JC's New Release Review - Inglourious Basterds

 

Once upon a time

in Nazi occupied France...

The place is France, during the time of the Nazi occupation. A notorious Nazi colonel, Hans Londa (Christoph Waltz in his first American film), aka "The Jew Hunter" slaughters a family in hiding, save for one girl, Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent) who escapes. Years later, Shosanna, under a new identity, has acquired a theater, and soon discovers that it shall premiere a German war film, with only the cream of the Nazi military in attendance, including the Fuhrer himself. Shosanna devises a plan for ultimate revenge.

Meanwhile, Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) leads a group of Jewish-American commandos on a very simple mission. Kill Nazis.  He bears his men with only one demand, that each give him 100 Nazi scalps. They call themselves "the Basterds."

The Basterds discover the location of the premiere, and begin following their own plan to take down the German High Command.

This is... a Quentin Tarantino movie. Tarantino has managed to create a genre of film specially reserved for him, and this is, obviously, no exception. More after the jump.

If you are a fan of Tarantino's movies, you're going to like this. All the basic elements of Tarantino (Intrigue, Gore, Homage, Basterdry) can be found in great number. Just about every characters name is an homage to something relating to either wars or films. While it is not a bloodfest like Kill Bill (2003), there is quite a bit of gruesome, if somehow tasteful, violence.

The story of Shosanna's plan for revenge is a very poetic in its execution, and I found it very enjoyable. The story of the Basterds, on the other hand, was usually either very straightforward or downright hilarious at times, like when Raine, with his thick southern bully accent, needs to speak Italian ("Bon jore no"). All in all, an enjoyable movie in which, in typical Tarantino style, nearly everyone dies.

If you're a huge fan of Tarantino, this will be a film to buy. If you like him, you will rent it. If you don't... well, you should at least see it once.