Theatrical Review: INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
Rating: Fucking High/10 (Clearly, I'm a poet before I'm a critic)
Writer/Director: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Daniel Brühl, Mélanie Laurent
Studio: The Weinstein Company
Note: This review has been revised upon second viewing
The trailers for Quentin Tarantino’s INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS make you think that it's going to be a bloodbath from the hugely popular director, and rival KILL BILL VOL. 1 as Tarantino’s most blood-splattered film. Given the way I worded that first sentence you’re probably assuming I’m going tell you that BASTERDS is, in fact, not the ultra-action-packed, brutal adventure the trailers made you think it was. And you would be totally right if you thought that is where I was headed, as BASTERDS focuses on set up and tension instead of action, making it an interesting, story-heavy film.
The opening scene of INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS takes place a few years before the rest of the film, and introduces our villain, Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), as he interrogates a French farmer that may be hiding a Jewish family. This scene also does a good job at setting the pace for the entire film; you get a lot of tense talking, then after your mind has nervously thought about all the ways the situation can turn out, you get the resolution (I would say more about the nature of the film's resolutions, but I don't want to give too much away). BASTERDS is essentially a well-made game of "guess what's going to happen next?"
Along with many standoff-esque scenes, Tarantino also captures our attention by introducing us to many intriguing characters, and then making us wonder what will happen to their separate plans and goals during the film's climax, which is set during a movie premiere that will be attended by several high-ranking Nazi officers.
The key characters of course include the shrewd and just-the-right-amount of eccentric Col. Landa. Then, we have The Basterds themselves, who are led by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) and are compromised of Jewish-American soldiers, whose purpose is to kill as many Nazis as possible in twisted ways. Another critical character is the owner of the theater where the premiere will happen, young Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent), who also desires revenge against the Nazis. Shosanna's part of the film's story includes the German war hero Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Brühl) - star of the film that will be showing at the the attention-getting premiere - who is also the reason that the film will be shown at that particular theater (he's become quite smitten with Shosanna). There is also Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger), double agent and an ally to The Basterds, and their ticket into the premiere. Every character is intriguing due to Tarantino's careful construction - whether it be Raine's brash determination (sorry if I get too poetic here - he also fucks shit up big time) or Sophie's plan of vengeance, we want to know what happens to everybody when everything goes down.
The emphasis with INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS is on story and characters and not extreme style or action, like you might expect given how much the film's add campaign try to make IB look like another KILL BILL film. This does not mean that BASTERDS is low on those elements, they just aren't quite as fluent as you might think, and are never allowed to be to distract our attention from the story Tarantino is telling.
The action that does come about in BASTERDS is thrilling, and as you would expect from Tarantino, well-done. There is a quick, but extremely intense shootout in the film that will momentarily shock everyone in the audience, due to how much violence is packed into about 45 actual seconds of footage- it's pure cinematic adrenaline and it's wonderful.
Tarantino's trademark style is sprinkled throughout IB, including a introduction of The Basterd Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz (Til Schweiger) that includes the character's name in bright font on the screen and a voiceover narration by Samuel L . Jackson. There are several cool style moments like this in INGLOURIOUS BASTERS, but Tarantino uses this skill wisely, and never allows his stylistic devices to become a distraction, as they only enhance what is already an enganing story
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS is quite different from what many might be expecting, in that it favors anticipation of violence over actual violence, but that doesn't mean it's boring - BASTERDS is Tarantino's most suspenseful film to date, containing a story that comes together nicely.
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