Inglourious Basterds
Cast: Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Melanie Laurent
Dir: Quentin Tarantino
Rating: 4/5
There is always a buzz around a new release for Quentin Tarantino, and this time is no different, as the World War II film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier in the year and competed for the Palme d'Or.
Inglourious Basterds begins in German-occupied France, where Shosanna Dreyfus (Laurent) witnesses the execution of her family at the hand of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa (Waltz). Shosanna narrowly escapes and flees to Paris, where she forges a new identity as the owner and operator of a cinema.
Elsewhere in Europe, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Pitt) organizes a group of Jewish soldiers to engage in targeted acts of retribution.
Known to their enemy as "The Basterds," Raine's squad joins German actress and undercover agent Bridget Von Hammersmark (Kruger) on a mission to take down the leaders of The Third Reich. Fates converge under a cinema marquee, where Shosanna is poised to carry out a revenge plan of her own.
It's fair to say that Tarantino was a little of the boil with his Grindhouse collaboration with Robert Rodriguez but he is on fire once again with Inglourious Basterds.
It's a great and violent romp through World War II and, in parts, is reminiscent of a Sergio Leone Western.
Naturally he pays not attention to history, and if you are looking for an accurate portrayal of the war then this is one that you should definitely miss, as he carefully assembles the various strands of a complicated plot that he amazingly brings to a conclusion.
There are so many wild characters and outrageous sub-plots it 's amazing that he manages to pull everything together. But the chaos of the movies makes it a breath of fresh air.
The cast are also outstanding Christoph Waltz is nothing short of brilliant as German officer Hans Landa aka "The Jew Hunter" who is restrained and raving mad all at the same time that you can't help but like him.
But it's Pitt's Aldo Raine who really steals that show and it's such a shame that he doesn't get as much screen time as the character deserves, and that goes for the whole Basterds part of the story.
Inglourious Basterds is Tarantino through and through as he mixes humour with his trademark spraying of violence and gore. Mix in with that witty dialogue and you have one of the best war movies in recent years.
However it is a tad long at two and a half hours, shaving off twenty minutes would have just done the trick.
But Inglourious Basterds is a movie that has lived up to the hype and doesn't disappoint it is, without a doubt, Tarantino's best effort since Pulp Fiction.
Inglourious Basterds is out now.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Quentin Tarantino