Why does landa let shoshanna go

While she kept her calm, it was also obvious she was still nervous. Perhaps when he said he had something else to ask her As a cat toys with a mouse. Either for his own amusement or to see if she would try running at which point he could apprehend her. I always wondered about this and after reading the above remarks I would agree it is highly probable that he did indeed know it was her. I'd just like to add that the close-up on him extinguishing his cigarette into the strudel at the end of the conversation, immediately after extolling its deliciousness, to me signifies the two-faced nature of his character, whereby he puts on an act to achieve his objectives in a given encounter, especially in an interrogation.

Tarantino discusses this point in this video:. We are left wondering if he actually appreciated the strudel or if he was merely using it as a device to create tension. Those little things he says are just like his personality to poke at her. Inquiring deeper than most people about her aunt and uncle and how they died.

Ordering milk for her knowing she had been taken in and saw her family murdered at a dairy farm, watching her as he said it. Jews in hiding weren't hiding because no one would notice them, they probably made the mistake of leaving behind pictures, the state probably had photo ideas.

And Landa doesn't seem like the type to forget a face. And that last thing he couldn't remember that must have just not been important. He ended the movie betraying Hitler. That's not a split-second decision. He had probably known at that time the state of things in the war and was planning his betrayal at that time. They weren't just hiding in a dairy farm, the Dreyfus family were dairy farmers, this adds significance to the cream. Second, Landa's eyes when he looks at her and says there is something else take on a chilling intensity, exactly like when he got serious with the father in the opening scene.

I think he was considering in real time whether to expose her, weighed up his plans as mentioned above and decided against it. Yes, Landa knew who Shosanna was at that time. The key hint is in the question he claims to have forgotten to ask. Landa is the Jew Hunter. He is portrayed as someone who finds everyone he sets his mind to finding, as someone who is very good at his job, at sniffing out every lie and enjoying it.

He proves he has already done investigations into Shosanna by asking about her projectionist, so the only real question is how much else he already knows.

The key hint that he knows Shosanna is in the question he admits to have "forgotten" to ask, and which "must not have been important", the first of which is a straight lie, and the second of which is technically the truth, in a cruel way.

It's not important because he knows the answer already. In truth, he knows exactly what question he would have asked, if it had been a normal interrogation of an unknown person. In the Nazi ideology, and for the Jew Hunter in particular, nothing is more important than heritage in determining who is a Jew or not.

He diligently inquires about her aunt and uncle when she mentions them, what their names are, what they are doing now. And with all that prompting, he conveniently forgets to ask the most natural question of all:. This is so far out of character for Landa that the only reasonable conclusion is that he did not forget the question, that he deliberately did not ask it because he already knows the answer, and thus, who Shosanna is.

He doesn't ask the question because he doesn't want to spook Shoshanna more than he already does. He does not want to press her for a no doubt prepared lie about her parents, like he will press von Hammersmark before the film's climax, or even be forced to arrest her on the spot in order to not compromise himself.

He simply doesn't want to push her anywhere near a lie. And yet he can't help but enjoy the little game he's playing with Shosanna and for our, the viewers', benefit , by dropping hints that he knows: ordering milk for her, by being exceptionally jovial in what is a life-or-death situation for Shosanna, by meaningfully extinguishing the cigarette butt in the cream.

That also means he's already been planning to betray his country for his own advantage at that point, and is only looking for a real opportunity. He recognizes the cinema as that opportunity for acquiring the ultimate bargaining chip with the Allied command. That requires letting Shosanna off the hook and giving the go-ahead for the movie night. This heavily depends on interpretation of the scene. While it could easily be true that Landa indeed knew "Emmanuelle's" true identity, it could also just as easily be true that he was unsure and was just toying with her emotions to see if she would break, similar to the farmer who silently gave away his position after Landa stared at him intensely.

Hard to say, but considering from the audience's knowledge, he never got a detailed look at her when he massacred her family. Whether he had a better description of her is questionable, otherwise I doubt he would keep her alive for that long. I think he knew Shosanna only by reputation, and not by physical means. However, it is certain that he was indeed suspicious of her in the restaurant - but he could have been testing her to confirm, otherwise if he knew it was her for sure, he wouldn't need to play games - regardless of the fact that that's part of his wicked personality.

The milk, cream and strudel - all point out to the fact that he is considering she may very well be Shosanna, but also to see how she would react. Would she keep her cool, or would she give her position away?

The fact that she held up her facade amazingly well could've tuned in to Landa that she wasn't easy prey, and perhaps not Shosanna I would say that Col.

Landa actually did know. One thing you have to actually believe is that Col. Landa really forgot what he was trying to say Think about it It seems that Landa is already letting events unfold. He knows its her. Nazis probably did have picture identifications of her. If not, there are so many other ways.

For example, it really isn't hard to recognize that Shosanna actually hasn't been living with her "aunt and uncle. Another assumption you could make is that he changes his mind about what he wants to do when he says there was something he actually wanted to talk about with her.

His facial expression already posed to deal her death sentence and all of a sudden he lets her live again. It might have been planned out, but it could be coincidence that he let her live twice just to have one Jew roaming around to give him meaning to his job.

Of course he knew who she was and would be insulted that you presumed otherwise. Throughout the movie he is 10 steps ahead of everyone. Also, he likes to mess with people and make them squirm. In this case, he wants to make sure everything goes according to his plan. Oh yes. He knew. And anyone who thinks otherwise is just wrong. He is a detective first and foremost, as Tarantino stated He knew, and what's more, he must have regarded her with a certain respect in being able to hide in plain sight like she was, after escaping from the death squad.

He would've known that it must not be easy to keep her cool whilst sitting with the very man who ordered your entire family to be killed. Then, as if to test her resolve one final time, he says the crack about wanting to ask her about something else, but not being able to remember Like he said to Aldo Raine, sometimes things aren't too good to be true. The universe can be very giving one time out of a million.

Colonel Landa said "au revoir" in French, meaning "I'll see you again", or "until we meet again". I think he did know very well that it was her. But he was a strange man. They were aware of the consequences, but did not plan on it. Marcel was near the back exit, and shoshana was in the projector room near another exit. When Landa first reappears at the restaurant and Zoller questions his intentions, she has no idea what they are discussing.

A hillbilly-moonshiner from Maynardville, Tennessee, USA, Aldo bears a large scar around his neck which is rumored to be from an attempt lynching, while fighting the KKK. The film tells the tale of sniper Frederick Zoller, who is seen as a hero by the Nazi administration. Hans Landa : What a tremendously hostile world that a rat must endure.

Yet not only does he survive, he thrives. Because our little foe has an instinct for survival and preservation second to none…. Mata Hari shoots Wicki in the stomach. Stiglitz turns and shoots Beethoven four times in the torso and then also shoots Edgar Wallace in the heart killing them both. The Basterds were joined by Lt. The film signals from the start that it is a fiction and an homage to World War Two movies.

Wolfenstein, the new World War II first-person shooter from Activision Blizzard, has been pulled from German store shelves because of Nazi imagery in the game. He was Mayer, a Jewish refugee from Germany and a naturalized U. It was decided the men should be parachuted near Innsbruck, but all flat areas were occupied by the military.

Mayer recalled a small lake between two peaks that was frozen in February. The languages he speaks fluently? Last Updated: 26 days ago — Authors : 17 — Contributors : 28 — References : 23 interviews and posts; 7 Videos. Discover all about your fav. Your email address will not be published.

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