Inglourious Basterds (Part 2 of 2)

Inglourious Basterds (Part 2 of 2)

While the acting is amazing in this alt-historical film, I found the direction to be even better. The editing and the sense of style is pretty top notch. It is Quentin Tarantino‘s skills in bringing tension and great script writing that elevates this war movie to another level altogether.

There are three scenes that support the statement above. Each scene is long but very compelling. These three scenes are the linchpins of the movie.

The opening scene with the French farmer and Col. Hans Landa is just incredible. The scene builds and builds until there is a major payoff. QT has some interesting close up shots in this scene where we see a man light up a pipe. He smokes this pipe and we know QT is making a statement with every movement and every action in this scene. It is a real shame he didn’t do it with the Mike Myers scene.

The other scene I want to talk about is the famous French Tavern scene. In this scene, a few of the Basterds are undercover and attempting to meet their spy contact. They enter and realize the bar is filled with Nazis, so the tension builds from there. Things go from being bad to worst. There is nothing wrong with this scene, and it is probably my favorite scene in the movie.

The last scene with tension involves Eli Roth. I won’t give it away, but it involves some knives and a baseball bat. It is not only a bloody scene but also somewhat humorous too. By the way, I didn’t mind Roth in his role because it is so limited.

Actually, the Basterds aren’t portrayed that much in the film. The marketing wanted you to believe it was about Brad Pitt and his band of brothers killing Nazis. But, it is really about a French Jewish girl seeking revenge more so than about Americans killing Nazis. Truth be told, there are about two main stories and one subplot involving a British agent.

IB isn’t really the rip-roaring horror movie that normal moviegoers were expecting, but they’ll come away surprised or really pissed off by this.

The other major part of the movie is “This is not historically correct”. There are things that happen in this movie that will not add up to what really happened in our own history and I’ll leave it at that. I was first a little disturbed by the alt-timeline and history. After a few days to mull over it, I’ve grown to like the change. (Heck, if videogames can do it, why not QT?)

Inglourious Basterds might not be for everyone. It doesn’t try to be, but it will please fans of old school cinema, WWII movies, and hardcore Quentin Tarantino fans. It does show that QT knows how to take his style and morph it into whatever he wants to make. IB has some flaws, but I still enjoyed the overall experience.

If anything, see it for Christoph Waltz’s performance.

Grade: B+