Colonel Hans Landa: the best, and worst, kind of villain
Quentin Tarantino recently announced his character, Hans Landa, who was played by Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds), as his Best Character he’s ever written. My curiosity, and as a fan of the man himself, took it upon myself to perform this character analysis of Hans Landa. Out of all the characters under Mr. Tarantino’s belt he decided on the infamous Hans “Jew Hunter” Landa, meaning Beatrix Kiddo and Jules Winnfield didn’t make the cut, and the reasons are deep once compared to the runner-ups.
I’ll start with the villain himself, Hans Landa. Anyone familiar with Mr. Tarantino’s love for violence and character understand his use of the two as elements in his stories. Normally, a story begins by welcoming the protagonist to the audience, and is done so subtlety. The opening scene of Inglorious Basterds follows the classic setup but something isn’t right, and I’m not talking about the suspense driven conversation with Farmer Perrier and Colonel Hans Landa, no. Immediately after that scene the movie introduces the Bastards, so the movie has given us our protagonist: Colonel Hans Landa. Afterwards the audience is given the antagonist(s): Basterds. No, I did not mix up the protagonist or antagonist, Colonel Hans Landa is still the movie’s villain, and the Basterds are the heroes. Ironically, the Basterds, being a Jewish squadron, and Landa, a Nazi official, have sworn to hunt down the other.
Why Colonel Hans Landa is chosen as the protagonist is simple: he’s the most dynamically complex character within the film, hands down. Nothing changes with any of the other characters within the film, beside Shosanna (the Jewish escapee at the beginning of the film) since her resolve is minor in comparison to Landa. Most of the Basterds end up dead with no resolve and only serve at the Hand of Justice at the end of the film, which cannot falter for such a villain.
Another noteworthy detail is Colonel Hans Landa’s unwelcoming politeness to those he surrounds, as if he’s trying to portray some sort of humanity only to gut his prey in the back. I could use many words to describe Hans, none of them positive, and none would do justice to his villainy. Proof: Hans claims himself equal to Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi official that formulated the genocide of the Jew in Europe. Now that is an ego with ambition to boot. That’s right, Hans Landa has equated his status with one of the evilest men in history, I would even say far darker than anyone in the Nazi Party, including Hitler himself. Perhaps Reinhard was Tarantino’s inspiration for Colonel Hans Landa.
In one scene, Colonel Hans Landa confronts Bridget, Diane Kruger’s character, about her missing shoe. Whether it’s a correlation to her status of being movie star and that of Cinderella I’m not sure. But this scene further Colonel Hans character with this new, yet, unexpected, portrayal of the character so far into the film, and it’s something you might see out of the protagonist. Unlike heroic protagonist, Colonel Hans violently strangles his Bridget, something normally executed by his grunts or soldiers. I was confused by this act alone because of Colonel Hans’ demeanor until then. “And why not have the Basterds killed off at the same time instead of waiting in the lobby?” I asked myself while watching. Well, Bridget is a German spy, and spies are often considered “rats”, and from the opening scene the audience is well aware of Han’s distaste for rats, especially a German rat. This reveals into the pride Colonel Hans has for the Nazi and German and considers Bridget’s betrayal unacceptable as another German. Colonel Hans could have let her live along with the two captured Basterds, but no. Nothing is worse than kin betraying itself, at least that how I believe Hans views Bridget.
Back to how Hans Landa is the unofficial protagonist. His cunning and cleverness eventually put him in a position where he wins, or an escape route if we’re still on the analogy of “rats”, thanks to the negotiations with Allies to the capturing of the Basterds. So, Colonel Hans prideful in one scene betrays his country, kin, and ideals since it allows him to come out alive and well. Colonel Hans is the worst kind of scum, one you cannot defeat, he knows it, and will smile in your face about it.
