Inglourious Basterds question I've had for years

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In the bar scene, why was Major Hellstrom there to begin with

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It was a common hangout for local soldiers and the like. Hitler had high ranking intelligence officers stationed all over Germany to gather Intel and keep watch.

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There is an interesting Reddit thread about how he knew they were all spies before the hand gesture. LINK

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I didn't click the link, but he most certainly did. He could tell by their accents. Even the young German Soldier kid could tell by their accents, and the way they were acting. Further, as a high ranking intelligence official, he would've been familiar with groups of ranking officers in the town and known that they weren't. And he most certainly would've known Hugo Stiglitz face immediately.

The entire card game was a battle of wits between the Americans and the Germans. That was pretty clear. The Hellstrom was just getting them to let their guard down enoigh to give him and excuse to kill them and give himself an excuse to sharpen his cunning and skills. Plus, he needed to gather Intel. If he did make it out alive, he needed as much information as possible before he revealed himself.

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The entire card game was a battle of wits between the Americans and the Germans.

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There was not a single American in that scene until after shots were fired.

One of my favorite scenes of that entire movie.

"Say auf Wiedersehen to your Nazi balls."

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It was a common hangout for local soldiers and the like

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Yeah, in a basement. Fighting in a basement has a number of difficulties, #1 being, you're fightin' in a basement.

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He could tell by their accents. Even the young German Soldier kid could tell by their accents

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That was just the British officer (Michael Fassbender). He even comments on knowing the parts of Germany the other's accents came from.

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And he most certainly would've known Hugo Stiglitz face immediately.

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maybe, remember it was 1940's not as easy to get a picture to everyone even in the high command.

I have to wonder what the Basterds were thinking in letting Hugo Stigltz at a movie premiere with all the high ranking Nazi officers in attendance. It would be like Osama Bin Laden walking into the White House Correspondents Dinner. He would be recognized and killed immediately.

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A common theme throughout the entire movie is the Bastards underestimating Lander and the higher ups of the Germans.

Lander makes a point at the end that he knows the names and faces and descriptions of every Bastard.

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Landa, fair point but the basterds did leave a survivor on purpose and Landa said he interviewed them. So he knew names and had a description of them. no way other officers knew the names of the basterds. The one guy that gets beaten by the bear Jew does say everyone in the German army knew Hugo Stiflitz

I guess my biggest question was his being there. Was it a coincidence or did he have information about the meeting beforehand?

There's also interesting theories on whether or not Landa recognized Shoshanna in the restaurant scene.

i think he just happened to be there at the local hangout. he was by himself in the corner because, like he said, officers shouldnt fraternize with enlisted man. thats what i like about tarantino's scripts. sometimes great scenes are just a product of the circumstances of the characters. a gestapo officer is out having a drink and accidentally discovers a group of spies meeting an informant

there's something charming about situations like that

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Hugo Stiglitz

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Instant sign that something is probably wrong.