‘Inglourious Basterds’ Movie Was Raw,Funny,and Interesting
Universal and Weinstein released its Inglourious Basterds movie this weekend ,and aside from all the subtitles and dialogue,it had some real funny moments. Brad Pitt did a great as Lt. Aldo Raine.
In a brief synopsis, The story revolves around Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) and Lt. Aldo Raine and his group of Jewish soldiers named the ” The Basterds”.They both had the same goal in mind,though they never knew each other. That goal was “Killin Nazis.”
Shosanna Dreyfus was a Jew who got to watch her entire family get killed by Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) and the Nazis while hiding under a French farmer’s floorboard.
She, however managed to get away.Meanwhile Lt. Aldo Raine gathered a group of Jewish soldiers together which went by the name,”The Basterds.” Their mission was “Killin Nazis”,and to kill Hitler and everyone else responsible for the terrorism of the Jewish people.
The movie eventually catches back up to Shosanna who is now fronting as a French woman in Paris who owns a cinema. She eventually catches the eye of a German soldier who gets all the Nazis including Hitler to come to her cinema for a movie premiere.She uses this opportunity to avenge her family’s death.
Lt. Aldo Raine after killing hundreds of Nazis,and getting involved in a failed setup which got three of his men killed, has the same motive as Shosanna. This motive eventually leads him to her cinema with the help of a famous female actress named Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) who gave him the tip off that all the Nazis would be there.
So, although Shosanna and Lt. Aldo Raine didn’t know one another, they both indirecty teamed up to accomplish the same goal, “Killin Nazis.”
I thought the movie told a good story. However,it did have a lot of dialogue and subtitles for my taste. Other than that,the movie was pretty entertaining,and Brad Pitt’s part in the movie was hilarious, as he played the Lt. Aldo Raine from Tennessee with a heavy accent. He did it very well,too.
Christoph Waltz also did a great job playing the Nazi detective,Lt. Hans Landa. I thought the story was unique,and I liked the ending. It ended on a hilarious note.
Grade : B
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The film was promoted with the phrase “Once upon a time…” both a tribute to one of Tarantino’s heroes, Sergio Leone, and a tip off that the film presented would be a FANTASY. Tarantino has been stuck in strictly revenge fantasy mode since Kill Bill, as the two Bill films, Death Proof, and now Basterds are all nothing but revenge fantasies. He clearly let us know he was not making a film that presented us with accurate history. The Nazis in the film serve two purposes, comic relief and symbol of evil and the violent destruction of them fulfills the fantasy. Hitler being violently executed by a crazed Jew in a movie theater was meant to be viewed as comedy…not alternate history.
It is well known that Tarantino does not make films that are polite or in “good taste” he makes films that satisfy his childhood film fantasies. I can’t imagine a person walking into a Tarantino film thinking they are going to get a history lesson or learn something. This has never been the point of a Tarantino film, he makes films to pay tribute to the pop culture and filmmakers he loves so much. He is not a complex filmmaker, he is a kid in a candy store and like that kid all he wants to do is overindulge himself. The “fun” in seeing one of his films is watching him do so with such glee.
This film is a big goofy mess, not meant to be taken seriously, the thing is you can either laugh along with Tarantino or walk away. I won’t argue that there is plenty in this film, including the ending, which could obviously be seen as “offensive to Jews” and some of my Jewish friends have already told me they think the film is a travesty…but I think the thing is you have to try to take into consideration is Tarantino’s intention, which was to make a film that would make the kid in him yell “That’s so cool!”
Is that sort of dumb considering Tarantino is an adult? Sure it is, but I guess watching the film is like watching kids open presents, they are thrilled and excited to be tearing off all that pretty colored paper…not very deep but it is true.