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Originally Posted by Professor S
As for the message, I thought it was one of undying vengeance and guilt. Vengeance for the Jews, killing Hitler and ending the war in hegemonic fashion, a morbid fantasy. Guilt for the Germans, with each surviving German having a swastika carved in their head so they, and on a larger theme their nation, will never be able to escape their past. Neither of those themes are redeeming, in my view. But that's just how I saw it. You'd have to ask Quentin what his intentions were.
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I think it's a mistake to think that Inglourious Basterds was intended to have a message. I don't think Tarantino really thinks that deeply about it. He makes cinema about cinema for cinema's sake. That's why a major subplot of the movie is about the power of propaganda movies. From what I've seen in his interviews, his intention was to create a spaghetti western set in 1940s Germany. Just like Kill Bill was a spaghetti western with katanas. That's it.
Which is not to say you're wrong to dislike the movie's message. Just because Tarantino didn't intend it doesn't mean it's not there and that it's not worth arguing with. I'm just saying that I don't think he was going for any sort of theme or message at all. The guy just doesn't think that way.
Oh, but this thread is about Christoph Waltz. I would like to say as a fairly proficient French speaker that the man's linguistic skill is amazing. We can tell that his English is pretty good, and of course his German is good. As far as I could tell, he speaks French flawlessly. And then just for the hell of it, he whipped out some Italian towards the end. He made me feel inadequate.