Sense of Sensitivity: Shosanna’s Role in Inglorious Bastards

Melanie Laurent’s character in Inglorious Basterds is unforgettable. Her poise and grace throughout the movie fools the Nazi leaders as she spites for revenge. Born in France and originally a French actress, Laurent became known in America by this role in Inglorious Bastards, winning multiple awards for best supporting actress. The character Shosanna, the heart of the movie, particularly appealed to Laurent because of her Jewish ancestry as she states, “I am strong and I just had a dream to kill Adolf Hitler.” While her feminine beauty fools the Nazis, her attire, body movements, and nonverbal cues throughout the movie captivate the audience as she schemes to kill so many killers.

When Shosanna reappears after her family’s murder, changing the letters on the marquee, her hatred for Nazi’s is masked by an uninterested and strong attitude as Nazi general Fredrick Zoller attempts to make conversation. In the screenshot above, Shosanna’s lack of interest is obvious through her empty expression. Her rusty, autumn tones jacket and brown trousers also emphasize her tough, uninterested attitude as her hair is pulled back into a brownish beret, only catching a small glimpse of blonde baby hairs falling out of the side. Anna Sheppard, the costume designer for the film, described in an interview with Clothes on Film that Laurent’s “modern dungaree” trousers were to go against the feminine “floral dresses and small patterns that were associated with the period.” Shosanna’s style throughout the film was not intended to “draw attention to the person wearing them,” as Sheppard emphasizes in her interview with Clothes on Film, which is obvious in the following scene with a mid shot of Shosanna sitting at a table, dressed in all neutrals as the audience gets a glimpse of Zoller through the glass door. He approaches Shosanna’s table. The low angle view of the screenshot below gives the audience a glimpse of Shosanna’s displeased attitude; however, her beret blocks Zoller’s view to her reaction of his arrival as he towers over her, attempting to make conversation.

Shosanna blatantly attempts to reject Zoller’s company, as soldiers bombard Zoller, praising him for his triumphs in the war. Shosanna abruptly storms out, leaving Zoller shocked from rejection. However, Shosanna fails to expose her true reasoning for her rude actions, but rather achieves the standoffish attitude of an attractive young French woman, constantly harasses by entitled men.

Shosanna’s responses to powerful Nazi leaders are often short, poised, and unimpressed, yet this is nothing abnormal for a young French lady. However, her body movement and nonverbal cues hint a more accurate depiction of attitudes towards the Nazis. Sitting at a table with multiple Nazi leaders, Shosanna’s responses are quick. Her eyes are wide. Her posture makes it obvious she is uncomfortable. To the people sitting at the table, she seems timid and nervous, trying to keep her composure; however, to the audience, rather she is attempting to keep her composure in a different way. Her hatred seeps through her wide-eyed reaction as Colonel Landa walks through the door behind her. The loud, drum tempo beat in the background intensifies the moment, as Col. Landa kisses Shosanna’s hand.

Her opened mouth reaction can be perceived in two ways. To the people sitting at the table, it would typical of a young French girl meeting a powerful Nazi General for the first time. Yet to the audience, it is Emmanuelle attempting to not give away her cover as Shosanna to the man that murdered her family in front of her face. As he asks to have a word with Shosanna, her pace of breath rapidly increases and facial expression exposes her nervousness.

Her gaze is distant, and a stream of thoughts run through her mind as the camera moves closer into her expression. She is uncomfortable, yet perhaps Col. Landa mistakes this discomfort for nervousness. He blatantly expresses his adolescent perception of her as he orders for two strudels, a cup of espresso for himself, and a cup of milk for Shosanna. The glass of milk is ironic, considering Shosanna’s last memory on her family’s dairy farm and of Col. Landa was when he murdered her family. Her eyes move from top corner to top corner as she tries to keep her composure, taking deep breaths in-between Landa’s attempt to make conversation. She is anxious, and it is obvious; however, how Landa perceives her anxiety is questionable, considering his lack of connection to their previous encounter. To him, Shosanna is beautiful, young, and nervous to be alone with a Nazi War General. The accumulation of emotions that result from sitting a minimal distance away from the murdering strudel buddy makes Shosanna lose her composure directly after his departure. The scene abruptly changes, and Shosanna makes the climatic decision to avenge the murder of her family and all Jews by burning the cinema filled with Nazi leaders.

Throughout the evolution of the plot, Shosanna’s attire, body language, and nonverbal cues are perceived as not a threat, yet in one of the final scenes, alternative edges to her personality are exposed to the Nazis. She wears a bright red 40’s style dress, foreshadowing the amount of bloodshed at the end of the night or perhaps representing the color of the flames about to engulf her cinema. She accessorizes it with a black veil covering half of her face, commonly worn at funerals. She is confident, yet becomes nervous and emotional, as time grows closer to take action. Scenes interchange between Marcel and Shosanna, juxtaposing the two simultaneously preparing for the plan. As Shosanna answers Zoller’s knocking on the projection room door, her attitude immediately changes. She is composed and short with her responses, giving away no sign of scheming, but unlike previous interactions with Zoller, Shosanna snaps at his lack of understand of the word “no.” The rejection strikes a nerve in Zoller, as it would for any self-entitled man of power. He slams the door open and the camera follows Shosanna, creeping backwards away from Zoller as he steps toward her. Shosanna’s face is serious, and her voice is soft as she asks him to close the door. She loses her feminine vulnerability as she pulls a gun and wide-eyed pulls the trigger, watching three bullets slam into his back, staining his white jacket with the same blood-red color of her dress.

As she stares at Zoller’s body laying on the ground and pitiful music begins to play, Shosanna contemplates her impulsive actions while she alternates glancing from Zoller playing himself in the movie to his limp body on the ground. His groans make Shosanna check on his dying body, lightly touching his leg then his shoulder as she rolls him over. He fires two bullets to Shosanna’s chest, forcing her backwards before she hits the ground. Both wounded bodies lie on the ground, and both are slowly dying from the steady loss of blood. Shosanna’s plan however, did not die along with her physical body, but rather the plan was carried out by her last true companion, Marcel. Shosanna’s body was left to disintegrate in the cinema that gave her the possibility for revenge.

Laurent’s character is essential to the plot’s evolution and climax of the film. Her attitude and poise in handling the Nazis to successfully execute their eventual murder was strategic and patient. Despite her anger and previously devastating encounters with Nazis, the name Emmanuelle and the cinema gave her the situation to take revenge for her family’s murder. In the script, Tarantino describes Shosanna’s character as “a attractive looking French woman.” Laurent exemplifies the role perfectly as her physical beauty is emphasizes by a poised, French attitude. Her character gives the film a sense of sensitivity, as the storyline follows her family’s murder to the murdering of the murderer.