Inglourious Basterds – Review

Synopsis: During WW2, a notorious group of Jewish-American soldiers led by Lieutenant Aldo Raine, (Pitt) invade German-occupied France to scalp and viciously murder as many Nazis as humanly possible. With the help of a vengeful French-Jewish young woman (Melanie Laurent) and a double agent German movie starlet, (Diane Kruger) “The Basterds” do everything in their power to bring down Hitler and his Nazi minions. Classic Tarantino hijinks ensue.

As I sat in the audience for the Canadian Premiere of Quentin Tarantino’s long-awaited war Epic film at the Fantasia Film Festival, the two distinct feelings of exhilaration and uneasiness rushed over me. As thrilled as I was to finally cross off an item off my Bucket List, I was equally as nervous to be surrounded by ecstatic fans that think Tarantino films are specifically made for them—and them only. Trying to blend in proved to be an unfeasible task, as my custom made blaxploitation- style Jackie Brown t-shirt just seemed to fuel the fire of nearby resentful fans wearing store bought t-shirts with the common seen logos of Death Proof and Kill Bill adorned on them. I started to wonder if I would be able to last the close to three hour runtime of the film in the company of the “QTees,” but as soon as the opening credits came on, it didn’t matter. I was instantly engrossed into Tarantino’s dialogue-infused yet merciless cinematic fantasy of bringing justice to the Third Reich.

If Tarantino decided to retire from filmmaking, this film would definitely be considered as his swan song for it exemplifies and pays homage to many of his other works. The film uses chapter screens and score cues from the Kill Bill saga, it interconnects each story and character with one another like Pulp Fiction and it studies characters through a leisurely pace like Jackie Brown. Not only that, but it also features a shocking and remarkable scene like Death Proof, a no holds-barred finale like Reservoir Dogs and even features a final scene reminiscent of Natural Born Killers’ conclusion.  It`s enough to make any fanboy or fangirl curl their perfectly pedicured toes from a geek-gasm.

As one could also expect, the film is not your typical war film. Just like Tarantino had done in Reservoir Dogs with the off-screen heist, he leaves the warzone action in Inglourious Basterds off-screen as well. Those expecting Band of Brothers will have to be satisfied with the fake war propaganda film, `Nation`s Pride` (shot by co-star Eli Roth) which shows on a screen during the film`s final act at a movie theatre.  Audiences familiar with Tarantino should not be surprised to see the film is mostly driven by dialogue; however, the few scenes that do feature action are far more vehement and vicious than one could imagine. In fact, majority of the slaughter scenes will hit viewers harder than any cheap jumper in any mainstream horror film could and the scenes are guaranteed to make audience members jump out of their seats and let out uncomfortable laughter. (Most notably the Donny “Bear Jew“ Donowitz infamous bat bludgeoning scene.)

All of the actors also are great, but the two actors that completely stole the show were Melanie Laurent and Christoph Waltz who respectfully play the heroic martyr, Shosanna and the evil and multi-lingual Colonel Hans Landa a.k.a. The Jew Hunter.  Any actor that makes this reviewer forget that Brad Pitt is even in the film deserves to be praised. It won`t be surprising to see Waltz being nominated for a best supporting actor award by year`s end.

In spite of the film`s many positives, it`s not completely void of any flaws. Like most Tarantino films, IB is far too talky at times and it especially sticks out during a nearly half an hour scene where characters are playing a prehistoric version of the game `Headbanz“in a bar.  Cutting out twenty to forty minutes would have made it far more tolerable.    Unfortunately the film is also bound to suffer from its misleading advertisements as they make one to believe the “Basterds“ are actually the main stars in the film, when in reality they are supporting characters that disappear for chunks at a time.  (Despite being the far more interesting characters in the film.) As amazingly hilarious Brad Pitt was in this film, he should have been listed as an “and“ credit instead of being given top billing as it is surely going to disappoint fans. (Although, considering the film`s indescribable genre it`s understandable how Pitt was far more advertised.)

Despite the fact Inglourious Basterds is certainly not Tarantino`s best film, it is still one of the most unapologetic, daring and shockingly funny films to have come out this year. The film is definitely not for the squeamish or easily offended, but as long as you can appreciate top-quality direction, David Bowie tunes, Grind house captions and obscure references to `Hugo Stiglitz`, you will without a doubt enjoy this film.  Quentin Tarantino fans rejoice!

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