Tarantino’s Bastards Causes Angst in Germany

Apparently Quentin Tarantino’s treatment of Nazi Germany isn’t as lighthearted as it is in, for example,  The Producers.

Today The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Quentin Tarantino’s script for Inglorious Bastards has leaked online in Germany and those who’ve read it are, well, not happy.

Tobias Kneibe, film editor of the Suddeutsche Zeitung, compared the response to Bastards to the firestorm over Tom Cruise’s yet to be released Valkyrie:

“All the German historians and critics who were left gasping for breath by Tom Cruise and his worthy attempts will be so shocked by ‘Inglorious Bastards’ that they will savage it on the spot.”

Kneibe personally liked the script, but felt that “the collision between Tarantino-style pop culture with the themes of the Holocaust and Jewish revenge (the ‘Bastards’ of the film are Jewish-American Nazi hunters) is unprecedented in Germany and its results are completely unpredictable.”

What it all means is that there are people in Germany who are upset by what they perceive as Tarantino’s insensitive or inaccurate portrayal of Germans. But you know what will make them more upset? When they realize that the German state is helping Tarantino finance his film–movies shot in Germany are given numerous tax breaks and since most of Tarantino’s film will be shot there, well, he’s getting those breaks, regardless of what people may think of the content.

I don’t know how widespread or deeply felt any anger is over Tarantino’s project, or even how justified it is; I haven’t read the script so I can’t make any judgements. But I do know one thing–a little controversy has never hurt a film. QT must be just giddy.