Walking into a Quentin Tarantino movie, one can expect nothing but the most decadent film making. The dialogue will be rich, plentiful, and so engrossing that anticipation for every line is difficult to suppress. The violence will be graphic and excessive, with each weapon extracting it's fair share of blood. The camera work will be innovative and intriguing. But perhaps most of all, viewers can expect a story from Tarantino that is so wholly enthralling that it will go down as legendary.
"Inglorious Basterds" meets all expectations, and is quintessential Tarantino through and through.
Simply put, "Inglorious Basterds" is about a group of young Jewish-Americans who seek vengeance against the Nazi's by brutally murdering every one that crosses their paths. But "Inglorious Basterds" is about much more than that. While a work of fiction, it explores the very real feelings of anger, terror, and superiority that were all too common in World War II France.
Brad Pitt leads the cast as Lt. Aldo Raine, a southerner who's accent is every bit a trademark as his unwavering hatred for Nazi's, or "Natzi's" as he would say. Pitt is a fine leading man, but he's neither the center of focus or praise. Christoph Waltz, who plays "The Jew Hunter Col. Hans Landa, is bone-chillingly villainous, stirring fear within the characters and the audience. His appearence in the opening scene shows how capable he is to handle Tarantino's monologues and rhetoric.
And the two are just as fine as the Director's previous works. Even in his trademark multi-minute scenes, Tarantino builds the excitement slowly to a fever pitch. Conversation wanders from relevant to irrelevant before actually realizing it's true purpose, and by that point, the audience is listening so intently that words become as explosive as bombs. It's truly a testament to Tarantino's penmanship that the scenes with no artillery are just as action-packed as those that see fire and guns blazing.
It's everything a Tarantino movie should be, and it's a piece of cinema that demands you to pay close attention, to appreciate every nuanced shot and speech. But you won't mind obliging, it's what you expected to do all along.
