Review: Inglourious Basterds

Ah yes. After being in development for almost ten years, Inglourious Basterds has finally arrived. Going through a multitude of changes, Inglourious Basterds has finally found its way to movie theatres. Being a huge Tarantino fan (what self-respecting filmgoer isn't?), I was excited for this movie even eons before Grindhouse was released and the movie was set to star Michael Madsen and Steve Buscemi as US Soldiers who were about to be sent on a destructive mission in order to redeem themselves and avoid the firing squad. Bring us up to August 21st, and the film now stars Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Melanie Laurent, and Christoph Waltz. Pitt and Roth star respectively as members of an elite "Nazi-killing" squad known as The Basterds, sent into Normandy as plainclothes operatives, to do what Pitt's character Lt. Aldo Raine describes as "one thing and one thing only: killing Natzis". Roth plays the role of Staff Sergeant Donny Donowitz, a hulking obnoxious Bostonian who wields a Louisville Slugger and is aptly named "The Bear Jew" by the Nazis. Meanwhile, Kruger plays the esteemed German film star Bridget von Hammersmark, who in reality is a spy for the Allies. Melanie Laurent makes her major debut in English cinema as the French Jew Shosanna Dreyfus, who is the lone survivor of an execution order on her family. Colonel Hans Landa of the SS is played by Christoph Waltz, who is pridefully named "The Jew Hunter" for his persistence in tracking down Jews seeking refuge in Nazi-occupied France. For reasons different but similar, both The Basterds and Dreyfus, under the new identity of theatre-owner Emmanuelle Mimieux, take up missions to assassinate important members of the Third Reich at a film premiere being held at Emmanuelle's theatre. When it is discovered that Adolf Hitler will be attending the premiere, the stakes become dangerously -- and brutally higher.

With the plot carefully laid out, what did I make of the film? Well, I won't make you read through a wall of text to get to my final say, but I'll continue writing after I give you my overall take just because I can.

So yes, I'll say it. Save for Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Basterds is the best movie Quentin Tarantino has put forth. Looking at the $38.1 million dollars that the movie gathered in receipts, it looks to be up with Pulp Fiction as his most successful film financially as well. Anyways, yes. The movie is truly a treat. It takes the regular Tarantino tactics of detailed close-ups, unique camera points, awkward yet intriguingly long turns of dialogue, and of course lots of violence that likes to border on humour with its redundancy. What makes the film stand out is its unique setting in contrast with Tarantino's other exploits. This is Tarantino's first attempt at a historical piece (if you prefer to call it that), and as an expert filmmaker he does quite well. World War II is not only the most popular war genre to base a story around, but one of the most popular genres overall to put on 8mm. So of course, Tarantino has his work cut out for him. But in a way he doesn't, because the promotion of this movie tells any logical person that isn't a war epic. It's not even a war comedy, such as Dr. Strangelove. It's a throwback to the 1978 Italian war-film The Inglorious Bastards, and various other exploitation films, and is styled like a spaghetti-western with a Axis and Allies spin. So Tarantino doesn't have to capture the horrors of war, or illustrate the ordeals of the protagonists. Much like the movies it pays tribute to, Inglourious Basterds doesn't even have to have a coherent or realistic plot.

Yet, with all of this in mind, Inglourious Basterds is a potential Oscars darkhorse. While receiving mixed reviews at Cannes, it quickly picked up steam once critics began receiving screenings in North America and Europe. Christoph Waltz, who took home the Best Actor Award at Cannes, is the talk of a possible Oscar and Golden Globe recognition (actually, his chance for nomination for an Acting Award in the Musical/Comedy Award at the Globe is looking pretty good considering who has been nominated in the past few years).

Playing the SS Colonel Hans Landa, Waltz is absolutely astounding for an actor who has, for the majority of his film career, made his work in Germany and Austria. He portrays Landa as a romantic and polite Nazi Colonel, all the while being expertly coordinated and secretely sinister. Boasting his pride as the "Jew Hunter", Waltz's Landa practically proclaims his happiness for the Jews and his Fuhrer's need for their elimination, as he finds himself naturally adept of getting rid of them. From his precise mannerisms and long spats of dialogue, to his somewhat odd outbursts, Landa is someone that you truly love to hate, as if being a Nazi was not good enough. His performance as a cunning Nazi psychopath, much more of a "Bastard" than the heroes of the film, is more than worthy of an award or two.

Tarantino's portrayal of his leading actresses is also effective, in that they are given sex appeal without having to whorishly shove it down our throats, such as introducing them in a scene where they are bent over in jean shorts working on a motor bike in humid weather (hey, Megan Fox). As well, they are given quite a bit of importance in the film and aren't portrayed as brainless objects placed in the film to drive up revenue. It is actually their professionalism in their roles that both Melanie Laurent and Diane Kruger manage to grab a piece of the starlight. Dreyfus (played by Laurent), under the guise of Emmanuelle Mimieux, transforms from a haunted survivor to an established theatre-owner, and becomes set in her plan to rid the world of the Nazi leadership once it is confirmed the premiere of the film-within-the-film Nation's Pride will take place at her cinema. Meanwhile, Kruger, a native German, wonderfully plays the socialite actress with the awesome name of Bridget von Hammersmark, who moonlights as an elegant actress while feeding information to the British. Both women are not the stars that Tarantino favourite Uma Thurman is today, but they are both just as skilled at playing the take-no-bullshit gals that are staples of his films.

Of course, Brad Pitt, Eli Roth et. al. do not disappoint as the films titular protagonists. As Lieutenant Aldo "The Apache" Raine, Pitt shines as a soldier who has thrown ethical conduct in warfare to the wayside in his tireless hunt for Nazi blood (he is after all, a scalp collector). Raine is a man who wants things done, no matter the cost because to him the ends do justify the means. Speaking in a slick southern drawl, Raine marches The Basterds through Normandy on a Nazi-slaying adventure with a charming determination and a bag of puns and German-related insults, which just goes to show how Pitt can transform from the tender and wordly Benjamin Button to the foul-mouthed World War II veteran that he is in this film, as if it were two different people playing the roles. Meanwhile, his Staff Sergeant Donny Donowitz (Roth), a foul-mouthed, bat-wielder known as "The Bear Jew", is the perfect fit for an obnoxious brute who intimidates his enemies (and victims) while taunting them in his distinguished Bostonian accent. Clearly enjoying what they do, Raine, Donowitz and the rest of the Basterds chew through the Nazi ranks, and hilarity ensues.

While all of this takes place, the storyline itself flows smoothly, not following the trademark scene shuffling that makes Pulp Fiction or the Kill Bill films so unique, although the movie alternates between the different characters who are simultaneously concocting a plan to kill Hitler while oblivious to the existence of the other's scheme. And for anyone who complains about Inglourious Basterds lack of substance as a "war movie", then they should realize that in the end, the movie is less about war (I highly doubt it was Tarantino's intention to be compared with Saving Private Ryan and Platoon) than it is about the characters and their interactions. After all, Tarantino's films are always remembered by fans quoting exchanges of memorable dialogue, not by discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the story.

So yes, Inglourious Basterds is a winner. As of this writing (August 26th, 2009), I would have to say it is my favourite film of 2009.

FINAL GRADE: 9/10