INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
Directed by Quentin Tarantino and Eli Roth
Written by Quentin Tarantino
Starring Brad Pitt, Eli Roth
Directed by Quentin Tarantino and Eli Roth
Written by Quentin Tarantino
Starring Brad Pitt, Eli Roth
The presumed controversy regarding the bearing of the Confederate flag--arising in no small part from the despicable assassinations of nine people in a church in Charleston, South Carolina--seizes my memory and directs it to the closing scene in Quentin Tarantino's movie Inglourious Basterds.
The idea of taking down the evil banner of the Confederacy appeals to many of us. Its presence in and around government suggests a legitimacy the losers of the U.S. Civil War do not deserve. The winners of wars get to write the history books and therefore technically the South--being slave-owning, treasonous murderers--possess no rights whatsoever, a fact made clear by the necessity of Reconstruction. To harbor the secessionists' most sacred symbol--much less to allow it to be waved with pride as a testimony to the alleged sacrifice of dead hooligans--for purposes of reminding present and future generations of the value of their history makes me ill in the most violent of manners. Imagine Angela Merkel announcing to the German Parliament that the heretofore forbidden swastika is now to be prominently displayed outside the Reichstag building so that ancestors of those German men and women who gave their lives in World War II can share in the history of Deutschland's war against the Allied Forces. Such a declaration might--oh, what's the word?--piss a lot of people off.
Such mental noodling took my thoughts by the hand and brought me back to Tarantino's masterpiece of a film. The storyline concerns a Jewish-American special forces soldier, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (played by Brad Pitt), who leads a mission to wipe out the highest ranking Nazis during the showing of a propaganda film. His plot is discovered by an SS colonel, one Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). Eventually, the SS Colonel admits that he knows the Axis powers will lose the war and arranges a deal between the Allies and himself. In exchange for his release and freedom from prosecution, the SS Colonel agrees to give information to the good guys, thereby hastening the end of the war and, one presumes, saving lives on all sides. What happens next provides a neat parallel to what I would like to see happen with the Confederacy-loving Southerners. Let's look at the screenplay.
Aldo and Uitivich climb down from the truck.
Col.Landa indicates for Herrman to remove the handcuffs from the two prisoners. He does.
COL.LANDA
Herrman, hand them your weapon.
He does. Col.Landa hands over his LUGER, and his very cool looking SS DAGGER.
COL.LANDA
I am officially surrendering myself over to you, Lt.Raine. We are your prisoners.
LT.ALDO
Thank you very much Colonel. Uitivich, cuff the Colonel's hands behind his back.
COL.LANDA
Is that really necessary?
Uitivich cuffs the Colonel's hands behind his back.
LT.ALDO
I'm a slave to appearances.
Aldo takes the Luger and shoots Herrmann dead. The bound Col.Landa is appalled.
COL.LANDA
Are you mad? What have you done? I made a deal with your General for that man's life!
LT. ALDO
Yeah, they made that deal, but they don't give a fuck about him, they need you.
COL.LANDA
You'll be shot for this.
LT.ALDO
Naw I don't think so, more like I'll be chewed out. I've been chewed out before. You know, Uitvich and myself heard that deal you made with the Brass. End the war tonight? I'd make that deal. How bout you Uitivich, you make that deal?
UITIVICH
I'd make that deal.
LT.ALDO
I don't blame ya. Damn good deal. And that pretty little nest ya feathered for yourself. Well, if you're willing to barbecue the whole high command, I suppose that's worth certain considerations. Now I don't care about you gettin pensions, merit badges, ticker tape parades, who gives a damn, let's all go home. But I do have one question? When you go to your little place on Nantuckett Island, I image you gonna take off that handsome looking SS uniform of yours, ain't ya?
For the first time in the movie, Col.Landa doesn't-respond.
LT.ALDO
That's what I thought. Now that... .I can't abide. How bout you Uitivich, can you abide it?
UITIVICH
Not one damn bit, sir.
LT.ALDO
I mean, if I had my way, you'd wear that goddamn uniform for the rest of your pecker suckin life. But I'm aware that's ain't practical. I mean at some point ya gotta hafta take it off.
He opens Landa's SS dagger and holds the blade in front of Hans face.
LT.ALDO
So I'm gonna give you a little somethin you can't take off.
CUT TO CLOSE UP OF COL.LANDA The Dagger has just completed carving a swastika deep into his forehead.
COL.LANDA'S POV: On the ground, looking up at Aldo, bloody knife in hand, who straddles him.. And Uitivich, who's next to him. The two Basterds admire Aldo's handiwork.
LT.ALDO
You know somethin Uitivich, I think this just might be my masterpiece.
The idea of taking down the evil banner of the Confederacy appeals to many of us. Its presence in and around government suggests a legitimacy the losers of the U.S. Civil War do not deserve. The winners of wars get to write the history books and therefore technically the South--being slave-owning, treasonous murderers--possess no rights whatsoever, a fact made clear by the necessity of Reconstruction. To harbor the secessionists' most sacred symbol--much less to allow it to be waved with pride as a testimony to the alleged sacrifice of dead hooligans--for purposes of reminding present and future generations of the value of their history makes me ill in the most violent of manners. Imagine Angela Merkel announcing to the German Parliament that the heretofore forbidden swastika is now to be prominently displayed outside the Reichstag building so that ancestors of those German men and women who gave their lives in World War II can share in the history of Deutschland's war against the Allied Forces. Such a declaration might--oh, what's the word?--piss a lot of people off.
Such mental noodling took my thoughts by the hand and brought me back to Tarantino's masterpiece of a film. The storyline concerns a Jewish-American special forces soldier, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (played by Brad Pitt), who leads a mission to wipe out the highest ranking Nazis during the showing of a propaganda film. His plot is discovered by an SS colonel, one Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). Eventually, the SS Colonel admits that he knows the Axis powers will lose the war and arranges a deal between the Allies and himself. In exchange for his release and freedom from prosecution, the SS Colonel agrees to give information to the good guys, thereby hastening the end of the war and, one presumes, saving lives on all sides. What happens next provides a neat parallel to what I would like to see happen with the Confederacy-loving Southerners. Let's look at the screenplay.
Aldo and Uitivich climb down from the truck.
Col.Landa indicates for Herrman to remove the handcuffs from the two prisoners. He does.
COL.LANDA
Herrman, hand them your weapon.
He does. Col.Landa hands over his LUGER, and his very cool looking SS DAGGER.
COL.LANDA
I am officially surrendering myself over to you, Lt.Raine. We are your prisoners.
LT.ALDO
Thank you very much Colonel. Uitivich, cuff the Colonel's hands behind his back.
COL.LANDA
Is that really necessary?
Uitivich cuffs the Colonel's hands behind his back.
LT.ALDO
I'm a slave to appearances.
Aldo takes the Luger and shoots Herrmann dead. The bound Col.Landa is appalled.
COL.LANDA
Are you mad? What have you done? I made a deal with your General for that man's life!
LT. ALDO
Yeah, they made that deal, but they don't give a fuck about him, they need you.
COL.LANDA
You'll be shot for this.
LT.ALDO
Naw I don't think so, more like I'll be chewed out. I've been chewed out before. You know, Uitvich and myself heard that deal you made with the Brass. End the war tonight? I'd make that deal. How bout you Uitivich, you make that deal?
UITIVICH
I'd make that deal.
LT.ALDO
I don't blame ya. Damn good deal. And that pretty little nest ya feathered for yourself. Well, if you're willing to barbecue the whole high command, I suppose that's worth certain considerations. Now I don't care about you gettin pensions, merit badges, ticker tape parades, who gives a damn, let's all go home. But I do have one question? When you go to your little place on Nantuckett Island, I image you gonna take off that handsome looking SS uniform of yours, ain't ya?
For the first time in the movie, Col.Landa doesn't-respond.
LT.ALDO
That's what I thought. Now that... .I can't abide. How bout you Uitivich, can you abide it?
UITIVICH
Not one damn bit, sir.
LT.ALDO
I mean, if I had my way, you'd wear that goddamn uniform for the rest of your pecker suckin life. But I'm aware that's ain't practical. I mean at some point ya gotta hafta take it off.
He opens Landa's SS dagger and holds the blade in front of Hans face.
LT.ALDO
So I'm gonna give you a little somethin you can't take off.
CUT TO CLOSE UP OF COL.LANDA The Dagger has just completed carving a swastika deep into his forehead.
COL.LANDA'S POV: On the ground, looking up at Aldo, bloody knife in hand, who straddles him.. And Uitivich, who's next to him. The two Basterds admire Aldo's handiwork.
LT.ALDO
You know somethin Uitivich, I think this just might be my masterpiece.
