Inglorious Basterds2009
Drama
Brad Pitt, Quentin Tarantino
Drama
Brad Pitt, Quentin Tarantino
The project Tarantinio has been talking about for more than a decade has finally been made. I remember reading years ago about how he wanted to cast Eddie Murphy and other older actors like Bruce Willis that you wouldn't normally picture in a WWII movie, though I suppose that was before he actually finalized the version of the script he filmed, because I don't know how well Eddie Murphy would have passed for a Jew.
The movie was advertised as a group of American Jews (nicknamed the Basterds) sent into Nazi occupied France to terrorize the Nazis and send fear through their ranks. I say it was advertised as that because based on the commercials I expected a lot of Nazis getting scalped and violence galore, but that't not what I got. Sure there are a few gorey scenes (guy gets scalped, guy gets a swastika carved into his forehead), but there was really very little action at all. You really notice how little action there is in a movie that is 2 and a half hours long. So since there wasn't much action, there was just a lot of talking, most of it not in English. Not a real problem, just took me a minute to adjust to it.
People always praise Tarantino for his dialogue but I am not sure exactly why. I mean I have no problems with it, but I don't hear people complaining about the dialogue in other movies, so I don't get why people always go out of their way to praise his. Are they praising it because its' realistic, or just because it's entertaining to listen to? Somebody answer that for me. Like I said, I like Tarantino as a director and as a writer (though I actually like him the most as an actor), I just don't get all the love he gets for his writing of dialogue.
The movie starts out with a very intense, suspense laden scene. The villain of the movie, Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) is interviewing a farmer in the French countryside. He is interviewing him about whether he knows what happened to the Jewish families who used to live near him. As the questioning intensifies the camera pans down to reveal that the Jewish families are actually hiding in the basement of the house. This scene is paced perfectly and makes you hold your breath wondering whether the families will be discovered or not. Christoph Waltz is receiving a lot of Oscar hype for Best Support Actor for his work as Hans Landa. I have heard him described as "terrifying" but personally I just found the character kind of pompous and annoying, but that's just me.
My biggest complaint is that that movie should not have been called Inglorious Basterds because the Basterds were barely in it. Out of the 9 Basterds only like 3 even had lines. This wouldn't have been a huge problem except for the fact that they were by far my favorite part of the film. The scenes with Pitt and BJ Novak pretending to be Italian were awesome. A few more scenes like those and this would have been gold, even without action. I wanted more Eli Roth and Sam Levine.
Most of the movie deals with a Jewish woman, Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent), who runs a movie theatre in Nazi occupied France. She escaped a SS death squad run by Landa, so when the Nazis plan to show a propoganda film in her theatre she plans a way to take revenge on him. She decides she is gonna lock the doors and burn the place down with all the Nazis inside. Little does she know the Basterds are planning an attack of their own on the same night, strapping bombs to their ankles and blowing the whole place sky high. This sets you up to anxiously await and see if both, or either, plan will actually achieve its goal by the end of the movie. Even though Brad Pitt is the big name in the movie, Shoshanna is actually the main character. I would say the main reason I didn't mind that fact was that she is freaking gourgeous in the movie.
The movie was advertised as a group of American Jews (nicknamed the Basterds) sent into Nazi occupied France to terrorize the Nazis and send fear through their ranks. I say it was advertised as that because based on the commercials I expected a lot of Nazis getting scalped and violence galore, but that't not what I got. Sure there are a few gorey scenes (guy gets scalped, guy gets a swastika carved into his forehead), but there was really very little action at all. You really notice how little action there is in a movie that is 2 and a half hours long. So since there wasn't much action, there was just a lot of talking, most of it not in English. Not a real problem, just took me a minute to adjust to it.
People always praise Tarantino for his dialogue but I am not sure exactly why. I mean I have no problems with it, but I don't hear people complaining about the dialogue in other movies, so I don't get why people always go out of their way to praise his. Are they praising it because its' realistic, or just because it's entertaining to listen to? Somebody answer that for me. Like I said, I like Tarantino as a director and as a writer (though I actually like him the most as an actor), I just don't get all the love he gets for his writing of dialogue.
The movie starts out with a very intense, suspense laden scene. The villain of the movie, Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) is interviewing a farmer in the French countryside. He is interviewing him about whether he knows what happened to the Jewish families who used to live near him. As the questioning intensifies the camera pans down to reveal that the Jewish families are actually hiding in the basement of the house. This scene is paced perfectly and makes you hold your breath wondering whether the families will be discovered or not. Christoph Waltz is receiving a lot of Oscar hype for Best Support Actor for his work as Hans Landa. I have heard him described as "terrifying" but personally I just found the character kind of pompous and annoying, but that's just me.
My biggest complaint is that that movie should not have been called Inglorious Basterds because the Basterds were barely in it. Out of the 9 Basterds only like 3 even had lines. This wouldn't have been a huge problem except for the fact that they were by far my favorite part of the film. The scenes with Pitt and BJ Novak pretending to be Italian were awesome. A few more scenes like those and this would have been gold, even without action. I wanted more Eli Roth and Sam Levine.
Most of the movie deals with a Jewish woman, Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent), who runs a movie theatre in Nazi occupied France. She escaped a SS death squad run by Landa, so when the Nazis plan to show a propoganda film in her theatre she plans a way to take revenge on him. She decides she is gonna lock the doors and burn the place down with all the Nazis inside. Little does she know the Basterds are planning an attack of their own on the same night, strapping bombs to their ankles and blowing the whole place sky high. This sets you up to anxiously await and see if both, or either, plan will actually achieve its goal by the end of the movie. Even though Brad Pitt is the big name in the movie, Shoshanna is actually the main character. I would say the main reason I didn't mind that fact was that she is freaking gourgeous in the movie.
She is a French actress so I had never seen or heard of her before, but I hope that with the success of her role in Inglorious Basterds she does more roles in American movies. Because I for sure would like to SEE more of her.
My biggest compliment of the movie is the last 20 minutes or so. When both the theatre owner and the Basterds plans to attack the Nazis go into full effect. It is a glorious scene to behold, that made me cackle with joy.
I fully recommend Inglorious Basterds. Just be sure to change your expctations on what to expect before you watch it. This is not a WWII action movie that is 2 hours of Brad Pitt killing Nazis up and down the French countryside. It is a movie set in WWII with a lot of dialogue in French where you learn a lot about a few characters and therefore get interested in how their stories turn out. It's not my favorite Tarantino flick (either Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction, I haven't see all of his stuff), but it is still better than most can do.
3.5 out of 5 Stars
(This movie actually shares the title (with one letter changed) with a lesser known 1978 movie, Inglorious Bastards. I actually liked the 1978 movie better than this one. That one is basically a more fast paced, over the top version of The Dirty Dozen. It is one of Tarantino's favorites and was the inspiration, obviously, for Basterds.)
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