By Jacque Loewy

Basterd Waltz

HOLLYWOOD CA (Hollywood Today) 2/25/10 – “You gave me my movie” says Quentin Tarantino to Waltz upon his win for Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival. Nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Christoph Waltz will go for his first career Oscar for his role as Col. Hans Landa, a charming, well spoken almost likable Nazi SS officer nicknamed “Jew Hunter” in Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” at the 82nd Oscar Awards March 7th.

“Hans Landa is one of the greatest characters I have ever written, and one of the greatest characters that I will ever write.” In a recent interview, Quentin Tarantino comments on what is undoubtedly one of his most memorable characters played by Christoph Waltz.

“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… And that Monsieur is what a Jew shares with a rat.” Even while being so vulgar as to compare Jews to rats, Waltz manages to portray a gentle and sophisticated character. Many would say he delivered the most memorable performance in the movie over Brad Pitt because he has merited more awards and is the only actor in the film nominated for an Oscar.

Waltz has already picked up multiple awards including a Golden Globe and Hollywood Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Actor in Inglourious Bastards. But will his performance as Col. Hans Landa be enough to grant him his first career Oscar?

Relatively unknown in North America previous his role in “Basterds,” Waltz’s film accolades covering over 30 years are primarily in foreign theatre and television most of which German. He won the prestigious German Golden Camera Award in 2003 for his performance as Martin Bach in the German made for TV crime film “Der Fall Gehring.”

With numerous projections signaling an inevitable Oscar win, Americans might be seeing more of Christoph Waltz on the North American film screen. Either way his performance will be remembered for quite awhile.

Others nominated for the award include Matt Damon for his role as Francois Pienaar, captain of the South African rugby team, who alongside Morgan Freeman (nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role) as Nelson Mandela, tries to unify a divided nation in “Invictus.”