‘Inglourious Basterds’ takes place in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) is in charge of a Jewish-American group of soldiers whose duty is to kill lots and lots of Nazis. The group’s biggest rival ends up being the smooth talking “Jew-hunter” Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). Col. Landa is the only character who interacts with virtually all the characters and he is also extremely easy to hate… keeping in mind that Hitler is in this movie. After seeing the movie trailer, I expected there to be a lot more Nazi killing and a little less talking. Germans and French talk pretty fast and the subtitles are sometimes hard to keep up with, especially for someone who doesn’t read as much as they should, like me. At first I was worried that I’d fall behind on the plot, but it wasn’t too difficult to keep up with. There was a fair amount of brutal Nazi-killing scenes and it is equaled out by long climactic scenes of compelling dialogue.It is my firm belief that Tarantino’s brain is the portal between alternate universes. His movie’s complex timelines, intertwined story lines and - in the case of ‘Inglourious Basterds’ - extreme historical inaccuracies make his movies very hard to review because I’m not sure whether or not I completely understand what I just saw. If you’re looking for brain-bashing action and blood lust or it’s solid plots, great acting and characterization that you crave; ‘Inglourious Basterds’ will satisfy you. I'll rate it a fantastic 79 out of 100.
Dawrd sez: The key to understanding this movie is the opening graphics, "Once upon a time ..." Tarantino is signaling the viewer that what s/he is about to watch is a fairy tale. With that kind of story-telling liberty, Tarantino then re-writes the ending of World War II (no spoilers here; just an advisement to the perplexed). There are two long scenes -- the opening scene, and the basement pub scene -- that may be as intense a movie-viewing experience as one is likely to have, and the scenes play out in classic Tarantino fashion, with seemingly innocuous dialog that gradually increases the temperature of the theater as viewers begin to grasp what is about to happen (think "cheeseburger in France" conversation between John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction). That the action in the bar scene is propelled by a goofy card game is just one way the level of fear and dread red-lines in the scene. The players don't see what's coming; but Tarantino cues his movie viewer: "Get ready to duck." Tarantino is all about 1) bending time (Pulp Fiction; Kill Bill) and 2) deceptively subtle dialog (Pulp Fiction; Inglorious Basterds). Great movie.
ReplyDeleteIt is not just the end of Inglourious Basterds that is historically inaccurate. That part is forgiveable, as it is obviously well known to most likely everyone on the planet that the war did not end that way.
ReplyDeleteA major historical mistake is made right at the start of the film. According to the film the persecution/deportation of French jews started in 1940, just after Germany had invaded France. In reality, the deportation/persecution of French jews was only decided upon and set in motion after June, 1942. Thus what happens to Shosanna's family in the opening scene would only have happened in late 1942 or 1943. This is a major historical inaccuracy that will have an incorrect subconscious impact on people's interpretation of WW2 and its belligerents.
I did not know that, Mr. Anonymous. Thank you for the input! Perhaps the movie is just a big "What if?" If the deportation/persecution of French jews had started earlier, then this is what would have happened. A crazy Tarantino theory but you have to admire his... creativity?
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