So much for our artful “Inglorious Bastards” casting suggestions, it appears Quentin Tarantino is going another route: Hollywood. Despite the fact that 60-70% of ‘Bastards’ is spoken in French and German, and is practically a foreign film, the writer/director is eyeing American A-listers to play what should be foreign roles.
Wait, how’s that? Well, sadly, yes. According to Variety, Q is looking at Leonard DiCaprio for the role of Col. Hans Landa, a trecherous and cunning German Nazi, and one of the lead roles.
If you’ve read the script, this is so far off the mark it hurts and yes, Landa does speak a lot of English in the script, but he also speaks a lot of French (and noted as having an impeccable accent therein). The foreign languages and characters of the film actually had us excited that this could be a different Quentin Tarantino picture even though we didn’t quite fully adore the ‘Inglorious’ script. But it appears QT is selling out his whole – lots of English subtitles and European languages throughout – idea and it’s a shame. There’s no way someone like DiCaprio is going to be able to pull off the languages, so it’s likely going to be dumbed down in English.
A total shame. If Tarantino doesn’t cast Europeans as Europeans here, this can’t be more than just a fun B-movie (which it was probably was going to be, but we were hoping for more).
Alas, well it is QT and it is hard to get funding for projects these days as his Weinstein Company c0-horts can attest. On the upside, better DiCaprio (an overrated A-lister only genuinely strong in roles like “The Departed”) and Brad Pitt (who actually would be pitch-perfect as the hick lead American, Lt. Aldo Raine), then Tarantino’s proclivity for mediocre to just-ok actors in lead roles that can’t carry entire pictures let alone sometimes even act (Uma Thurman, Robert Forster, Pam Grier, David Carradine, Darryl Hannah, etc. etc.).
And the trade reports that yes, Pitt is being looked at for the Lt. Raine role as everyone already assumed. Tarantino is supposed to meet with DiCaprio on Thursday. If you live in Hollywood, please block his driveway and or accost him at the Chateau Marmont and implore him to insist to Tarantino that he’s all wrong. Hell, have him make a play at (semi-spoiler alert) Pvt. Utivitch, one of the last standing Basterds. We’d have no problem with this and it kind of would be perfect considering he’s supposed to be younger than Raine. Hell, we’d even tolerate him as the British Lt. Archie Hicox. But lord, please! Don’t make this mistake as casting him as a German!
“Bastards” is set to shoot in Germany and France in the fall. At least they got one thing right so far.
