Welcome to Scene Selection, your weekly look at films in theaters and maybe out of theaters. I try to find a film worth seeing each week, and let you know all about it. There is so much to say about any film, but I attempt to avoid spoilers as much as possible; so enjoy.
"Inglourious Basterds" is not a movie. Well, I guess I'm wrong there since it is shown in theaters nationwide and has a long running time, so you can call it a movie. It is not conventional, or even ingenious enough to stand on its own. That's not to say it isn't good or even great at times. What I mean to say is that "Inglourious Basterds" is a Quentin Tarantino movie that in essence is a series of shorts.
The film stars Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine, Christopher Waltz as the evil Col. Hans Landa known as "The Jew Hunter," and Mélanie Laurent as Shosanna. They are the stars and share almost equal screen time. Lt. Raine is the head of a special force of American troops, the Basterds, in World War II. They are in charge of reeking havoc in Nazi-occupied France. Shosanna is an escaped Jew who runs a Parisian theater, which will be holding a Nazi film premiere. Col. Landa tracks down and kills Jews, including Shosanna's family, and he is in charge of theater security. The film follows the three characters and spins a web of a plot around the eventful film premiere, which the Basterds and Shosanna want to massacre. Along the way, mischief and mayhem ensue, in regular Tarantino style.
The acting is brilliant. Waltz won best actor at the Cannes Film Festival and he greatly deserved it; more on that to come. Pitt's character is hilarious, with one of the best southern drawls I might have ever heard on screen. He isn't the smartest of characters, but he has his technique down in that he is a formidable force, even in overwhelming situations. Shosanna is equally as capable, and Laurent fills the femme fatale role with true beauty. She seems to be the main character in the film, even though the title is "Inglourious Basterds," but who really knows what the title refers to? It obviously could be the 'Basterds' or it could be everyone who uses devious means to destroy their opponents.
Back to Col. Landa. He may be the most villainous character I have ever seen. He can easily be related to the Joker from last summer due to one fact: he became likeable. He has a jovial persona, cracks jokes and tries to humor his visitors. The vileness is each situation he's in. The opening scene is him visiting a dairy farm to kill hiding Jews. He knows they're there, and the farmer knows that he knows. The whole scene builds suspense, shows how evil he can be and how far he will go to strike fear into a man. Tarantino uses this suspense throughout the film in three other instances.
Overall "Basterds" seems like a collection of cool scenes and sequences with hilarious gags, but it's without a clear and coherent plot that flows well. Tarantino may have lost a little of his touch by rushing this film into production. It's pacing is less than ideal, with some shots that linger far too long and dialogue that needs to be cut down to move it along. Although Tarantino isn't creating his own world for once, he uses WWII as a launching pad for himself. He rewrites history and has no inhibitions with sticking to reality at all. SPOILER ALERT, skip to next paragraph to avoid. The real shock is the reverse holocaust that is the finale. Instead of being better characters than Hitler, the Basterds and Shosanna resort to Nazi tactics to create the giant furnace. It is truly a question of morals, and should be chewed upon for some time after leaving the cinema, due to the moral right or wrong debate. END OF SPOILERS.
"Inglourious Basterds" is definitely worth checking out. It is one of the top films of summer, but it is heavily weighed down by what it doesn't execute well.
Drop me a line with questions, recommendations or rants. Until next time, get busy livin', or get busy dyin'.
Grade: Borderline B/B-
Write to Alex at ajkartman@bsu.edu
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