'Bastards' portrayals draw fire in Germany

September 05, 2008 A leaked script of Quentin Tarantino's World War II drama "Inglorious Bastards" already is stirring up controversy for scenes of vengeful Americans bashing, scalping, shooting and strangling German soldiers. What began as an Internet murmur here went mainstream with a recent article by Tobias Kneibe, film editor of the Suddeutsche Zeitung, who predicted the project could have an explosive effect similar to that of Tom Cruise's "Valkyrie," which has been savaged in the German media even though it won't hit theaters until 2009. "All the German historians and critics who were left gasping for breath by Tom Cruise and his worthy attempts will be so shocked by 'Inglorious Bastards' that they will savage it on the spot," Kniebe wrote.

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