,Director: Quentin Tarantino
Stars: Brad Pitt, Melanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz, and Eli Roth
Inglourious Bastards is Quentin Tarantino's first crack at a war film. Taking place in an alt-world war 2 "in nazi occupied france," a renegade group of American-Jews nicknamed "The Basterds" reign terror on the Germans by killing them very very violently. Meanwhile, Colonel Landa (aka "The Jew Hunter") is out to get the hiding Jews in France. ALSO meanwhile, a nazi propaganda film is going to premier in an old theater in Paris, which provides an excellent opportunity for many people to get hurt.
WARNING: The following review contains spoilers not only for Inglourious Basterds but also for other Tarantino films. If you are planning on seeing this movie or his other movies, you shouldn't read the review below. Seriously.
Oh, Tarantino movies! How I love you so! First, let's take a look back at some of Tarantino's finest:
Jackie Brown (1997): Never seen it, can't comment
Reservoir Dogs (1992): Truly genius. This movie, from the music to the movie itself, is probably my favorite Tarantino film. I love the idea that you never see the actual heist, and the fact that it only follows the three main characters and not all of them (although my love for steve busciemi, not only is it odd, but it definitely makes me sad that we didn't see his part of the story. Oh and I'm sad that Tarantino *aka mr. brown* died like instantly. i was pissed about that). But probably my favorite part of this movie was the music: "Stuck In The Middle With You" by Stealers Wheel (wonderful scene with Mr. Blue mutilation :D) and "Little Green Bag" by George Baker (Irony) that are both featured in very prominent scenes. Wonderful. And Favorite.
Pulp Fiction (1994): The most iconic of all his movies, Pulp Fiction is one of the best films ever made. It's great because it involves humor, epicness, Sam Jackson, and some of the most famous scenes ever (like Sam Jackson's bible verses in the last scene). Plus Miserlou is such a fantastic song. Not my favorite, but fantastic
Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2 (2003 - 2oo4): Very crazy, manic, and out of control, these movies are cool, but definitely not my favorites. Shot almost like a comic book in some scenes and very cheesy in the rest, this movie provides a fun way for an audience to root for a kickin' ass female. However, it's a little too crazy for my taste, and I can't even remember what happens.
Grindhouse: "Death Proof" (2007): This movie is very very talkative. The most action that happens is the epic car chase scene with the three girls (and when they kick KURT RUSSELL'S ASS!!!) and the scene where the other girls die in the crash (the haunting image of that girl's foot fly off seriously makes me shiver everytime I see someone with their foot out the window). It's a great movie with fantastic writing, but not recommended to people who get easily bored.
Okay. Now. On to the main Movie Inglourious Basterds. There were things that were wrong, and things that were right. But the good, great, fantastic thing is that the right things trumped the wrong.
Let's start with the actors. From Tyler Durden to Mr. Smith; from Chad from "Burn After Reading" to Lt. Aldo Raine, Brad Pitt is on his way in becoming one of the most advanced actors of our generation. In "Inglourious Basterds" (I like to call it IB), he plays the OVERLY-AMERICAN, Materville, TN Lt. Aldo Raine... who is the leaders of the secret service group nicknamed "The Basterds." When we first meet him, he rants about how nazis should die because they hate jews and that they WILL die for their sins. Oh, and he tells his men that they owe him 100 Nazi scalps. Yes. Scalps. Throughout the movie, Brad Pitt just provides so much entertainment with his ridiculous lines and silly accent. Specifically when he "says" he knows Italian (well, wait, eli says they know italian.... NO MATTER) and pronounces the words with the worst possible Italian accent ever. He so funny and remarkable that he makes the movie wonderful. But he is not the best character.
Alongside Brad Pitt is a variety of actors that are not so well known. Eli Roth, otherwise known for directing the "Hostel" series (and actually, he directed "A Nation's Pride," the german film in this movie) plays the bad-ass Sgt. Donny Donowitz, also known as the "Bear Jew," who beats nazi's to death with a baseball bat. B.J. Novak (aka "The Intern" on the Office... you know, the pretty boy that does cocaine and gets fired and everything? You know which one...) plays a member of the Basterds nicknamed "the Little Man." But they are also not the best characters....
So alongside the Basterds in this movie is actually a plot. Basically, Colonel Hans Landa of the SS (played by the INCREDIBLE Christoph Waltz), also known as the "Jew Hunter," is placed into France to run out the remaining Jews. After letting a young jewish woman named Shosanna go, we follow her life as a cinema owner. Her alias is Emmanuel Mimmeux, and unfortunately she is the love interest for a young Frederick Zoller (who is a german soldier). She hates him, basically, but he wants her to not only love him but to premier his war story propaganda film "A Nation's Pride" in her small cinema.
Well, because she has no choice, she must show this film in her cinema, but she comes up with a plan to burn it down with 35mm film (which, as the narrator explains) burns faster than normal film. This would end the war.
So basically, Christoph Waltz was incredible. So calm, cool, and collect, this man is the most terrifying person in the whole movie because he is just so good. He's scary good at his job, and he is incredible at interrogation. And every scene he was in caused so much tense-ness in the audience that you could cut it with a knife. If he doesn't get nominated, i don't know who will!!!
And Mélanie Laurent, who plays Shosanna, was not only beautiful but just a fantastic addition to the cast. She showed real emotion and reacted the way any woman in this situation would act. Plus in that red dress, I think every guy was hot for her.
The movie itself, although long, was very very well written. I mean, that's what Tarantino specializes in. There were certain scenes in this movie that really made the audience cringe... like take, for example, the first scene. Hans Landa visits a french cow farmer and interrogates him on the only jewish family that is missing in their area. As the scene goes on, the audience is shown that the man is hiding the family below the floorboards, while Landa talks about how German soldiers are like Hawks and Jews are like Rats. Then, it escalates as he drinks a glass of milk to the point that the man gives away the shocking truth: he is hiding the family. Landa brings in his men, and they shoot out the floorboards, killing the family minus Shosanna. Even though the scene is long, it is very powerful.
Another intense scene is where the director breaks the news to Shosanna that they want to have the movie played at her cinema. All of a sudden, Landa appears behind her and forces her to sit with him and eat a struedle. She's obviously scared as hell (because, you know, he killed her family), and he's just questioning her on certain things about the movies. He orders her a glass of milk, which is where the audience stops breathing, and then the conversation moves on slowly, but difficultly. "I did have one more thing to ask you," he says, and she looks like she is gonna die. A really intense shot of his face makes the audience go crazy... WHAT IS HE GOING TO DO??? When.... "But for the life of me, I can't remember. Must not have been important," he says. Pretty much the audience and the girl herself can't even think.
But the best part of the movie itself was its camera work. The climax of the movie is pretty much the end. Shosanna is about to show the Germans her addition to the film (which basically is her saying look in the face of the Jew who killed you), and Sgt. Donny Donowitz and Private Omar are sitting in the audience with dynomite strapped to their legs. They have a plan, and they must carry it through. While Shosanna is killed before she sees the building burn down, the boys bust in to the opera box and very violently kill Hitler and the propaganda film director. Then, the boys turn their guns on the audience. It's horrible, and the image of her laughing as the picture is shown in the smoke just burns in the brains of the audience. I was a little biased because my strange love for Eli Roth made me wanna cry when I knew he was gonna die. But still, the scene sends shivers down my spine.
The music also provided a fantastic getaway. Most of it was Italian-Spaghetti western music.... then there was german music and french music. But randomly, throughout the whole movie, a random song from the 70s or 80s. Specifically, the best song in the whole movie, was "Cat People (Putting Out Fires)" by David Bowie. In this scene, Shosanna is getting ready for her premier.... the build up brings emotions, and she puts on her make up and puts a gun in her purse as Bowie is "Putting out fire with gasoline..." Beautiful. Random. And just plain epic.
Overall, this movie was amazing. So amazing, that in the first week of it's premier, I have seen it 3.25 times. Seriously. So good. Although it's a little gory, it is worth every penny. So go see it while it's on the big screen, because is a gorgeous piece of art.
0 comments:
Post a Comment