The Real Inglorious Bastards - The True Story
Of late we've had these feature films (you know the ones I mean) stories supposedly based on historical fact. The most famous or infamous (depending on your point of view) is Argo, the Oscar winner for the best movie of 2012.
In Canada, Argo touched a sore point. After all, was Tony Mendez as portrayed by Ben Affleck the true hero of the escape of the six Americans from Iran? What happened to mention of Ken Taylor, our ambassador? What happened to mention of the Canadian government and the role of another Canadian stalwart, Flora MacDonald? After all, Prime Minister Joe Clark and his cabinet were willing to take the courageous stand, first in sheltering the escapees from the American Embassy and then in seeing to their escape. It seems that "the Canadian real" in Argo was sacrificed to the demands of the Hollywood action flick.
Let me add that there is talk that Captain Phillips, the latest movie to depict historical "reality", falls into the same morass of cinematic inaccuracy. Already, the Oscar buzz for best actor (Tom Hanks) is heard among the movie pundits. As someone interested in history, I wonder why a scriptwriter has to resort to the fictional when the real story is so compelling.
Many of you might have seen Inglorious Basterds directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring Brad Pitt. A violent film, it is not easy to watch. In contrast, The Real Inglorious Bastards is a touching tale of the same three men portrayed in the Tarantino film. It contains interviews with two of these three heroes now in their eighties. It depicts the return of one of them to his own personal "places of courage".
The Real Inglorious Bastards won a Golden Sheaf at the Yorkton Film Festival in 2013. We at the YFF heard only good reviews from those who saw it. The film is certainly worth a look-see. Come and join us for the screening and talk at 7:00 November 5 at the Yorkton Public Library.
