Inglourious Basterds

After seeing Death Proof, I said to myself that Quentin should have a crack at the Basterds, but I really didn’t expect him to react to my words. But it was a good decision and I can just say: “I’m happy. Good old Quentin is back." The dialogs deserve a chapter to themselves. Tarantino really enjoys himself and the Germans turn into a band of blabbering catchphrase mongers. The same applies to Pitt’s Apache Aldo and to all of them, in fact (yes, Diane Kruger too). Til Schweiger plays the role of his life (I bet his character was originally written for Schwarzenegger). But it’s mainly Christoph Waltz who gives an acting recital, and he literally shines throughout the movie and I think an Oscar nomination is essential. Melanie Laurent absolutely buries Uma Thurman and Kill Bill. Her revenge is far more punch and emotions can be wrung out by the gallon. The climax of the movie is the first chapter which is a western set in World War Two. The atmosphere can be cut with a knife and the unknown actors are completely at one with their characters. And the music by Ennio Morricone sends chills down the spine and the story takes you off into movieland. Beautiful. P.S.: The trailer gives a false impression. It’s more or less only about chapter two. But the main story takes place in the other chapters. Unexpected. P.P.S.: And who didn’t notice that S. L. J. talks about how flammable celluloid is. (31/08/2009)

A film by a filmmaker who loves films. Tarantino's synthesis of B-movie aesthetics has (for now) reached its ultimate stage in the form of a war opus. There’s room for references, his own ego, and a final chapter of historical revisionism that, if it hadn't been making fun of the previous ones all along, would hardly have been understood. A pleasant surprise to my own expectations. (07/10/2009)

To have a two-and-a-half-hour Tarantino movie with only two characters portrayed in detail with a proper backstory (Christoph Waltz, Mélanie Laurent) while none of them belongs to the titular “Basterds” is unforgivable. The “Basterds” are there just to give the film some sort of a weak framework; their potential started in the trailer and ended in the cutting room. All of the other elements of this flick are, however, *Cinema Paradiso*. (30/08/2009)

Tarantino has the craft down pat. He's great at leading actors, he's got a sense of timing, and his dialogue scenes have more punch than all of Bay's action scenes with screaming robots put together, but I can't digest the story he presents with the best of wills. The first chapter is phenomenal. It has everything: a great build-up, a sultry atmosphere, the suspense of what will inevitably come at any second, and the perfect entry of an extremely charismatic asshole. But the rest of the film, in my eyes, teeters on a thin line between sparse admiration and feelings of awkwardness, between what I am still logically willing to accept and what I am no longer. Narrative excess is fine, but everything has its limits, Quentin. (30/08/2009)

It didn't offend me, but it also didn't please me. There are a few good catchphrases, perhaps a few revealing references to Reich and Weimar German films, but... Especially the Pitt-Schweiger-Brühl trio was bland. And the women? The completely non-fatal Laurent and Kruger. Sure, there were some nice ideas in there - Jewish revenge, the swastika on the forehead, and some good period details, but they were drowned in the total period failure. (10/03/2010)