Quentin Tarantino: Definitive Guide To Homages, Influences And References
Inglourious Basterds
3. Hangmen Also Die
During the opening sequence with the French dairy farmer, Landa discusses Reinhard Heydrich, dictator of Czechoslovakia (who was known by his nickname as "The Hangman"). Landa mentions that Heydrich hated his nicknames, whereas Landa adores his own ("The Jew Hunter"). Interestingly, Fritz Lang made a film once called Hangmen Also Die! about the assassination of Heydrich.
The plot of that film mirrors the plot of Inglourious Basterds to some close degrees: it is done by British commandos behind enemy lines who use a machine-gun and a bomb. Hangmen Also Die also plays out like a "revenge fantasy." It's possible that Landa's line is Tarantino's way of acknowledging the film's influence on his own story.
Tarantino has also talked opening about his Fritz Lang and this film's influence: "When I was writing the script for Inglourious Basterds, I ended up looking at a different type of war film than Id ever watched before. These were the propaganda movies made in the 40s, mostly directed by foreign directors living in Hollywood because the Nazis had occupied their home countries, like Fritz Lang with Hangmen Also Die.
What's really interesting is that WWII was going on, the Nazis were an actual threat, not a theoretical threat, not just movie bad guys. Those directors, in most cases, had personal experience with the Nazis, and obviously they had to be worried about their loved ones back home. And yet those films are entertaining, theyre thrilling adventure stories, and oftentimes theyre quite funny, theres a lot of humor in them. And this goes against all the ponderous, anti-war, violin-music diatribes that weve seen in war movies since the 80s."
2. Danielle Darrieux
Upon seeing Shosanna all dressed up in her red dress before Nazi night begins, Marcel exclaims, "Ooh la la, Danielle Darrieux!" Danielle Darrieux was a famous French actress who appeared in more than 110 films. Her eight-decade film career is considered one of the longest in the history of cinema. She is still alive today and is currently 95-years-old.
1. The White Hell Of Pitz Palu
One of the films playing at Shosanna's theatre is the Pabst film The White Hell of Pitz Palu. Later Hicox, pretending to be German, says that he was born near Pitz Palu (hence his strange accent) and makes up a lie about his brother appearing in the film's ski torch sequence. The film was also later referenced in The Hateful Eight, when Tim Roth's character references the weather being a "white hell out there".