'Inglourious Basterds' Movie Review

Inglourious Basterds is Quentin Tarantino's best work since 1994's Pulp Fiction. It's crazy, nasty fun, and pure, unadulterated Tarantino. It's also a glorious love letter to film that goes as far as to literally use film stock as a means to try and wipe out Hitler and his high command. Inglourious Basterds is an audacious movie, a World War II fantasy film in which Tarantino rewrites history by doing what every sane person on the planet would loved to have had the opportunity to do. Basterds is a long movie and one that doesn't always work, but when it does, it's absolutely mesmerizing.

The Story

There's a lot going on in Inglorious Basterds, but Tarantino divides up the film into five chapters to give every character his or her due and every plotline time to develop. The first chapter introduces us to creepy Col. Hans Landa (nickname: The Jew Hunter). Landa enters a French farmhouse to interrogate dairy farmer Perrier LaPadite (Denis Menochet) and the scene that unfolds is a work of art, deserving of a second, and even third viewing. Landa asks for milk, seems as friendly as a kitten as he compliments the farmer on his delicious, nutritious product, and then, slowly, smoothly, the claws come out. Landa's evil incarnate, and he knows how to manipulate his prey without resorting to threatening behavior. Landa's after a family of Jewish farmers who've managed to elude him, and with an eerie calmness he weaves a story of hawks and rats, and turns the stalwart LaPadite into quivering prey.

Other chapters introduce us to the remaining key players in the Inglourious Basterds universe. Lt Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt using a hilariously over-the-top accent) commands the Basterds, an elite group of Jewish soldiers whose sole purpose is to kill Nazis. But not just kill Nazis...no, the Basterds are out to butcher and scalp, exacting their special form of retribution on the Nazis for the horrors they inflected on Jewish men, women and children.

While the Basterds joyously go about their Nazi killing mission, in Paris theater owner Shosanna (Melanie Laurent) goes about plotting her own revenge on the invading force. Pursued romantically by Nazi war hero Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Bruhl), Shosanna is presented with the opportunity to kill hundreds of Nazis in one fell swoop. Fredrick's exploits from earlier in the war have been immortalized in a movie directed by high-ranking official Joseph Goebbels (Sylvester Groth) and starring Fredrick as himself. Fredrick's wooing of Shosanna leads him to campaign for a change of venue for the premiere of Goebbels' film, Nation's Pride. Believing it will win over the French beauty, he requests Goebbels hold the event at Shosanna's theater, thus providing Shosanna with an unbelievable opportunity to wipe out Hitler and other major players in the Nazi party.

Meanwhile, German's shining star of the silver screen, Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) is also involved in a plan to end Hitler's reign of terror. Working with the Basterds, von Hammersmark is plotting to take out Hitler at the film's premiere, which leads to the main players of Inglourious Basterds finally, at long last, coming together as the film winds toward its delicious, violent, explosive final act.

The Cast

Christoph Waltz, who could be seeing an Oscar nod for his work as Nazi Colonel Hans Landa, describes his character as "one of the best parts ever written in the history of dramas." And while the film's opening scene is the best Tarantino's ever written, it's Waltz who completely sells the character and the set-up Waltz takes one of the most evil character's imaginable and makes him one you're not likely to forget for quite a long time.

The film's two lead actresses - Melanie Laurent and Diane Kruger - are terrific, as are the actors who make up the Basterds (including filmmaker Eli Roth who shot the film within the film). And Brad Pitt, complete with an outrageous Tennessee twang, chews scenery as if he hasn't had a bite to eat in decades. Gorging himself on Tarantino's dialogue, Pitt is just extraordinary as the leader of the Basterds. He's hysterical and a joy to watch, even while carving a swastika into a Nazi's forehead, sticking his finger deep into a bullet wound to test someone's loyalty, or ordering Roth as Sgt Donny Donowitz to pummel a Nazi prisoner with a baseball bat until his head's busted open like a pumpkin dropped from a 2-story building.

The Bottom Line

Inglourious Basterds presents an alternate history, one far more pleasing than reality. Yes, it's talky, loaded with references to films past, and when things get violent, Tarantino doesn't shirk from showing the gore. But every single word in Inglourious Basterds is necessary, every scene serves a specific purpose, and every one of its 152 minutes is vital to the overall story.

Tarantino is doing Tarantino here, but he's also showing a more restrained and focused style we haven't seen before from the man behind Reservoir Dogs and Grindhouse: Death Proof. Tarantino wedges in just as many film references as he's done with his prior movies, but not to the point of distraction as has occurred in some of his past work.

Inglourious Basterds is a twisted World War II film filled with witty dialogue, rife with colorful characters, and sure to stir up controversy over its reshaping of history. Perfectly cast and exquisitely shot and edited, this is one WWII movie in which the outcome isn't lifted from the history books. It will, however, go down in history as one of Tarantino's most intriguing and entertaining films.

GRADE: B+

Inglourious Basterds is rated R for strong graphic violence, language and brief sexuality.

Theatrical Release: August 21, 2009