Inglourious Basterds

Inglourious Basterds is the type of film that makes me wish I had more of Siskel and Ebert’s reviewing skills because as hard as I try to imagine what to say and how to say it, words just don’t seem to be able to do this film justice. So first let’s start with some background.

Back in the 1978, a properly-spelled, Italian B-movie titled The Inglorious Bastards was released by a man named Enzo Castellari. He may be no Sergio Leone or Federico Fellini, but a film nerd like director Quentin Tarantino is the perfect man to tackle this spaghetti western in a way that puts it on a pedestal and knocks it down a few pegs at the same time.

So the film, I’m told since I haven’t seen the original, isn’t a remake and, thank god, Tarantino wouldn’t be the type to tout it as a redux or reboot or whatever else we’re calling remakes with freedom to change as we please these days. And besides a loosely taken plot about the “basterds”, vicious fighters who sneak behind enemy lines of the Nazi’s to seek revenge on the big men in charge, it’s suppose to be completely its own.

Much like any Tarantino film, the soundtrack choice is superb and the 35mm visuals are pretty great to watch. But the greatest thing of all is the characters he brings to life. These characters are over the top  and broad in the personage spectrum but nowhere near being generic. The three superstars are Brad Pitt, Melanie Laurent and Christoph Waltz, who respectively play the Antihero, the Femme and the Nazi. Yes, it’s as simple as that.

The Antihero Lieutenant Aldo Raine’s (Pitt) got a thick southern drawl and is the leaders of the “basterds”, requiring all of them to get at least 100 Nazis scalps. No joke! Though he comes around to be the hero of the story and you root for him and his group of merry men, they’re kind of the dregs of society.  The Femme Shosanna, played by Melanie Laurent, watched her entire Jewish family massacred. After changing her name and acquiring a movie theater, she plans to use a Nazi premiere to blow the enemy away. And Nazi Colonel Hans Landa (Waltz), who also won the 2009 Cannes Best Actor award, kicks off and ends the film in grand fashion and makes it clear that sometimes it is oh-so fun to play the villain.

Some would say that it might be the best Tarantino film made to date. It’s funny, it’s smart and wonderful to watch visually and musically. It’s dark and light at the same time. It succeeds at everything Tarantino tries to encapsulate and capture in all his films. Plus, it’s an added bonus to see World War II end in a much different manner.