20 Most Perfect Scenes In Cinema History

28 Weeks Later may have defined the opening gambit for horror movies for years to come, but Quentin Tarantino tends to defy conventions rather than define them. Inglourious Basterds, set deep in Nazi-occupied France circa 1944, is a lurid, often subtlety-free exploitation movie, which is why the astonishing nuance of the opening scene stands out as it does.

Transposing the classic dread of the fascistic secret police from its usual dystopic urban environment to an idyllic, isolated farmhouse is a masterstroke in and of itself. A riff on The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, it recasts the scenario as a spaghetti western home invasion, juxtaposing the jackbooted totalitarianism of the Nazis with the role of lawless wild west brigands.

The tension mounts with the revelation that the farmer is hiding a Jewish family beneath the floor. However, Tarantino is clever enough to allow that tension to ebb and flow, inserting ridiculous moments - like Colonel Landa’s implausibly huge Sherlock Holmes pipe - to level the mood for a moment before ratcheting it up again. Check out this spot-on analysis:

Christoph Waltz, in the role that made his name, is breathtaking in this practically one-handed performance. The scene is fully nineteen minutes long, yet, almost casually, he holds the audience in the palm of his hand throughout.