*spoilers ahead*
In the Quentin Tarantino movie Inglorious Bastards, the opening scene is a masterwork of suspense and character creation. The scene starts with a simple shot of the farm house, a daughter is tending to the laundry and the father is attempting to split a tree stump with a worn down axe. This is an attempt to give the viewer an insight look at their average life. This appears peaceful and quaint, a quaint life that is interrupted abruptly by the arrival of the Nazis. The Nazi’s show up to the farmhouse in full force with many soldiers. This makes the viewer automatically tense, as the control of the situation is no longer with the farmer, who the audience instinctively likes. This is what creates tension, when there is nothing left to be done. This is made very clear to the farmer, to be named Perrier LaPadite, as he buries the axe into the stump and stares at the incoming soldiers with a look of muddled horror. LaPadite tells his daughters to get inside the house and not to run, indicating to the audience that LaPadite is doing something he knows is not allowed, that will be revealed later in the scene. We are then introduced to Cornel Hans Landa. He is introduced to be very polite and almost friendly. This puts the audience and more noticeably the farmer in a state of dread and discomfort. Throughout the conversation Landa continues to subtly imply his powers over people, having LaPadite tell him about his reputation, enforcing the legendary aspects of his own deduction.
Through simple acts of asking permission to switch languages or saying things like, “Please monsieur LaPadite this is your house, make yourself comfortable‘’ what Landa is actually doing is basically telling LaPadite how little control he has in the coming few moments. The tension in the room is then magnified when the camera zooms in on the two men and down under the floor boards to a family covering their mouths, attempting not to make a noise. This shows us that LaPadite has been lying about the whereabouts of his neighbors, who the Nazi’s are looking for and both he and the family are in serious danger if caught.
The conversation continues to grow in suspense until it almost appears to be over, that is until Landa drops his polite demeanor and doesn’t even ask LaPadite if he is sheltering the family they are looking for, he tells him. LaPadite admits this, selling out those who put trust in him. You can see he is visibly upset. The tension in the room then escalates from if Landa will find the family to what will happen to them next. A question answered rather quickly. Landa states to LaPadite that they will be going now, has his men line up their guns with the floor boards, and executes all but one who managed to get away. This is the most important part of tension: the pay off. If there were to be some magical thing swooping down to save the family last minute, then all tension regarding Landa as a threat are whipped out for the rest of the film. This is not what occurs, instead what we are left with is a very dedicated and detail oriented man on a warpath to hunt down his targets.
stonethrowingglasshouse 