Recent Release Reviewed! Inglorious Basterds

INGLORIOUS BASTERDS
Starring: Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth
Written and directed by: Quentin Tarantino

It’s difficult to write a review of Inglorious Basterds that isn’t highly opinionated. In fact, it seems to be a film that’s divided audiences and critics alike, with some hailing it as Tarantino‘s masterpiece, and others calling it a disjointed, uneven mess. But everyone has an opinion, and here’s mine.

The film starts by introducing Christoph Waltz’s “Jew Hunter” Hans Landa. He coolly interrogates a French farmer hiding a Jewish family under his floorboards, and orders his men to blast the floor, and the family, to smithereens. Only teenage Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent) escapes. Next we’re introduced to the Basterds themselves, led by Lt. Aldo “The Apache” Raine (Brad Pitt). Raine and his eight soldiers are to be dropped into Nazi-occupied France and scare the hell out of the Germans. Specifically, each of the Basterds must collect a hundred Nazi scalps. Slowly, a plot begins to develop, as Shosanna, now the owner of a cinema, meets a young German soldier named Frederick Zoller (Daniel Bruhl), who has become a film star after killing three hundred Americans in Italy. Zoller is smitten with Shosanna, and convinces Josef Goebbels to host the premiere of the film about his exploits in Shosanna’s theatre. Goebbels agrees, and Landa is assigned to handle security for the event, which Hitler has now decided to attend. The German film star Bridget Von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) hears of the change of venue, and informs the British, who send Lt. Archie Hicox (Michael Fassbender) to rendezvous with Bridget and escort her to the film premiere, Basterds in tow. Meanwhile, Shosanna has no intention of any Nazi leaving the cinema alive…

First off, this is not a film about a group of Jewish-American soldiers behind enemy lines in World War II. We rarely see the Basterds at work, and, in his idiosyncratic way, Tarantino has made his team of hardened killers more of a comedy troupe. Pitt’s Raine is a collection of odd tics and gurning that only works once throughout the entire film, while “Bear Jew” Donny Donowitz is played by Hostel director Eli Roth, who admittedly acquits himself onscreen better than Tarantino ever did. Aside from a brutal beating, Donny is largely a comic figure, as are the rest of the Basterds, played by actors like B.J. Novak (the American The Office) and Samm Levine (Freaks and Geeks). Special mention must go to Til Schwieger’s wonderfully psychotic Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz, an enlisted German soldier who killed eight S.S. officers, and has his own Shaft-esque theme and flashback sequence. Waltz has received a lot of praise for his depiction of Landa, and deservedly so. Charming, odd, and terrifying, Landa is a force to be reckoned with. Also on form are Fassbender as the very English Hicox, and Kruger, showing unsuspected talent as the glamorous Bridget. Less successful is the use of Mike Myers as a British General, whose accent veers uncomfortably towards Austin Powers territory. But then again, is that part of the joke?

The real star of the film, however, is Mélanie Laurent. Her performance has gone largely overshadowed by Waltz’s, but her turn as the revenge-fuelled Shosanna is faultless. Around halfway through, when it ecomes clear that Tarantino is going as slow as he wants to, she works wonderfully with Bruhl’s brash Zoller. She also keeps some otherwise very tedious scenes interesting. I've only seen her in bit parts in films like The Beat That My Heart Skipped and Paris, but on the basis on her performance here she deserves more leading roles.

The biggest problem with Basterds is this: whenever the film threatens to pick up any momentum, the focus shifts. What should be a fantastic scene with the Basterds is told in flashback, intercut with a very tedious scene of Hitler throwing a hissy fit that isn’t as funny as it thinks it is. Critics have complained that Landa is missed when he’s offscreen, but he could actually have done with missing a couple of scenes. Once we’ve seen his switch from affable to menacing twice, it’s not as effective anymore. The Basterds aren’t in the film enough for us to care what happens to them (indeed, some are killed offscreen). The exception to this is Donny and Ulmer, who have a hilarious double act at the end of the film, by which point we’re all in on the joke. Indulgences are fine as long as you keep the momentum up. Basterds trips up several times thanks to Tarantino's apparently blind self-confidence.

No matter how you feel about Tarantino as a director, his films are always identifiably his own. Here, his stamp is as present as ever. Sometimes it works (the Stiglitz cut scene is hilarious), sometimes it doesn’t (do we really need an explosion explained to us?). The film drags most when we are introduced to the German high command. Then again, some scenes are just as good as you’d hope, particularly the blood-bath rendezvous gone wrong at the Inn.

Most people’s defence of the film as a whole seems to be comparing it to pop art. It’s garish, broad-stroke and a mixture of different styles thrown into one over-long film. It fails just as often as it succeeds. And Tarantino’s joke seems to be one of the biggest problems for the film. Whether or not you appreciate the joke will affect your enjoyment of the ending. It’s not always funny , and it doesn’t always work. But by the blood-soaked, Bowie-scored finale, you’ll either be laughing hysterically, or you’ll wish you already left. I was laughing.

As for Oscar talk? Well, to be honest, the only really deserving candidate is Christoph Waltz. Tarantino’s screenplay is fun, but by God, the man needs someone to tell him no sometimes. And there are more deserving candidates for the best director prize. It's definitely worth a watch, however. It is clever, funny and, for the most part, well acted. Just be prepared for some dead scenes in between some geniunely electrifying sequences.

7/10