"This is the face of Jewish vengeance!" triumphantly shouts the giant head. And so it is. Once again, Quentin Tarantino shows that he has more balls that all of the other directors in Hollywood by reviving dead styles of film making, and stirring them into one pot to create the loud, blood, and brash new war film, Inglorious Basterds. This movie deserves praise not only for the audacious way in which it has rewritten the final moments of WWII and reconceptualized the war film, but also for the fact that, well, it's really good.
The film begins with what is perhaps one of the best opening scenes in any film of the last twenty years. A French dairy farmer harboring a Jewish family beneath the floorboards of his house is met by the SS Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) who interrogates him about the Dreyfus family, the only Jewish family not yet accounted for in the area. Waving about a humorously large smoking pipe and speaking in obnoxiously long-winded, formal speech, the audience is introduced to the best written, cleverest, and most frighteningly fun villain that has hit the silver screen since Hannibal the Cannibal. He is at once delicate, cunning, menacing, and wickedly funny. The combination, perfectly played by Waltz (which earned him his Oscar), makes one smile at him, and detest oneself for being so weak as to smile. Nicknamed the "Jew Hunter", he ruthlessly kills the family of Jews except for a young woman named Shosanna, who will play a very decisive role in the coming years.
Jumping forward three years to 1944, we are met with the elite Jewish-American fighting force called the Basterds. Headed by the poorly cast Brad Pitt as Aldo the Apache, the group of eight are sent into France for one purpose, and one purpose only: killing Nazis--and cousin, business is booming. Mercilessly, unflinchingly violent, one wonders who were actually more soulless, them or the ones that they scalped. Aldo has the funny trademark of carving swastikas into the foreheads of the very few people whom they have allowed to survive (funny odd, not funny ha ha), and the "Bear Jew" uses a baseball bat to bludgeon unarmed German soldiers.
The Basterds' and Shosanna's story interweave--though they never actually meet each other--when both parties set out to topple the Third Reich in one fell swoop. The premier of Joseph Goebbels' new propagandist war film has been set to open in Shosanna's cinema to which all major Nazi officials including the Fuhrer will be in attendance. Having what the British C.O. of Operation Kino (meaning a worldwide movement of amateur filmmakers) calls "all of our rotten eggs in one basket", it is the Basterds' job to infiltrate the premier and send them all to Nazi Hell.
Garnering the help of German actress and British double-agent Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) Aldo and his gang have a chance to place their names in the history books. But the best laid plans of mice and men don't count on Shosanna taking matters into her own hands....not to mention Landa's supreme detective expertise.
This is most certainly a polarizing film. Well, perhaps only to critics. It is a fun, exciting movie going experience that will leave audiences wanting more. But for those who want something more than an easy adrenaline fix, there are things to be discussed. For example, the British, French, and American characters of this film are gross stereotypes. The Germans are too, but not nearly to the extent that the other nationalities, and too the point that had not Hans Landa been the comical face of evil, I might even hint that Tarantino took a sympathetic view of the Nazis. The end of the film might contradict that somewhat, but I definitely think that the argument could be made. German casting was perfection, and the way in which they are portrayed, with the exception of Shosanna, is more human and done with more finesse than all others.
Another point that will and has been brought up endlessly is the typical way in which Tarantino blends genres, pays homage, and places countless numbers of inside jokes into his film. This, I am sure many will find, has become tiresome. I can say that at times I myself get wearied of the modern edge that he infuses into material in order to get shock laughs, particularly when the laughs are trying to be pulled from material that they ought not to be. The 80's-soaked, stellar third act was appreciated and very cool, but many times earlier in the film I was annoyed by little things that he felt compelled to throw in. Sometimes it would be good for him to simply stay true to the subject matter.
As always, however, Tarantino proves himself to have an unparalleled ear for dialogue, fashioning a script should have won him his second Oscar. In fact, I think many Oscars--or at least Oscar nods--were misplaced. Melanie Laurent as Shosanna, and Diane Kruger both should have received Supporting Actress nods, as I felt that they gave better performances than at least three of the other women in the category. They would not have beaten Mo'Nique, but recognition ought to have been given. Also, despite some of my issues listed above, there were about half a dozen scenes that I believe placed this film above all others, excepting An Education, at the 2010 Academy Awards. That year was a sham anyway, but I do believe that given its competition and audience appeal, and most especially for its creativity and imaginative spirit this film should have taken home the main prizes.
3.5/4
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