Quentin Tarantino has shown in his nine films that he masters both funny, absurd, and thrilling scenes. One of his best lasts a full 20 minutes and contains almost only dialogue. Nevertheless, the scene is nearly unparalleled in tension.
In 2009, Quentin Tarantino released his war film Inglourious Basterds, which abruptly turned historical narrative on its head. A group of Americans wants to kill Adolf Hitler, which is just one facet of the multi-layered plot.
The main antagonist in the film is not Hitler himself, but SS Standartenführer Hans Landa, played by Christoph Waltz – who was not allowed to be present during rehearsals. He makes his first appearance right at the beginning of the film when Landa visits the farmhouse of the Frenchman Perrier LaPadite, suspecting that Jews may be hiding there.
This first scene serves as a prologue and lasts about twenty minutes. The special thing: Unlike in many other films, Inglourious Basterds does not start with captivatingly staged action. Instead, it is all dialogue. This was extremely thrilling in 2009 and has lost none of its intensity even today, 16 years later.
A Lesson in Tension
What happens in the scene? Hans Landa enters the house of the milk farmer and sits down at the table with him. The two men talk somewhat superficially in French for a while before Landa gets to the point: He believes that LaPadite is hiding Jews in his house.
Tarantino shows us, the audience, after a few minutes that this suspicion is true. The camera pans down and reveals that indeed the Jewish woman Shosanna Drefus and her family are hidden beneath the floorboards.
The conversation continues. Landa presents himself as a charismatic, but ultimately ruthless person. He applies increasing pressure on the milk farmer. Eventually, the farmer gives in and nods in response to Landa’s question about whether he is hiding anyone.
Since the SS officer has just switched languages and is no longer speaking French, Shosanna and her family do not understand this turning point in the conversation. Thus, they cannot foresee that the soldiers will soon open fire. Only Shosanna escapes.
What makes the scene so good? The fear that Landa will find the hidden Jews is always palpable and keeps the audience on edge. The brilliantly written dialogues turn Landa into a cunning hunter, who drives his prey further into a corner.
At the same time, Tarantino uses an old cinematic trick to create tension: He shows the audience an important piece of information, in this case, that the family is hiding beneath the floor. Simultaneously, we have a rough idea of how the situation could end in the worst case.
Alfred Hitchcock also frequently employed this trick and summarized it in his book Hitchcock/Truffaut with an example (via nofilmschool.com): If a bomb is placed under a table that we are unaware of, we experience 15 seconds of surprise at the explosion. If we, as viewers, know from the beginning that the bomb is there, we get 15 minutes of tension. It’s quite similar in the case of Inglourious Basterds.
Moreover, the acting performances of Christoph Waltz and Denis Ménochet in this scene are among the best that cinema has to offer. We hang on their every word and are invested in the situation. Tarantino remains very proud of this scene and the film overall, recently calling it his masterpiece in the podcast The Church of Tarantino. In our ranking, the film also ranks quite high.
After this grand opening, the film picks up even more pace. It is an exciting experiment that presents history in an alternative way. What do you think about it? Have you seen the film? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments. Tarantino has his own distinct views when it comes to cinema: A superhero film is so good that Quentin Tarantino loves it despite his disapproval of this genre.
