Inglourious Basterds (2009)

I’m at a loss to describe the spectacle I have just beheld. Perhaps Quentin Tarantino’s most honest film to date, Inglorious Basterds feels unusual, yet familiar. Truly, I don’t know how to react—it’s like a smash up of Spaghetti Westerns and Band of Brothers.

My biggest issue with Tarantino is his inability to check his ego and create something original—it’s always an homage to something. Inglorious Basterds is that—an homage—but somewhere along the way, this story of Jewish-American soldiers who brutally attack (and scalp) Nazis transcends the brutality to become, well, interesting.

This film is balanced. That’s what I like. The QT flourishes are there, but underscored. The viewer isn’t smacked in the face with references, the gore and violence refrained, and dialogue subtle. Combined with inspired casting, Inglorious Basterds is audacious, egregiously inaccurate, and wonderfully entertaining.

As Lt. Basterd Aldo Raines Brad Pitt is simply inspired—brilliant with is Appalachian twang and Eastwood swagger. Oscar winner Christoph Waltz as SS Col. Hans Landa is equally fascinating. Waltz commands every scene with smarmy theatrical energy and obnoxious self confidence.

Typical of Tarantino there are WTF moments including David Bowie’s Gasoline and Heinz Steiglitz’s introduction but these patches of random don’t quite reach the silliness of his previous fare. I loved the nod to French cinema and the use of foreign languages becomes an event onto itself. The opening sequence is by far my favorite and is quite misleading of what is to come.

As I see it, Inglorious Basterds stands alongside Reservoir Dogs as my favorite QT films. Strong dialogue and brilliant casting make it work. The success herein is thanks to Tarantino’s strong dialogue and brilliant casting. One doesn’t know whether to laugh, cheer, or run for the exits. But you will be entertained.