Quentin Tarantino’s latest foray in film, Inglourious Basterds, is a highly entertaining thrill-ride that follows the crusades of a fictional OSS squad as they brutalize and terrorize Nazi soldiers in WWII France. The film doesn’t stop there, though, not by any means. The movie provides other running story lines, like fantastic exaggerated Nazi villains, and a healthy portion of Quentinesque dialogue. By the end of the 2 hours and 32 minutes, I found myself nearly standing out of my seat, hysterical–no, insane–as the film’s heroes ruthlessly bring justice and revenge against the evil Third Reich. Now that I think about it, there was something very cathartic about the movie, but that may be because I’m losing my mind. See this movie. I highly recommend it.
The film at its core is pure exploitation. I can only speculate whether Tarantino will try to reinvent himself after the Kill Bill and Grindhouse hoorah–and now of course Inglourious. I can see why the Cannes’ film festival may have been unimpressed to some degree with the movie (though the film was nominated for the Palme d’or). It certainly lacks the luster that Pulp Fiction once provided with its unconventional chronology and focus on grand, sweeping dialogue-driven scenes. At least at the time, Pulp Fiction was being itself, and not shamelessly pulling almost exclusively from Sergio Leone’s and other 70’s exploitation films. In Inglourious, Quentin relies on certain devices to help the story read well… literally. He divides it up into chapters, and at some points has the post-production team label elements and characters with a scribbly white text and arrow. That being probably my least favorite aspect of the movie, I feel compelled to mention additionally that, yes: he’s used more Ennio Morricone music. Again. Overall though, this is a must-see that I can’t wait to sit through again.
One small side note: something else to see is the new Avatar trailer. Looks beautiful!
Sun, Aug 23, 2009
Film