‘Inglourious Basterds’ is The Most Fun I’ve Ever had With a War Film
-----Writer-Director Quentin Tarantino has become one of the most infamous filmmakers of all time. With classics like ‘Pulp Fiction,’ and the ‘Kill Bill’ films, Tarantino always seems to be doing something new, never constrained by convention. With ‘Inglourious Basterds’ he has written a love letter of sorts to the industry he’s made his career in, once again defying preconceptions and creating a movie sure to further his status as a revolutionary filmmaker.
-----‘Inglourious Basterds’ seems to be a simple gore-fest upon watching the trailer. As the plot is presented, the audience will simply follow Brad Pitt and his crew of angry Jews around as they kill Nazis. This is in fact, not the case. The movie is instead about a plot from the Basterds, and a theater owner who had her family killed by the Nazis, to blow up said cinema during the premiere of a Nazi propaganda film. In fact, Brad Pitt is merely a supporting character, the real lead being one Cristoph Waltz, as Col. Hans “Jew Hunter” Landa.
-----Brad Pitt plays the film’s most entertaining and memorable character in Lt. Aldo Raine, a name you are sure to have inscribed in your memory by the time you exit the theater. He doesn’t get near the amount of screen time I expected, but he is still one of the films driving forces. Carrying a sense of mystery about him, his past is hardly examined, and Pitt does an amazing job of being hands down one of the coolest character I’ve ever seen on screen. So confident and set in his ways that at times you won’t believe his unabashed blatancy. His inspiring portrayal of a man who collects the scalps of Nazis also leads to one of the year’s funniest scenes in a primarily serious movie. Cristoph Waltz, as I mentioned, is the real star. He appears in the most scenes, and is the driving force behind many of the plot elements. So crisp is the dialogue written by Tarantino, and so brilliant the performance by Waltz that you can’t help but be completely immersed in the intensity and potential outcome of each sequence. It didn’t occur to me at the time, but upon hearing someone else mention it, Waltz should be in line for an Academy Award Nomination, if not a win. It will most likely be a Best Supporting Actor nod, but in reality it should be a Best Actor Nomination for his premier role in this ensemble of colorful characters.
-----Melanie Laurent is also strong as the owner of a cinema in Nazi-Occupied-France. Having her whole family slaughtered by Nazis, Laurent now find herself in a position to exact bloody revenge. In a subtle and intense performance, Laurent adds to the amazing characters who make ‘Basterds’ the masterpiece that it is. In a smaller role is Diane Kruger as a double-agent German actress, who also gets her moment on screen, stepping it up big time from her fun, but simple roles in the ‘National Treasure’ films. Rounding out the names of a few more prominent supporting characters are Eli Roth a the vicious Sgt. Donny Donnowitz, aka the “Bear Jew,” Til Schweiger as the German-traitor Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz, and B.J. Novak as young Basterd, Smithson Utivich. It is the exceptional cast teamed with the brilliant dialogue and bold filmmaking of Tarantino that make ‘Inglourious Basterds’ one of the year’s most original and fun experiences.
-----I was absolutely shocked by what I saw onscreen. What I thought would be one of Tarantino’s more action oriented flicks, turned out instead to be a series of conversations. Letting the film sit with different characters and completely change tone from scene to scene, Tarantino could have had a flop on his hands. Surprisingly enough, after 152 minutes, most of which is composed of character-driven conversations, I was still thoroughly entertained. The whole film was like nothing I had ever seen before. Constantly evolving the story, these fifteen, twenty, and thirty minute dialogue pieces always grab the audience with an array of varying emotions, and somehow manage to avoid any problematic influences on the pacing. This was the problem with Tarantino’s last flick, ‘Death Proof.’ High on what he thought was some of his best dialogue, ‘Death Proof’ contained two hours worth of simple girl talk, and fifteen minutes of action. With ‘Basterds,’ the dialogue is intense, entertaining, and at times very funny; a smooth turnaround from the very slow ‘Death Proof.’ Another technique from Tarantino includes developing certain characters only to have them suddenly killed off. Others that make it the course of the film have somewhat mysterious backgrounds. Ultimately, this odd and risky technique with character development and underdevelopment does one thing: it keeps you on your toes. Just as Tarantino’s previous with non-sequential storytelling made sure you paid attention, with ‘Basterds,’ each new dilemma is steeped in intensity because you have absolutely no idea what is going to happen to the characters involved.
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-----Technically, the film is one of the year’s best displays, and may be the most originally executed overall. With Tarantino behind the camera, no shot is left to chance, and the cinematography is absolutely dazzling. Whether it’s a continuous and smooth pan across golden fields or a close-up of Brad Pitt’s face as he gets ready to kill some Nazis, the film never fails to maximize on the potential of the beautiful sets and locations. The music is also noteworthy, providing a sometimes satiric, and other times powerful theme as it amply transforms between each individual scene and character. ‘Basterds’ also provides one of the films best moments with the simple of use of a bold and surprising yellow graphic suddenly flying on screen to introduce Sgt. “Hugo Stiglitz.”
-----You should keep an open mind when heading into ‘Inglourious Basterds.’ No doubt you’ll find the final product far superior to a simple movie about killing Nazis, as long as you don’t have your mind set on the film being just a bunch of action sequences thrown together (which the movie actually satirizes along the way). Indeed, the film also manages to take a look at the darker themes of war. The grey areas are frequently examined as the far from perfect Lt. Aldo Raine is often violent to a somewhat unnecessary and at times disturbing level. It’s fun for anyone in the audience, but his actions are far from politically exemplary, never taking prisoners and never sparing anyone the wrath of his knife. The same goes for the rest of the cast including multiple dimensions for Laurent’s character, and even the evil Col. Hans Landa. This is what makes an already immensely fun film a classic, as it provides the whole spectrum of storytelling. It’s not the ‘Dirty Dozen,’ or any other film you’ve ever seen before, despite the vague similarities that come with special military units. Instead, the film very much stands on its own, and constantly surprises its audience. While at first I thought I would have liked to see more of the ‘Basterds’ killing Nazis, it then came to my attention that the intentional deprivation of this only made the characters more legendary, as you only see them at their toughest, never letting up on their violent and fearless personas. After the film’s surprising, and completely satisfying conclusion, the movie will only continue to grow on you with time, and the performances will remain consistently thrilling with repeat viewings. Not afraid to break the rules, and not afraid to do what he wants, Tarantino has crafted the most entertaining war movie ever created.
-----Oscar Watch: Look for a Nomination for Cristoph Waltz, and just maybe some others in the way of Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, and/or Melanie Laurent. The film also deserves nods for Cinematography, Musical Score, and Editing. And if the world is as perfect as we’d all like to believe, we might see a Best Director Nomination to compliment a Best Picture Nom.
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