Laura Torres
ENG 105
Professor Trigonis
February 25, 2010
The Simplicity of War “The condition of man…is a condition of war everyone against everyone.” This quote from the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes portrays war as a simple concept-everyone against everyone. However, when looked at more closely, and when reaching a deeper understanding of the actual individuals involved, war is a very complex word that can have very different meanings to different people. This idea is clearly visible through the characters introduced in the two war movies, No Man’s Land and Inglorious Basterds. Both movies take a deeper look into the complex emotions that war can inflict on the individuals involved. Both pieces explore how the extremely trying times of war affect the characters’ actions and rationalize what initially may seem like irrational ideas. No Man’s Land presents a situation where two enemies are face to face, both given opportunities to kill the other, but both choosing not too. The audience watches as the two men slowly learn that they may not be so different, and experiences the reasoning behind why each man found it difficult to kill the other. These two soldiers were given a rare opportunity to be one on one with the enemy and by human nature develop a sense of compassion towards each other. In Inglorious Basterds, Shosanna is also given a rare opportunity; to achieve revenge on the Nazis’ responsible for the violent death of her family. This character, like the soldiers in No Man’s Land, was also driven by human nature that led to her actions. However, human nature steers her in the opposite direction of compassion, and she feels pure hatred for the Nazi party. The film is able to portray Shosanna as a real character that the audience can relate to and can understand why she chooses to do what she does. The film is also able to betray the “Basterds”, a group that violently kills off Nazis by scalping them, as heroes. This is best linked to the group’s leader, Lt. Aldo Raine’s belief that the Nazis do not deserve humanity. A main difference between the two pieces is where the characters fall in the big picture of the wars. In No Man’s Land the audience gets to see the emotions experienced by two men who are just among the thousands of other soldiers fighting. They are not in positions of leadership, and most likely personally have nothing to do with the cause of the war; and if it weren’t for the rare situation they were put in they would be no different than any of their fellow soldiers. They are two innocent men who are simply fulfilling their responsibilities to their homelands, and thus are forced to fight a war. The feelings and emotions they feel in the face of death, both their own and the enemy, are very different than what the main characters in Inglorious Basterds feel. In Inglorious Basterds the audience sees the feelings and reactions of the leaders in the war. While Ciki and Nino are driven by human nature and compassion, Landa and Raine are driven more by victory and the outcome of the war, and are the main players in the entire war. Both films also demonstrate the lie and deceit that is at the core of a war. In No Man’s Land, the UNPROFOR, a neutral group, is given the chance to save the lives of two innocent soldiers serving their countries, and initially chooses not to. Not until they are pressured by the risk of the media shining a negative light on them, do they step up and try to help these soldiers. In addition, in order to save face, the UNPROFOR declares that Cera was saved from the land mine, but in fact they had given up on his rescue and left him there to die. Inglorious Basterds’s events constantly involve characters lying and disguising themselves in order to get closer to the enemy. Even in the end, Landa claims to be a turncoat and is willing to let the execution of his fellow Nazis happen as long as he was promised to a safe life in America with no punishment for all of his actions. Although both movies show how complex war is, they also both reveal the simple truth of war: There is an enemy and the goal is to kill that enemy. In No Man’s Land, even after the two soldiers are saved, one last row between the soldiers results in Ciki shooting his enemy, Nino. Ciki is then killed as well, but one could argue that it may not matter because he achieved his goal of war, to kill the enemy. The same truth is revealed in Inglorious Basterds. Though Shosanna does not survive to see the results of her plan, her plan was successful. Her goal of war was to destroy the Nazis who destroyed her family and her life in France, and in the end the theater does burn down and the Nazi leaders inside the theater are all killed. In conclusion, wars are very complex things and have irreversible effects on the people that are faced with them. However, there are simple truths found in wars: the goal will always be to kill the enemy, and this goal can never be achieved without deceit.