On whose side is the barkeeper?
During the Inglourious Basterds' meeting with Bridget von Hammersmark in the basement bar, the bar's owner and bartender is always around and observing the events and ultimately taking part in the final shootout himself with the rifle he had under his bar. But it isn't entirely clear to me whom he's actually sided with. Seeing that he speaks German (while his daughter doesn't) and is played by one, this might suggest that he's supposed to be a collaborator but he doesn't seem too unsuspicious of the Germans in that bar either (though that might just be motivated by paternal care). Likewise is it absolutely hard to make out who kills whom in all the chaos at the end of this scene and especially what the barkeeper is actually shooting at.
So while this might as well have been left ambiguous, I wonder if there are any more conclusive hints at what the barkeeper's affiliation actually was, or just something obvious I missed. Was he actively siding for the Germans or was he just trying to protect his bar and shooting at any of those "troublemakers", no matter what uniform? Or could he even have sided with the Basterds (even if unbeknownst to them)?
Best Answer
The Barkeeper is on Bridget von Hammersmark's side. Although it is not clearly seen during the shooting frenzy that against whom he uses his gun. But if you closely analyze the other scenes it appears that he was definitely on Bridget's side. Here are the indications
Scene where the men have just arived at the bar.
Bridget is not so cautious of him when talking and probably the men know this too.
He asks Matilda to join the other soldiers, probably so that they would keep themselves busy and not interrupt Bridget
The way is constantly looking at the German officer when he is at Bridget's table.
He prepares his gun right at the time when the German Officer has caught the British officer for his fake SS officer's appearance. Right when the German officer says "You are no more German than that Scotch", he is seen preparing his gun.
All the scenes together indicate that the bar keeper was Bridget's accomplice.
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Answer 2
While Ankit presents a very reasonable rundown of the scene in his answer, when I carefully rechecked the shootout in particular, I came to the contradictory conclusion that he at least is opposed to the Basterds, which still leaves it unclear if he's entirely dedicated to the Germans or just minding his own business (or if he maybe even was a double agent posing as an ally to Bridget but actually working against her and waiting for the right chance). This would also explain why he apparently didn't tell Bridget about the cunning SS-officer sitting in the backroom, which he as the barkeeper certainly must have been aware of.
In particular he seems to shoot at least into Stiglitz's direction and is then clearly shot by Wicki:
I also found this blog entry giving a detailed rundown of who kills whom which I'd have to agree with when looking closely at the scene:
Stiglitz starts things off by shooting Hellstrom in the crotch. Hellstrom then shoots Hicox and hits Bridget Von Hammersmark in the leg while Hicox falls backwards and before he dies he returns fire at Hellstrom. Stiglitz then stands up and repeatedly stabs Hellstrom in the back of the head, pinning his head to the table. Wicki stands up and shoots Winnetou in the back at least twice. Beethoven shoots Stiglitz in the back. 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. Wicki shoots Mata Hari in the heart. Eric shoots Stiglitz with a double-barreled shotgun, killing him. Wicki shoots Eric in the head and Wilhelm blindly guns down Wicki and Mathilda with his MP40 sub-machine gun.
But that being said I'd still hope someone can shed some more light on his exact motivation and if he sided with the Germans or did his own thing or if he even posed as an ally to Bridget as Ankit's answer might suggest.
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