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Genre: War/Action
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger,
Melanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz, Daniel Bruhl, Samm Levine,
B.J. Novak, Til Schweiger, Gedeon Burkhard, Paul Rust, Michael
Bacall, Omar Doom, Sylvester Groth, Julie Dreyfus, Mike Myers
RunTime: 2 hrs 32 mins
Released By: UIP
Rating: M18 (Violence)
Official Website: www.inglouriousbasterds-movie.com
Opening Day: 17 September 2009
Synopsis:
"Inglourious
Basterds" begins in German-occupied France, where Shosanna
Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) witnesses the execution of
her family at the hand of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph
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 (Brad 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 (Diane 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...
Movie Review:
Dear Quentin,
Pardon
my lack of etiquette, but I’m sure you are not one who
bothers too much about formality. In what most people deem
as correct English, the title of your latest movie should
have been correctly spelt as “Inglorious Bastards”,
but you went ahead to include an extra “u” in
the first word, and replaced the “a” with an “e”
in the second word. And it takes a genius like you to pull
an answer like “That’s the Tarantino way of spelling
it” when asked about the title spelling.
You
are the coolest, man.
I
must admit that when I first saw the trailer for your latest
film, I wasn’t too excited about it. How can a World
War II movie about assassinating Adolf Hitler be any thrilling
to watch? Furthermore, I just couldn’t picture your
signature style of stylized violence (how can anyone say they
weren’t impressed by the visual ecstasy you gave audiences
in Kill Bill?) in such a, yawn, historic setting. But gosh,
I was terribly wrong, and I must apologize for actually having
doubts in your filmmaking skills.
To
provide a synopsis for the story you are telling will not
do any justice to your nifty writing. To put it simply, your
latest tale of revenge takes place during World War II, where
a group of Jewish American soldiers affectionately known as
"The Basterds" are going around scalping and brutally
killing Nazis. The Basterds are soon involved in a deadly
mission where double agents will cross paths with each other.
And boy, will there be blood.
Let
it be known to mere mortals that this 152 minute movie has
your name spelt all over it. Clever writing? Check. Bloody
violence? Check. Tongue in cheek setups? Check. Those who
are familiar with your previous works like Pulp Fiction (1994)
and Death Proof (2007) will enjoy every minute of this entertaining
film. And I am not even saying that it is mindless entertainment,
because cinephiles would have so much fun picking up little
details you have peppered throughout the two and a half hour
picture. The yellow coloured subtitles (there is really quite
a lot of French and German dialogues here), the sudden insertions
of visual aids (that really helps a clueless Science and History
dud like me) and the clever use of music (no original score
here, only spot on classic tracks from legendary composer
Ennio Morricone) are all witty devices you have employed to
keep audiences engaged in having their eyes glued to the screen
from beginning to end.
And
let’s not even talk about the cast you have gathered.
Brad Pitt puts his pretty face to use as the lieutenant leading
The Basterds. Christoph Waltz is a joy to watch every time
he appears in a scene, and that brilliant performance as a
German officer gave him a Best Actor award at the 62nd Cannes
Film Festival this year. And then there’s the luminous
Diane Kruger as a popular film star in Germany and a spy for
the Great Britain. Other familiar faces you’ve included
in your latest masterpiece include Eli Roth, Til Schweiger,
Daniel Bruhl, Mike Myers (gasp!) and in what I call a stroke
of genius, the voices of your Pulp Fiction alumni Harvey Keitel
and Samuel L. Jackson. Oh, and why did you remove Maggie Cheung's
scenes from the final cut of your film?
Everyone
looks like they had a hell of a time being part of this film,
and I guess you did too. In one memorable sequence where a
British lieutenant (who was formerly a film critic) played
by Michael Fassbender talks about his knowledge on German
cinema, I can almost feel your glee as a film lover.
I’ve
said it and I’ll say it again: You are the coolest,
man.
Sincerely,
A True Fan
Movie Rating:
 
(Quentin Tarantino shows the world why he is one of
the coolest filmmakers of our generation)
Review by John Li
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