Release Date: 8/21/09
Fitting into a genre that I will loosely call a War movie (more like Spaghetti War movie), Inglourious Basterds is a unique, fictional telling of WW II at the opposite end of the spectrum….through Quentin Tarantino’s one-of-a-kind perspective. It has everything that you’d ever want in your typical Tarantino film, and more. It still has his special, but great sense of humor, long winded dialogues (which I love), unique and memorable characters with fantastic performances, signature shot selection and of course, lots and lots of violence. Many critics so far are labeling Basterds as a masterpiece, but doing so after multiple viewings…as it tends to be that way with some Tarantino films. I must respectfully disagree. While I wouldn’t go as far as calling it a masterpiece, it’s definitely Quentin Tarantino’s best work since Pulp fiction, and I can say this very confidently after seeing it only once.
Like a lot of Tarantino’s films, Inglourious Basterds is broken up into multiple chapters, story lines and the order in which each is told. The story starts off “Once Upon a time…in Nazi-Occupied France.” We meet a traditional French family trying to survive as farmers during the War. Until one day a group of Germans show up suspecting them of hiding Jews somewhere on their property. This is where we meet Colonel Hans Landa, who is widely known simply as “Jew Hunter.” Played brilliantly by Christopher Waltz, Who’s no doubt is the film’s standout. Colonel Landa’s reputation not only precedes him, he’s easily the most enjoyable character in the movie despite his horrific profession of which he lavishly enjoys. You’ll love his character’s demented and twisted personality. Anyway, we find out that during the raid of the house, some Jews are found and killed but a little girl narrowly escapes. The story suddenly shifts to what is in my opinion, the best sequence of the film. We meet the “The Basterds.” A group of Guerrilla soldiers…Jewish American Soldiers… led by Lieutenant Aldo Raine “Aldo the Apache,” whose reputation also precedes him. Aldo, played by Brad Pitt, lets us know from the word go that The Basterds have but one thing on their mind.
“We’re gonna be doin one thing and one thing only…killin Nazis.”
The whole movie is tied together by one special German event, a movie premier that most of the German high command and third Reich will be attending. Including the biggest basterd of them all, Adolf Hitler. “Operation Kino,” as it’s called was put together by actress turned British spy Bridget von Hammersmark, played by Diane Kruger. Kruger’s part wasn’t as thick as one might have thought or hoped and her performance was so-so. But the one story within the story I thought was really good was that of Shosanna Dreyfus, played by Melanie Laurent. It’s a performance that will not be noticed by many but is so vital to the story. There’s a scene in which Dreyfus has a one-sided conversation with Col. Hans Landa that works very well, despite her character saying less than ten words. Dreyfus owns the Cinema in which the German movie is premiering and she has a little plan of her own… but I’ll say nothing more because I don’t want to give anything away. Okay, I’ll say one more thing…Roger Ebert hits it on the nose, “the Basterds get what’s coming to them.”
If I have one knock on the movie, it’s that when we turn our attention away from either Hans Landa or The Basterds the movie tends to drag a bit. Now, that could just be simply that Tarantino has created two extremely strong characters and the others seem to fall by the way side. I believe this to be true. The stories surrounding Hans Landa and Aldo and the Basterds are so strong and incredibly entertaining that any scene without them involved seems to diminish the experience of the rest of the movie, if at all possible.
Inglourious Basterds is a strong film from Quentin Tarantino and ranks among his best work. Though, I still believe that in the end Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction will remain better overall films, none the less Inglourious Basterds is indeed one hell of an experience.
IMDB: 8.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 89%
Moviewiseguys: 9.0/10
