Glory for 'Inglorius'
Scott Gil-Jacobson Staff Writer
Issue date: 10/9/09 Section: News
"Inglorious Basterds" can certainly qualify for the title "most uncanny WWII film made," as it focuses on so many different points of view, all of which bear no historical accuracy. This is Quentin Tarantino's film and it is the closest that he has come to replicating the style of "Pulp Fiction." While the film is not presented out of order, it is presented in five segments, with the time elapse ranging from hours to years. The promotion for the film is a bit confusing, as the Basterds do not get as much screen time as we are led to believe. Instead the screen time is divided between Brad Pit and his Basterds, Christoph Waltz as Col. Hans Landa, a Nazi officer dubbed "the Jew Hunter," and Melanie Laurent, a Jewish woman hiding out in Paris from the Nazi occupational forces.
The film is arguably Tarantino's best. The script is inventive and unique, the acting is top notch from the entire cast and the directing is amazing. The quality of the direction is a testament to how far he has come as a director. The scene in the bar is easily the best and tightest scene that he has filmed, which beautifully interweaves suspense and comedy. One would think it hard for Tarantino to incorporate pop culture references in the film, as it is a WWII film, yet he includes a few key ideas/scenes that give the film the unique Tarantino stamp. Melanie Laurent's character operates a movie theater in Paris and has an obsession with film, as well as German soldier working with the Basterds who is given his own theme music that is reminiscent of 70s blaxploitation scores. Pitt's character is derived from the same overly talkative eccentricities of some characters that relate to the director's earlier characters.
The film is violent, as expected from a film of this sort, yet the gore is toned down, even when a baseball bat is introduced as a weapon. It is not the violence involving the main characters that make the violence in the film excessive, even for Tarantino, but the violence portrayed in the film within the film. "Nation's Pride," a film about a lone Nazi private that takes out 300 European and American soldiers is an interesting twist to the film. The German high command that watches the film enjoys the violence and have no regard for the sanctity of human life. This would be an understandable, if not one-sided, take on the evils of the Nazi party, but Tarantino later goes overboard with the violence that he portrays, simultaneously condemning excessive violence in film while fueling the fire of sadistic porn violence in modern film.
The film is arguably Tarantino's best. The script is inventive and unique, the acting is top notch from the entire cast and the directing is amazing. The quality of the direction is a testament to how far he has come as a director. The scene in the bar is easily the best and tightest scene that he has filmed, which beautifully interweaves suspense and comedy. One would think it hard for Tarantino to incorporate pop culture references in the film, as it is a WWII film, yet he includes a few key ideas/scenes that give the film the unique Tarantino stamp. Melanie Laurent's character operates a movie theater in Paris and has an obsession with film, as well as German soldier working with the Basterds who is given his own theme music that is reminiscent of 70s blaxploitation scores. Pitt's character is derived from the same overly talkative eccentricities of some characters that relate to the director's earlier characters.
The film is violent, as expected from a film of this sort, yet the gore is toned down, even when a baseball bat is introduced as a weapon. It is not the violence involving the main characters that make the violence in the film excessive, even for Tarantino, but the violence portrayed in the film within the film. "Nation's Pride," a film about a lone Nazi private that takes out 300 European and American soldiers is an interesting twist to the film. The German high command that watches the film enjoys the violence and have no regard for the sanctity of human life. This would be an understandable, if not one-sided, take on the evils of the Nazi party, but Tarantino later goes overboard with the violence that he portrays, simultaneously condemning excessive violence in film while fueling the fire of sadistic porn violence in modern film.
Be the first to comment on this story