as much as Quentin Tarantino and working with someone who has that same love for movies felt great for Mike. Quentin watched movies with young German actors to see who would be right to play Private First Class Fredrick Zoller, a sniper who killed 68 men in one battle and the star of the Nazi film that premieres at the French theater. “Pulp Fiction” inspired Daniel Bruhl to want to be in movies. Daniel was asked if he could audition for “Inglorious Basterds” and the only problem he had with the audition was that he had to speak French. But Quentin felt Daniel was right for this part and trusted him to prepare himself for the role and it was big for Daniel. Lea Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Color) had a very small role in “Inglorious Basterds” as one of Perrier LaPadites’ (the French dairy farmer) three daughters at the beginning of the film. She had trouble understanding Quentin Tarantino as he was directing the film, even though she understood English, but she admired his passion.
Quentin wrote the role of Bridget von Hammersmark, the undercover spy for the Basterds, for someone else, but she turned it down, so Quentin had to find someone else to play the character. Diane Kruger wanted to be apart of the project and she did everything she could just to meet Quentin Tarantino. Quentin didn’t believe Diane was German at first because she has taken on a lot of American roles, but he decided to meet with her in Berlin and have her read a few scenes. Diane made sure she prepared herself for the audition and Quentin was very impressed with her, so she got the part of Bridget von Hammersmark. Quentin gave Diane old German movies to watch and Diane modeled her character after one of the German actresses in one of those movies. Diane thinks of Quentin as a movie library because he has seen so many movies and he knows so much about them.
Rod Taylor loves Quentin’s style in filmmaking. His friends, who are journalists, recently interviewed Quentin and one of the things Quentin mentioned was that he was really into Rod Taylor’s work. They informed Rod of what Quentin said about him. Five months later, Rod gets a call from Quentin Tarantino and their conversation was all about movies they’ve done or someone else's has done. They spoke for an hour on the phone and they felt they had known each other for 20 years. Finally, Quentin told Rod that he was making a World War II movie and he wanted him to play Winston Churchill. If Rod Taylor turned down the role then Quentin would go to Albert Finney and offer it to him. But Rod really wanted to work with Quentin and would do anything for him, so he took the role of Winston Churchill. You see Rod is in the scene where Michael Fassbender’s character Lieutenant Archie Hicox meets Mike Myer’s character General Ed Fenech. He is just sitting by a piano while smoking a cigar. Watching Quentin direct was very exciting and exhilarating thing Rod had ever seen. Rod Taylor has worked with a lot of legendary directors in his career, but none of them were as passionate as Quentin Tarantino.
Quentin knows every actor out there because he watches a lot of movies. Til Schweiger went into acting because “Reservoir Dogs” inspired him to become an actor. Til is one of Quentin’s favorite actors and he called him up saying he wanted to meet with him. Til was nervous because Quentin is the reason he became an actor, but Quentin was nervous too because he’s a big fan of Til. They had a nice conversation and then Quentin offered the role of Hugo Stiglitz, the German who hates Nazis and kills them with pleasure. He is sent to jail, but the Basterds find him, break him out and he joins their group. Quentin is very good with actors and he is always there with the actors to guide them which made Til idolize Quentin even more.
Eli Roth is a filmmaker himself and he and Quentin are close friends. Eli thought “Inglorious Basterds" was an awesome idea for a movie and thought it was cool that Quentin has re-written history. Eli said everyone has fantasies of going back in time and change history and with Quentin Tarantino he expands your mind. You see Eli Roth beating a Nazi general to death with a baseball bat and he’s the lucky son of a bitch who gets to kill Hitler. He even tares Hitler’s face apart with bullets. Killing someone in the movie was more intense for Eli than he imagined. The thing I love most about Eli is while he is shooting at Hitler’s head he shows this angry wide eyed look while doing it because he hates Hitler so much.
Robert Richardson did the cinematography for “Inglorious Basterds”. Richards style for a Quentin Tarantino film is the zoom in and zoom out for certain scenes. For example at the Nazi premiere when the fire starts rising and spreading through the theater, Hitler and Joseph Goebbels are just staring from the theater box. Then the doors behind them slam open and as soon as you hear the doors slam open, it quickly cuts to a zoom in shot of Eli Roth and Omar Doom with machine guns. That shoot out scene in the bar has a three zoom in shots and one zoom out. That scene has a lot of great different angle shots and the way it’s edited together is amazing. My dad says it’s one of the most incredible shoot out scenes he has ever seen. Another great shot is of Melanie Laurent when her character, Shosanna, is getting ready for the big premiere and the light it hitting her eyes. My dad pointed out that while Shosanna is putting on her makeup for the big premiere the action in the scene is perfectly timed with David Bowie’s “Cat People” playing in the background. She puts these red lines on her cheeks and while she is doing that the lyrics to “Cat People” is “see these eyes are red”. My dad says that is well edited.
Quentin wanted “Inglorious Basterds” to be completed by May for the Cannes Film Festival. Brad Pitt wasn’t sure if they would be able to finish the movie in time. But they wrapped the movie in February and Quentin was able to have “Inglorious Basterds” put together in just three months during post-production and got it done just in time for the Cannes Film Festival.
My rating on “Inglorious Basterds” is five out of five stars
