Inglourious Basterds

Set in Nazi-occupied France during World War II, Inglourious Basterds is a provocative and stylized reinterpretation of history directed by Quentin Tarantino. The film weaves together two main storylines that eventually converge in an explosive climax inside a Parisian movie theater.

On one hand, it follows the story of a squad of Jewish-American soldiers known as “The Basterds,” a select group led by Lieutenant Aldo Raine. Their mission is anything but conventional: to spread fear among the Nazi ranks through brutal tactics, including the direct killing of enemy soldiers and the collection of their scalps as trophies. Their cruelty and determination become a feared legend within the Third Reich, setting off a covert military operation aimed at undermining German morale from within.

The other narrative thread focuses on Shosanna Dreyfus, a young French-Jewish woman who narrowly escapes a Nazi massacre that kills her entire family. Years later, living under a false identity, Shosanna manages a cinema in Paris. It is there that fate brings her face to face with the enemy once again, when high-ranking Nazi officials choose her theater as the venue for the premiere of a propaganda film—an event to be attended by Adolf Hitler and other leaders of the Third Reich.