Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino's World War II opus, and possibly sum up how Tarantino himself may view his 7Th film to date. The long gestating project, which Tarantino reportedly began writing nearly a decade ago, had been repeatedly pushed off to the side in favor of the Kill Bill saga and the Death Proof segment of Grindhouse. However, in the end Basterds has proven itself to be Quentin's most engaging, fun and purely brilliant piece of filmaking since 1994's Pulp Fiction, and I would indeed describe it, flawed as it may be, the work of a master filmmaker.Perhaps what is most impressive about Inglorious Basterds is the clearly evident display of ambition and appreciation for the period in Quentin Tarantino's direction and script. Freeing himself from historical restrictions, Tarantino manages to create a World War 2 film that is riveting, action packed and hilarious through a story that by all means could have happened. With a screenplay that could have been laborious and boring, QT's film is full of wonderful moments packed with fantastic dialogue, suspense and clever scene set ups, most promine
ntly the opening scene, the tavern card game and the entire theatre sequence( which btw is one of the years best climaxes), and Quentin's direction in these scenes is fantastic. It's almost as if after Death Proof he looked at himself in the mirror and decided to really make something great again. He also made some great technical choices with the film, especially in the hiring of legendary DP Robert Richardson who gives Basterds a beautiful look and some really fantastic shots. The editing is also good, the pacing of the film is near perfect in my eyes despite the running time, and the art direction and costumes were sublimely created and designed to perfect effect.
ntly the opening scene, the tavern card game and the entire theatre sequence( which btw is one of the years best climaxes), and Quentin's direction in these scenes is fantastic. It's almost as if after Death Proof he looked at himself in the mirror and decided to really make something great again. He also made some great technical choices with the film, especially in the hiring of legendary DP Robert Richardson who gives Basterds a beautiful look and some really fantastic shots. The editing is also good, the pacing of the film is near perfect in my eyes despite the running time, and the art direction and costumes were sublimely created and designed to perfect effect.However, where Inglourious 
Basterds succeeds most is without a doubt in its casting, featuring great performances from everyone involved, one of which is the current front runner for this year's Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Starring Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Melanie Laurent and Michael Fassbender among many others, Quentin Tarantino has organized one of this year's most impressive ensembles by casting actors who seem to genuinely become their characters. And no where else is this more clear than in the performance from Christoph Waltz as Colonel Hans Landa of the S.S., in a role that not so much steals the film as it dominates it. On screen possibly more than any other character, Waltz's Landa is a menacing presence who, given the scene, makes the audience's blood run cold as he does in the film's excellent opening scene, induce their laughter with his giddy use of American expression, "that's a bingo!", and just balls out 
impresses them with his effortlessly fluid language transitions, all the while being charming, menacing and hilarious. Waltz flat out gives the performance of his career and I guarantee that he will go down as one of the greatest screen villains in the history of cinema. The film's other star, and as the movies advertising campaign likes us to believe only star, Brad Pitt is also impressive in Basterds albeit in a much smaller role than you would expect. Although it at first seems that his southern brawler attitude is the basis of his character, Pitt's Aldo Raine proves to be one of the film's more light hearted crowd pleasers, providing plenty of laughs with his exaggerated country bumpkin accent, especially during the film's climax where he trys on an Italian accent to hilarious results. 
Melanie Laurent, the film's main female character, is wonderful, giving a complex performance as a woman hell bent on revenge. Always hiding beneath a calm, cool facade, Laurent is at her best in her scenes with Daniel Bruhle, also excellent German war hero, and in particular a scene in which she is confronted by Colonel Landa 4 years after he had her family executed. Rapped with fear, Laurent's Shosanna's terror is clearly evident behind her eyes, yet she keeps the facade until the moment she knows she is safe and breaks down. It is a powerful piece of work from a young and inexperienced actress. The rest of the cast is also fantastic, with the exception of Mike Myers who I could not take seriously as a British general. Michael Fassbender is riveting during his short time on screen as a doomed British film critic turned spy, as is the aforementioned Bruhle. The eponymous Basterds are also a source of great work in the film, with Eli Roth, B.J. Novak, Til Schweiger, and Omar Doom doing good work as well as August Diehl as a gestapo officer. Even the more over the top performances of Martin Wuttke as Hitler and Diane Kruger(miscast but alright) were passable. This cast was just unbelievably good, almost redifining what it means to do a strong ensemble piece of filmmaking, and Tarantino directs wonderfully.
Basterds succeeds most is without a doubt in its casting, featuring great performances from everyone involved, one of which is the current front runner for this year's Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Starring Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Melanie Laurent and Michael Fassbender among many others, Quentin Tarantino has organized one of this year's most impressive ensembles by casting actors who seem to genuinely become their characters. And no where else is this more clear than in the performance from Christoph Waltz as Colonel Hans Landa of the S.S., in a role that not so much steals the film as it dominates it. On screen possibly more than any other character, Waltz's Landa is a menacing presence who, given the scene, makes the audience's blood run cold as he does in the film's excellent opening scene, induce their laughter with his giddy use of American expression, "that's a bingo!", and just balls out 
impresses them with his effortlessly fluid language transitions, all the while being charming, menacing and hilarious. Waltz flat out gives the performance of his career and I guarantee that he will go down as one of the greatest screen villains in the history of cinema. The film's other star, and as the movies advertising campaign likes us to believe only star, Brad Pitt is also impressive in Basterds albeit in a much smaller role than you would expect. Although it at first seems that his southern brawler attitude is the basis of his character, Pitt's Aldo Raine proves to be one of the film's more light hearted crowd pleasers, providing plenty of laughs with his exaggerated country bumpkin accent, especially during the film's climax where he trys on an Italian accent to hilarious results. 
Melanie Laurent, the film's main female character, is wonderful, giving a complex performance as a woman hell bent on revenge. Always hiding beneath a calm, cool facade, Laurent is at her best in her scenes with Daniel Bruhle, also excellent German war hero, and in particular a scene in which she is confronted by Colonel Landa 4 years after he had her family executed. Rapped with fear, Laurent's Shosanna's terror is clearly evident behind her eyes, yet she keeps the facade until the moment she knows she is safe and breaks down. It is a powerful piece of work from a young and inexperienced actress. The rest of the cast is also fantastic, with the exception of Mike Myers who I could not take seriously as a British general. Michael Fassbender is riveting during his short time on screen as a doomed British film critic turned spy, as is the aforementioned Bruhle. The eponymous Basterds are also a source of great work in the film, with Eli Roth, B.J. Novak, Til Schweiger, and Omar Doom doing good work as well as August Diehl as a gestapo officer. Even the more over the top performances of Martin Wuttke as Hitler and Diane Kruger(miscast but alright) were passable. This cast was just unbelievably good, almost redifining what it means to do a strong ensemble piece of filmmaking, and Tarantino directs wonderfully.While Inglourious Basterds may years from now age horribly, today in the now it is hands do
wn my favorite film of the year and the best movie going experience I've had this year, and based on the 38 million $ opening, I'm pretty sure I'm not alone. Featuring an amazing cast, fantastic technical achievements, and great writing/directing from Tarantino to the tune of a great medley soundtrack, Inglourious Basterds is the must see film of the summer and perhaps one of this year's best cinematic offerings. Quentin Tarantino is back and better than he's been in the decade and a half since Pulp Fiction, here's hoping he can keep this momentum.
wn my favorite film of the year and the best movie going experience I've had this year, and based on the 38 million $ opening, I'm pretty sure I'm not alone. Featuring an amazing cast, fantastic technical achievements, and great writing/directing from Tarantino to the tune of a great medley soundtrack, Inglourious Basterds is the must see film of the summer and perhaps one of this year's best cinematic offerings. Quentin Tarantino is back and better than he's been in the decade and a half since Pulp Fiction, here's hoping he can keep this momentum.My Grade: A, definitely my favorite film of the year so far
Oscar Chances: I think Basterds will do relatively well awards wise this year. Besides Christoph Waltz's oscar lock on supporting actor, the film could pick up screenplay, editing, cinematography, art direction, costume design and possibly, given the ten nominee category this year, a Best Picture nomination. It truly is an excellent film.
1 comment:
this movie was a Disappointment when I first watched it. I even waited to see it so the buzz did not taint my viewing. it was able to hold me through my first viewing because it had the delightful and captivating pace my grandfather had when he would tell me stories from when he fought in the korean war. however this movie has grown on me in recent viewings, albeit may be like a tumor, because i have refused to give up on the potential that the original idea had. the good the bad and the ugly set in wwII. however QT failed to grasp the scope and epic affect that that movie had on the viewer. he instead decided to spread the character development as thin as possible. in the g,b,and ugly you could focus on blondie tuco and angel eyes. i wanted to know so much more about the apache or the bear jew or little man but i was sadly denied. i guess QT decided that the motivation was obvious for angry Jews but the characters i really wanted to know more about were simply content talking in a basement and then dying.
Post a Comment