Movie Review #2: The Inglorious Basterds

We now have another movie review, this one by Anurag Roy of this tarantino film.

Copious amounts of guts, but no “gloury”

Film: Inglourious Basterds(2009)

Starring: Brad Pitt, Christopher Waltz, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth.

Written &Directed by Quentin Tarantino.

Few directors are rated so highly by both critics and the public that there is a definite air of nonchalance whenever they are considered to be among “The Greatest Ever” in myriad coffee-table discussions. Fewer still can claim to have created a whole new genre of their own. Quentin Tarantino falls into both of the aforementioned categories. Hence it doesn’t take much to realise that each Tarantino release is considered to be something akin to an event in the world of film making.
With Inglourious Basterds(deliberately, but inexplicably misspelt) Tarantino delves into life in the times of World War 2, in Nazi occupied France. Two concurrent plots to destroy the top levels of the Third Reich have been depicted: the first, a group of Allied-Americans called the Basterds, and the second is a vengeful female Jewish cinema owner. The Basterds, led by Aldo Raine(Pitt), are a group of savage Jewish soldiers who simply intend to terrify the Germans by scalping 100 Nazis each.
The premise may or may not appeal to you, but what one cannot overlook is the fact that this is by no means an accurate retelling of WW2. Tarantino mixes a great deal of exaggerated ultraviolence with quirky characterisation and dialogue to create a fervently hateful anti-Nazi fantasy. But despite the director employing the narrative elements that have worked wonders for him till now, this movie does get a tad repetitive as the story progresses. Two characters stand out very noticeably from the rest- Col. Hans Landa, a Nazi who is as skilled in playing with words as in hunting down Jews-in-hiding, is portrayed brilliantly by Christopher Waltz, and Shosanna Dreyfus, the Jewish cinema owner, played with remarkable ruthlessness by Melanie Laurent. However the rest of the cast and the story fail to engage the viewer beyond a point.
To put it plainly, this film simply doesn’t work. It isn’t the hype that kills it. It’s the fact that it becomes far too excessive and conceited in its attempts to put its point across that make it a mediocre film. I don’t recommend anyone to go out of his/her way to watch this.
                                                         RATING: 2.5/5
  By Anurag Roy