It has been a long time since you could find a person who knew nothing about director Quentin Tarantino, whose films have made a massive impact on audiences since his first film, Reservoir Dogs, catapulted him to cult status. With the exception of his Grindhouse collaboration, all of his films have garnered the respect of general audiences, critics, and filmmakers alike. Inglourious Basterds will have no problem standing strong within his body of work.
Set in Nazi occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish American soldiers set out to strike back at the Germans personally. This relentless group calls themselves the “Basterds.” Their mission is to strike fear into the Third Reich by killing every Nazi they see, leaving them scalped. The few that are released get a swastika carved into their forehead so the world will know they see a Nazi even if they are not in uniform.
The Basterds are led by Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), a wise cracking southern boy from Tennessee. They kill Nazis with a smile on their face and show no more mercy for them than they do for the Jews. Each scene with the Basterds leaves us wanting more as their humor and wit is addicting. They show us the satisfaction in seeing the Nazi’s prejudice thrown right back in their face.
The Nazis are represented in this film for the most part by Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). Wonderfully acted, he is an awkwardly cheery “Jew hunter” and brings about a scary realism to the screen. While Landa is humorous in this film, his demeanor represents the despicable truth about how the Nazis could attempt to kill an entire race while not breaking their smile. This gives all the more motivation for a movie like this.
Even though Inglourious Basterds is a funny film, there are hints of truth and realism throughout that give it a strong punch. We are reminded, in a humorously real way, how crazy the Third Reich was (not that we needed a reminder). The humor is perfectly balanced with vengeful action put together by the master, Quentin Tarantino.
This is a new kind of film for Tarantino, though it still has his style written all over it. This film is told in chronological order, unusual for Tarantino. One viewing of this film is sufficient to understand it, but you will sure want to see it again…just for fun.
Following true Tarantino fashion, we are treated to some great cameo appearances. Former Saturday Night Live star Mike Myers shows up as American General Ed Fenech. We also get two vocal cameos by Samuel L. Jackson and Harvey Keitel, two previous Tarantino collaborators.
It is not very often that a film manages to close the book on a genre. Inglourious Basterds should mark the end of the World War II film. What must there be after this? What could be better than seeing Nazis scalped for their disgusting and demented actions? There are so many great World War II films that give us the war from a many angles (Life Is Beautiful, Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, The Pianist). Tarantino’s film gives us what we want after being force fed the realities of the Holocaust over and over.
Basterds didn’t need any establishing shots from Dachau or Auschwitz to teach us Nazis are bad people. This makes a funny war film easier to swallow and leaves unnecessarily disturbing images to the documentaries. That is not to say there aren’t disturbing images in this film, there most certainly are, but it’s all in good fun this go around. Inglorious Basterds gives me the idea it is the kind of film Steven Spielberg wished he had the guts to do before deciding to do Schindler’s List.
Inglourious Basterds will not disappoint. It is now even more obvious why Quentin Tarantino was so upset with the initial response to this film from snobby critics at Cannes. Of course, not everyone likes Tarantino’s films, but they should. Inglorious Basterds is an example of brilliant filmmaking in the truest sense. The last words of the film are probably meant to be from Tarantino himself. You will just have to see the film to find out what they are!
Film Grade: A+
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