Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Mélanie Laurent and Till Schweiger are all basterds….worth putting up on a one sheet. Peter from Slashfilm.com just preemed Schweiger and upon my arrival and first footsteps on the sunny Croisette I found the sixth and final basterd in Michael Fassbender. A talent I discovered same time last year with his pound-losing portrayal of Bobby Sands in Steve McQueen’s Hunger, Fassender takes on the role of Lt. Archie Hicox.
Preeming on the 20th (second week of Cannes) Inglourious Basterds begins in German-occupied France, where Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) witnesses the execution of her family at the hand of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). Shosanna narrowly escapes and flees to Paris, where she forges a new identity as the owner and operator of a cinema. Elsewhere in Europe, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) organizes a group of Jewish soldiers to engage in targeted acts of retribution. Known to their enemy as “The Basterds,” Raine’s squad joins German actress and undercover agent Bridget Von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) on a mission to take down the leaders of The Third Reich. Fates converge under a cinema marquee, where Shosanna is poised to carry out a revenge plan of her own…
