2009 Review #26: Inglorious Basterds

Inglorious Basterds

Rated R

(Occasional graphic violence and gore, brief language and some sexuality)

2 hours 31 minutes

Storyline:

In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The Basterds soon cross paths with a French-Jewish teenage girl who runs a movie theater in Paris which is targeted by the soldiers.

Starring:

Brad Pitt

Melanie Laurent

Christoph Waltz

Diane Kruger

Critics Grade:

B+

My Grade:
A+

I think Pulp Fiction is a great film. The Kill Bill saga is an amazing piece of filmaking and storytelling. Inglorious Basterds however, is Oscar winner Quentin Tarantino's (Best Original Screenplay - Pulp Fiction) ultimate masterpiece. I thought I had seen his best work in Kill Bill and I honestly never thought he could top that. This is when I love being wrong. When I saw the trailer for Basterds, I thought it looked good but I did not think that I would end up loving it. Again I say, this is when I love to be wrong.

I'm not going to describe the storyline in my review, but as usual I put a brief synopsis up above. This movie has a lot going on and it could take several paragraphs. I'll say this though, before you see this movie, leave your history books on the shelf and don't try to brush up on your WWII knowledge. This is probably one of the more historically inaccurate war films ever made and it was done so deliberately...of course. But as you watch this movie you can't help but think that this would have been a much cooler alternative to the Nazi Germany timeline. Tarantino brilliantly re-wrote history for this movie, and I think this film truly showcases how great of a screenwriter he really has always been.

Tarantino is probably the master at writing superb dialog for his characters. You have to see this film to understand. It is through the dialog this film is carried, and there are many many drawn out, very long scenes of people talking (in other languages at that!) but it never once goes dull and I never got bored. More than half of this movie is in a foreign language (primarily French and German...and a tad bit of Italian haha) but you don't find yourself caring or angry that you're reading half of the film. I don't mind foreign language films, but some people hate them. Trust me though, you won't mind it this time around.

He also relies on his genius characters that he creates (he even made Hitler a bit of his own character) to move the story along. Aldo Raine is one of the coolest, most bad ass characters I've seen in a film in a while! 90% of this film is all dialog and character examination, and trust me when I say it makes this screenplay come to life in a wonderfully incredible way and you will never grow restless while watching this film. It runs at 2 hours and 31 minutes but when you watch it, it feels like a 90 minute movie. That's how awesome the pacing of this movie works. Probably one of the best paced screenplays I've seen in years.

Now don't get me wrong, this movie isn't ALL drawn out talking sessions, there is some cool action scenes. In fact, a lot of the dialog scenes lead up to some pretty awesome action moments. You can tell something is eventually going to happen in these scenes, because it feels very tense when you watch these characters communicate. I would say there are a good three or four solid action moments that were just so enjoyable to watch. This is when some of Tarantino's famous blood and gore come in, but never to much. There's a brutal gun battle that lasts maybe a minute and there's a good supply of blood to go around. There are some explosive scenes that were so masterfully done but also so very simple. Which is something you aren't to used to with Tarantino. Usually you expect big, drawn out, bloody action scenes, but it's more "toned" down this time and I liked that.

The direction by Tarantino was so, so, SO good. He doesn't do a lot of rapid cut scenes and he doesn't move around to much. This story is told in chapters (much like the Kill Bill saga), and the film really feels like chapters. During each chapter he only focuses on one aspect of the story. He does not jump to different characters doing different things, he focuses on one aspect of the story each time. This is how we grow to love these characters (and yes, hate some of them) and really understand their motives. He brought this tale to life so eloquently I thought. You can tell he is a fan of film and that this guy knows what he's doing. It's a shame he doesn't make more movies than he does. I also loved all the technical aspects of this film. The set design was so classy and beautiful as was all the costuming. The cinematography was brilliant. Of course we also have the standard use of music in a Tarantino film, he is so good at choosing music. You will also notice a lot of music from Kill Bill...a really cool touch if you ask me.

In a Tarantino film, you can always expect at least one good performance (I still think Uma Thurman was robbed of an Oscar nomination for any of the Kill Bill films). This movie has at least two brilliant performances. The first being from the star, Oscar nominee Brad Pitt (Twelve Monkeys, Curious Case of Benjamin Button). This was probably my favorite performance from him, because it was the most unique one I've seen from him (and no I have not seen Snatch or Fight Club). There was NEVER a dull moment with this character. I mean he was a riot and was one of the most hilarious characters I think I may have ever seen. Pitt was just so great and I was blown away by how perfect he was for this role. So funny! I don't know if he will garner another Oscar nomination for this movie, but honestly I think he deserves one.

However there was once performance that was a little bit better than that in this film and that was from Christoph Waltz (who won a Best Actor award for this film at Cannes Film Festival). He plays an SS Colonel and he is a nasty nasty character. You really, truly hate this guy but at the same time you just love when he is on screen. Half of his performance is in English and the other half is in a combo of French, German and some Italian. Not matter what language he speaks though, this guy was brilliantly sinister and also so odd and quirky. That very beginning scene of the film, he had me hooked from the moment on. If he does not garner a supporting actor nomination this year at the Oscars I will think there is some kind of scandal in the Academy.

The women were good as well. Melanie Laurent and Diane Kruger (National Treasure series) added some great character depth to the film. Kruger is more of a limited supporting role, and Laurent has a much meatier role and where the primary story of revenge comes from (but I don't want to give to much away). I thought they did a great job carrying the characters throughout the film. I liked the cameos from Mike Myers (a surprisingly unfunny one) and also a pretty comical one from BJ Novak (TV's The Office). There were a lot of small, supporting roles in this film and all were excellent. This was a seriously good cast!

This was just a great overall movie. I spotted virtually no flaws. I guess there were a couple issues, but in the grand scheme of things they were so small and didn't take away from the movie at all and aren't even worth mentioning. Amazing storytelling, beautiful film making, incredibly good and entertaining performances, fun action scenes, the works. In my opinion this was a masterpiece on virtually every level of film making possible. Tarantino shocked me by not hinging on his typical use of blood, guts and gore and extreme foul language (but it's still there, just no where near anything bad, I've seen worse in movies this year). Instead he went a much more mature and professional route and created his first real masterclass film. I applaud Tarantino for this movie, and the Academy should finally give him what he deserves...some true recognition for his wonderful and wildly original film making accomplishment.

This year the Academy announced there will be ten best picture nominees. I am a fan of this, because some smaller films or films that don't typically get noticed in the big award of the night will sneak in. So far this year I've seen a handful of movies that at this point in the year deserve to crack the top ten: Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince, Star Trek, The Hurt Locker, District 9, Up, and at the very top of that list...Inglorious Basterds. I don't care what anyone tells me, THIS is the very best film of 2009.

Go see Inglorious Basterds.

"Nine, nine, nine nine, nine!"