A study in the dramatic build up of
tension, and the extreme contrast between explosively violent and
disturbingly uneventful conclusions. 'Inglourious Basterds' is a
ridiculous action movie set during WW2, while simultaneously retaining
many aspects of a classic western. We've seen Tarantino do this sort of
thing before, with 'Kill Bill', in which he blended elements of samurai
revenge with matrix-like American action and gore left over from 'Saw'.
"Oooooooh, that's a BINGO!"
Most of said world class tension comes straight out of the acting talent of Hans Landa, as played by Christoph Waltz. He is all at once an extremely enjoyable character to watch, and a horribly monstrous one. He takes such pleasure in his work (embracing the nickname "Jew Hunter" that he is given) and in teasing his victims. One of the many excellently tense scenes in this film was when he was questioning Shosanna (played wonderfully by Mélanie Laurent) in the restaurant, and he orders her a glass of milk (in the opening scene her and her family were hiding under the floorboards of a dairy farm). The tension builds perfectly, before ending in nothing as he puts his cigarette out in a tasty looking strudel.
There are several examples of this same brilliant tension. One of my favourite characters was the British film reviewer-come-soldier-come-spy (played by Michael Fassbender, who also did a sterling job as a young Magneto in those 'X-Men' prequels). The sickeningly tension filled scene with featuring him in a basement pub is another excellent example, and it was a shame that his character didn't last any longer. His intro scene was lots of fun, at least. It's quite possibly because I was born here, but there is something about the British war effort that feels somewhat more wholesome than it's American counterpart. It might be that they didn't end up committing genocide in order to win, it might be that they didn't wait until they were directly attacked before choosing a side, or it might be their stiff mannerisms and borderline alcoholism. Whatever it is, it's a feeling I associate with 'Dad's Army' and Granddad Cornwall.
The other stars of the show were the Bastards themselves. A group of American Jews headed by the slow talking swastika carving matter of fact LT. Aldo Raine. These psychos travel around German occupied Europe and brutally kill enemy soldiers and then collect their scalps. The group become minor legends in the German ranks, and they provide quite a few genuine laughs. There is one scene that manages to be both hilarious and tense, as Hans questions some of the Bastards, who are pretending to be Italian film makers. They can speak less Italian that I can (and everything I've learnt has been from 'Assassin's Creed') and Hans forces them to repeat themselves as they struggle through in clumpy American accents.
I enjoy the matter of fact way that LT. Raine talks, and his voice and accent could easily have been hammed, but they work very well. I liked the cuts to Utivich as he is scalping a guy. He answers the questions with simple confirmations, acting as though he's merely sawing a log in half or something similarly menial.
I felt a twinge of sympathy as the German officer was being beaten to a pulp by the "Bear Jew". He was proper WW1 style old school, remaining polite even as his men's bodies were being scalped all around him and refusing to answer questions that would result in "the loss of German lives". It was depressing that after he was killed one of his men gave up their positions immediately. When asked if he got his iron cross for killing Jews he answered that it was for bravery. D'aww.
I took a somewhat sick pleasure watching a man and woman burn down a theater filled with Nazis while two of the Bastards literally machine gun Hitler's face into little bits. What made it even better was that it was a black man and a Jewish woman. I found it surprising at the time that it broke from history and they all actually died, as until then I had imagined that the movie could have been based on real events.
Another interesting character was Frederick Zoller, who on the surface seems sweet and adorably awkward. However, as you start to see the pleasure he obviously took in killing all those soldiers, and the way he forces himself on Shosanna, we see the monster that he is. More a product of his environment than Hans, who is thriving in his conditions because of how he is already, but still competitively abhorrent to my eyes.
The scene where he gets shot, and she begins feeling sympathetic, only for him to shoot her back, is amazing. The music builds to a crescendo as the red of her blood melds with the red of her dress. she is beautiful even as she dies, while his white suit is ruined by his blood, as is his reputation. The cutaways from music to new scenes are perfectly timed and brilliantly jarring, the contrasts between scenes often had me rubbing my hands together in glee. The use of sound is an important factor in 'Inglourious Basterds', often suddenly blasting before suddenly cutting out as the scene changes. This lends the film a slightly goofy, comic book quality.
Finally, the image of Shosanna laughing, ghostly in the smoke, as the Nazis are squashed up and burning to death was haunting. As was the demented look on Donowitz's face as he empties his machine gun into Hitlers head. Also, I honestly found it surprising that both plots to screw up the Nazi party worked. That's rare for me, and that's point for the movie for sure.
This is one of those films that is such a joy to watch and write about, and one of the reasons why i started this blog.
Inglourious Basterds: 89.3