Is there a more courageous or imaginative filmmaker in the business right now than Quentin Tarantino? I think it says something when the least original piece of work in a director’s oeuvre is “Reservoir Dogs”, which itself is a great film. Whenever Tarantino releases a movie, he does things with the medium that almost no one else would think of, even the best of directors.
When I saw “Inglourious Basterds” when it was released in late August 2009, I wasn’t even sure I liked what I just saw. All I knew is that it was certifiably insane. I feel like seeing “Pulp Fiction” back when it was initially released would have yielded similar feelings. There’s just no one else on Earth who would bring these stories to the screen. I then saw “Basterds” a second time, with full knowledge of what I was getting myself into. I was then able to appreciate the care he put in to the film, and be baffled at what this film does.
Like “Pulp Fiction”, describing the true plot of this film in full detail is nearly impossible, but here goes. After Shoshanna Dreyfus’s family is massacred by Col. Hans Landa of the S.S., she runs off and inherits a movie theatre in Paris, where no one knows she is a Jew. During this time a small American group of soldiers nicknamed the “Basterds” are formed and sent to Germany, with one goal: Kill as many Nazis as possible. They do this quite effectively for a couple years until they become involved in Operation Kino. What is Operation Kino? Well, that’s where Shoshanna comes back in. German war hero Frederick Zoller has taken a liking to the local theatre owner, and it just so happens he is the star of a new German propaganda film (Stolz der Nation) which chronicles his extraordinary feats as a Private in Italy. He proposes the premiere be held at Shoshanna’s theatre, and the German high command obliges.
The Allies form Operation Kino, the plan being to blow up the theatre, inside of which will be nearly every German officer, including the big guy Adolf Hitler, or as his friends call him, “Wacky Uncle Adolf.” Shoshanna plans her own Operation Kino, as she wishes to burn the place down. Thus, the entire film comes down to what exactly happens inside this movie theater the night of the premiere. And no, it’s not what you expect. Or what you were taught in grade school.
There is not a single weak performance here. The best of course being the Oscar-winning work of Christoph Waltz as Col. Hans Landa. The opening sequence alone earns him all the recognition he got, from Cannes to the Academy Awards a week ago. He is not a one-dimensional evil character but a three dimensional one. Every last thing he does has a reason, and he’s always one step ahead of everyone else, even his own country.
However, another performance here needs to be mentioned. Melanie Laurent is absolutely terrific as Shoshanna Dreyfus. Also to be noted is the work of Daniel Brühl as Frederick Zoller. (Yes, we’re big umlaut fans here at the Super Duper Über Movie Fan Club.) Brühl is a big star in Europe already for his work in such films as “Goodbye, Lenin!” and “Joyeux Noël”. All he wants to do is impress Shoshanna, a woman who has no interest in Nazis for obvious reasons. (If a group of people killed your whole family, perhaps you’d have similar feelings.) He is not the violent person Shoshanna wants to believe he is, and personally I don’t believe his American-sniping story is entirely true.
The biggest pat on the back goes to Tarantino, who at no point in this film took the easy way out. For German parts, he wanted German actors. For French parts… well you can figure it out from there. From beginning to end characters speak their native language, except for Landa, who speaks so many languages he probably can speak Na’vi. He holds nothing back, because the idea is we probably are not supposed to idolize the Basterds. Unlike films such as “The Boondock Saints”, where we are asked to bow before people who kill without remorse, the Basterds are brutal, and Tarantino knows it. We are supposed to question what they’re doing. Not unlike Hitler himself, they are hunting down and killing people based solely on their race. We’re not supposed to like what we see. Should we feel sympathy for the Nazis that are murdered, scalped, and have their heads used as tee-balls? Probably not. But we certainly are not supposed to look at the Basterds as heroes. Because quite frankly, they’re not.
Is this Tarantino’s best film? It may be possible, though we do have to compare to “Pulp Fiction”, which changed the game in so many ways. It certainly is his most ambitious, and his most fearless. Name the last World War 2 movie with a soundtrack that included Ennio Morricone, Billy Preston, Rare Earth, and David Bowie? OK, besides “Schindler’s List”.
This is the boldest movie of 2009, if not the decade, and that is why it is my favorite film of 2009.
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