The movie by Quentin Tarantino (of the Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction fame) is set in the early 1940s, the World War II era. The location is Nazi occupied French territory. Almost the entire movie is in either French or German, with sub-titles.

The movie starts with the introduction of the animosity of German soldiers towards Jews when Colonel Hans Landa, played by Christoph Waltz, comes to an isolated house of a French dairy farmer and digs down the Jews they were hiding beneath their floors. He opens fire but just one person of the family of 4 manages to escape – it is the girl named Shosanna Dreyfus, played by Melanie Laurent. Landa sees her running away, aims to shoot at her and then lets her go. This shows the character of a predator, who liked to hunt down his enemies and not merely shoot them. He liked to make them suffer rather than just kill them.

The first 15 mins of the movie give the viewer an insight on the kind of cruelty inflicted by the Nazis on the Jews. The analogy he gives about Nazis being Pradators like Hawks and the Jews being the hunted like the Rats, is chilling. The movie manages to grab your attention in the first few mins itself, a classic Tarantino, if I might add 🙂

Fast forward 3 years and Shosanna is now living as Emmanuelle Mimieux, a cinema owner in Paris. How she comes to own the cinema is not revealed in the movie. She tells everyone that she inherited it from her Aunt and Uncle.

And appears, Lieutenant Aldo Raine, played by Brad Pitt, along with his army of allies who call themselves “The Inglorious Basterds”. They are an army of jews with the only agenda of ousting the Nazis. They are very cruel with the german soldiers they can lay their hands upon. They scalp the heads of those they murder and those they leave, they mark their heads with the Nazi symbol of Swastika, so that they will never be able to disassociate themselves with the group, even if they want.

And then what follows is a war between the Nazis and the IBs, trying to hunt each other down. What unfolds in the movie is the thrilling climax with the twists and turns,  which are best enjoyed in the theatre.

So, go ahead and enjoy the movie. This one is definitely not to be missed. It is definitely a must-see!

[Disclaimer: Please note that this is an adult film with a lot of violence. So, please do not tag any kids along :)]