In theaters. Rated R, 152 minutes. Trailer.
Just when I thought there was no more mileage in the World War II genre, Writer/Director Quentin Tarantino unleashes a bloodspattered revenge fantasy film allowing Allies and Jews the benefit of seeing their wildest dreams come to life. In 1944 Lieutenant Aldo Raines (an inspired Brad Pitt) leads a covert group of American and German Jews on an Apache-like mission in France whereby they kill and maim German soldiers in horrific manner in order to scare them and end the war. The film tells us about this group and adds a few other wild storylines in classic Tarantino fashion. Click below for more BASTERDS:
The film begins with a 20 minute scene on a French dairy farm whereby Nazi Colonel Hans Landa (a guaranteed nomination for Christoph Waltz) aka "The Jew Hunter" interrogates the man of the house regarding local Jew protection. We then move on to the Basterds, with Pitt leading the rag tag crew (BJ Novak, Eli Roth, etc) as they wreak havoc on Germans in horrific manner, including lots of graphic scalpings. The third plot is that of a beautiful young Jewish woman that owns a cinema in Paris. The fourth plot involves Winston Churchill, a very British Mike Myers and a film critic turned soldier turned double agent. Through happenstance, the youn Jewish woman's cinema is chosen as the place for Herman Goerrings next movie premiere, and then all of the storylines converge in a fantastic climax. That's all the plot I will give up, as I can't say much more without ruining things.
Tarantino's gift for dialogue and scene structure is on display throughout the film, especially with Landa. Many of them are thick with anticipation, but there are a few duds along the way. I found the scene in the basement bar to be too long and tedious, but the finale was great, as was anything involving the film critic character. I could have watched that character for hours.
The basterds' killing and carousing is routinely hilarious, with Pitt delivering a basketful of instant classic one liners. It is also cathartic and a big guilty pleasure - they are living out the ultimate fantasy revenge plot on one of history's great villains, which certainly appeals to my lesser angels. There is a lot of cartoonish gore, and 3 or 4 scalpings shot at close range that I closed my eyes on. At times the group feels like a wartime Oceans 11, especially at the Goerring premiere as they talk with Landa. The storyline involving the Jewish woman owning the cinema was also very enjoyable, but I felt like QT left some potential greatness on the table here, failing to explore her character more. She and Landa are the two intellectuals of the film, with each of them connected from start to finish.
Some (including Manohla Dargis at the NY Times) have been offended by QT's lack of respect for the horrors of WWII and the use of certain offensive references to the Jewish people. I think they're overanalyzing the film and missing the underlying assumptions held by the characters. No one is trivializing anything - this film doesn't try to heal wounds or give Schindler's List competition for the touchstone film of the genre. This is a fun, interesting and (at time) poignant film that will certainly be one of my favorite of the year. I love inventive, riveting filmmaking even if it has flaws.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Inglourious Basterds - A-
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6 comments:
Still a possible B+....I need to watch it again.
I decided not to write a review until i'd seen it a second time. i just can't figure what to give it. it's not like anything else i've ever seen. there are what appears to be glaring faults, but it's also the first movie i've seen this year that i immediately want to see again.
nice review
A- for me for now. Tarantino's tackling alot - propaganda, moral relativism, interpretation of history, loyalty, betrayal, and most importantly, film and the moving image's effect on people, history, etc. It's his most complex movie to date thematically. Along the way, QT gets to do his trademark mish-mash of film genres and styles. He's created at least 3 more "classic" characters to his long list.
And now he should be considered the modern master of suspense. Even as a Nazi officer (3 times Landa, and 1 time the tavern scene) interrogates someone in a similar way, QT gets an unbelievable amount of tension out of each.
And the film projecting on the smoke - mindblowing image. Great fire imagery too. In fact, Robert Richardson's cinematography and the beautiful settings - outdoor and indoor - added tons to the stuff QT usually brings to the table.
Looks like David Denby at the New Yorker has taken issue with the historical rendering of the film. Thankfully, Owen Gleiberman (of EW) (frequently on the same page as DLP) agrees with my take...http://movie-critics.ew.com/2009/08/24/inglourious-basterds-quentin-tarantino/#more-799
yeah, i read that review. i agree with you, obviously. i was working on a review which sums up my thoughts at this point, so i'll drop the section in here: It’s as if he’s striking back at every film that’s ever made the Nazis look smart and cunning by saying, “Don’t you realize that the Nazis are on the great trash heap of history? Don’t you realize they’re idiotic fools?” And so he portrays them as petty, stupid, foolish men. His Hitler isn’t scary, he’s a buffoon. “And,” he continues, “don’t you realize that the Jews as the toughest sons-of-guns to ever walk this earth?” And so he makes his crack unit a team of tough-as-nails Jews that fill the German soldiers with fear. Furthermore, Tarantino thinks it’s not really fair that it’s the Jewish concentration camp survivors that are forever marked, so he sets out to mark every Nazi soldier permanently. The work has been labeled revisionist history. Maybe, but it’s really a corrective—another way of telling the story that gives respect and contempt where it’s due.
Of course, Gleiberman just gave a B+ to World's Greatest Dad (and he didn't care for Public Enemies), but noone's perfect.
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