MESSAGE IN THE MOVIES

Inglourious Basterds Rated R

Directed by Quentin Tarentino.  Starring Brad Pitt,Melanie Laurent.



Photo © The Weinstein Company
Movie Review by Rev. Bruce Batchelor Glader

It was about time for a new WWII epic about a ragtag team of heroes who manage to thwart the Nazis.  (If you’ve never seen 1967’s The Dirty Dozen, it’s worth a rental.)  And the trailers for Inglourious Basterds seem to promise such a film. 

Well, get ready to be disappointed.  Director-writer Tarentino is more interested in impressing us with his vast knowledge of all things cinematic (one day we’ll see an annotated list of the dozens of movies he references in this film) and his cool, ironic cleverness.  Quentin Tarentino is a talented filmmaker, but I just don’t “get” this latest mix-up of movie genres. 

Told in 5 chapters, Inglourious Basterds combines stories about: 1. A squad of Jewish guerrilla fighters led by a “good ol’ boy” commander named Aldo “The Apache” Raines (Pitt) who scalp the Germans that they kill; 2. A film critic turned undercover spy for the French Resistance; 3. A female film star who is also a spy; and 4. A Jewish woman (Laurent) who plots revenge against the Nazis who slaughtered her family while also managing a movie theater in Paris.  There is also an SS captain named Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) who manages to show up in just about every other scene (and is the real star of the film!). 

After a pretty impressive opening chapter, the movie chugs along at a snail’s pace for the next hour and fifteen minutes, finally kicking back into gear for its last chapter.  But you need to know that this fantastic historical revision gives us a weak Hitler, disorganized Nazis, and nothing more than brutal revenge at the end. 

If it were just a cheap quickie exploitation film, Inglourious Basterds could be forgotten.  But it is full of its own self-importance, combining impressive cinematography and great acting (by all of the principal players) in service to a script that parodies the holocaust for some laughs. 

At 2½ hours (with most of the film in subtitles), it ends up leaving a nasty aftertaste.  Warning to all high school sophomores: Do not use this movie as research for your report on the French Resistance. 

Pitchfork Rating:
One halo. (Some clever moments and cinematic flourishes, along with a couple of great performances in the midst of a silly and often offensive reimagining of history.)
Four picthforks. (Graphic and offensive violence, pervasive swearing, brief flashes of sexual activity, and tasteless irony.]

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