Inglourious Basterds
by George Watches Things
Inglourious Basterds is not your average movie. Considering I’ve only seen one other, I cannot speculate on whether this is your average Quentin Tarantino film. But I have a feeling it is.
It’s set in WWII France, and opens with Hans Landa, Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz as the “Jew Hunter,” interrogating a man who runs a dairy farm. The scene is tense, and not a single line of dialogue is wasted.
The film moves on to feature a woman named Shoshanna (Melanie Laurent) and a troop of Nazi-hunters (the titular Basterds) who both plot to blow up a theater full of Nazis at a propaganda film premiere in Paris.
Like some other members of the Tarantino canon (including many I have not seen), Inglourious deals heavily with morality and vengeance. But it is also has cartoonish moments (just like Pulp Fiction, whose unexplained title explains that), and the script is smart enough to never hang on one tone too long. The intimidating successes of Hans Landa are contrasted with the clever scheming of Melanie Laurent and the Basterds are thrown in for punch (although not literally, since they have bats and guns to do their dirty work). They all come together for a bizarre, but fully entertaining finale.
Brad Pitt was great fun in the lead and Christoph Waltz was both scary and utterly mesmerizing.
Michael Fassbender was excellent in one of the more dramatic of the roles in the film. Another one of my favorite supporting performances comes from the man in the opening chapter. That scene is long and not that eventful, but never dull, thanks to him and Waltz.
At the end of the day, you’ll probably have to determine how you feel about what happens at the end of the film. Some have called Tarantino out for it, but I’m completely fine with it, and have actually learned something about myself from it.
My rating: ****
Inglourious Basterds was an enthralling thrill ride (for me, at least). At times hilarious, at times very serious, but never boring.
I absolutely love it. IT’s my second favorite Tarantino movie, after Pulp Fiction. What I love about Tarantino is that his dialigues are always amazing. I ALWAYS laugh hearing Brad Pitt say “Bonjorno”… hahahahaha!!! I also liked the ending. One of Brad Pitts best movies, I think, and an incredible introduction to Christoph Walz.
This was my first experience with Tarantino. While I did enjoy the movie, personally it was the Tarantino I enjoyed least (I personally liked Kill Bill and Reservoir Dogs a lot more), and I could also see why a lot of people didn’t enjoy the movie. The biggest issue I had was that I felt certain scenes dragged on a little longer than they really should have, a good example being the Landa/Shoshanna dialoge over strudels.
I loved that those scenes went on that long. They were tense throughout, and went on long enough to be the right amount of uncomfortable.
Same here. I felt the tension needed the extended length for effectiveness.
I love the way Tarantino makes violence inexplicably enjoyable here. It’s a rare talent to make such a serious subject seem enjoyable, even if only in a revenge-lust way. More than one person I know has gotten the impression his films are metaphors for masterbation fantasies.
Well, he sure has a talent for making them films!
Loed this movie, although since it’s been awhile, can’t say I remember the humourous parts. Not a fan of Tarantino, actually when I saw it, it didn’t click who had made it as I hadn’t seen any of his others before that point. Brilliantly done though.
Great review, mate. I love Tarantino but haven’t caught this particular one. I shall have to borrow it off someone :)
I suggest you do! Thanks for checking in!
Django unchained is really good, and then you realise that the most violent part of it are related to slavery and not Tarantino bloody action. Its sad and also you laugh at taboo jocks. masterpiece.