Genre: War, Action, Drama
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Actors: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Til Schweiger, Melanie Laurent
Runtime: 152 min
Budget: $70 million
Year: 2009
In Nazi occupied France SS Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), nicknamed "The Jew Hunter", kills Jewish Dreyfus family with the exception of teenage Shosanna (Melanie Laurent), whom Landa allows to escape. Several years later when German war hero Fredrick Zoller takes a rapid interest in her and arranges an illustrious movie premiere at the theater she now runs, a young woman decides to have revenge upon Nazis. Meanwhile in America, 1st Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) recruits a team of eight Jewish-American soldiers to parachute into France with the mission to cause panic and havoc within the Third Reich by savagely killing as many German servicemen as possible, including a "take no prisoners" attitude and scalping their victims. The Bastards soon cross paths with Shosanna as their attention is cought by the promise of every major Nazi officer to be present at the movie premiere. A fateful evening will shift your understanding of history.
Needless to say that WWII is one of the most tragic events in history. For this reason many criticize the film as being lack of moral depth. It is obvious that the story itself has more historical inaccuracies than historical truth, but so what? People, it wasn't meant to be a documentary. As always Tarantino doesn't care if he offends, if he steps all over stereotypes and cliches. Certainly if you're not a fan of Tarantino's style, this may be a little hard to swallow, but nevertheless, it is a film which simply has to be seen. Tarantino some how manages to make the story fun.
The first thing you'll definitely note is the noteworthy performances the film is filled with. Tarantino has clearly not lost his eye for casting. No doubt, Christoph Waltz and Melanie Laurent are highlights of the film, their performance is more than excellent, it is sensational. Brad Pitt is perfect as always, even with his crazy accent, it works in this type of film. Diane Kruger looks great even with her leg in plaster.
The movie is done with that certain Tarantino style, from music to dialogues. The gist of the film is in its dialogues. They are long, rich, funny and incredibly plausible. The dark comedy aspect plays again its part as in many other Tarantino films. Quentin Tarantino among all other things is an entertainer, war has never been been so fun.
Inglourious Basterds is a fun film first of all, keep that in mind. After watching no one will think that Hitler was murdered in 1944 in France. The film is tremendously entertaining, shocking, dramatic, suspenseful, and funny at the same time. It's time to experience for yourself what war is like through the eyes of Quentin Tarantino.
10.09.2010 
