Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Going to see a Quentin Tarantino film is always an adventure, as the viewer never knows exactly what he or she is going to get in terms of quality. Will it be a modern masterpiece like Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs, a self-indulgent stinker like Death Proof, or a somewhere-in-the-middle letdown such as Jackie Brown? Whatever the case, you have to give the man credit: whether Tarantino succeeds or fails, Hollywood’s most enthusiastic film geek is always swinging for the fences. With Inglourious Basterds, the ball falls just shy of the bleachers, but the home team still manages to pick up a win.

The film is divided into chapters, with the first two introducing our hero, heroine and villain. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) is a Nazi officer with a unique talent for sniffing out Jews. This has earned him the nickname “The Jew Hunter,” and he demonstrates his talents while speaking with a French farmer over a glass of milk. The aftermath leaves the farmer’s floorboards riddled with bullets, as well as the Jewish family hiding beneath them. The only survivor, Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent), runs for her life, and Landa calls out that they’ll meet again one day. They do, but more on that later.

Meanwhile, 1st Lt. Aldo “The Apache” Raine (Brad Pitt) is assembling a crack squad comprised of eight Jewish-American soldiers. Their mission is to drop into Nazi-occupied France disguised as civilians and terrorize the enemy with a guerilla campaign consisting of such terror tactics as scalping their victims and carving swastikas onto the foreheads of any survivors. The most feared member of “The Bastards” is Staff Sergeant Donny Donowitz (Eli Roth), a muscular Bostonian known for beating Nazis to death with a baseball bat. The enemy knows him as “The Bear Jew,“ and rumors circulate that he might even be a vengeful golem created by a rabbi.

Raine and his men also rescue and recruit a German soldier named Hugo Stieglitz (Til Schweiger) into their ranks. Stieglitz is infamous among his own people for murdering 13 members of the Nazi party, and this single-minded devotion draws the admiration of his American counterparts.

While The Bastards do what they do best, we pick up with Shosanna several years later. Living in Paris where she runs a movie theatre, Shosanna has a chance meeting with Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Bruhl), a young German soldier being propped up as a war hero by Joseph Goebbels (Sylvester Groth). He’s instantly smitten with the woman, and he convinces Goebbels to move the premiere of Nation’s Pride–a film about Zoller’s exploits–to her theatre.

When she learns that many of the German high command will be in attendance, Shosanna begins to plot her revenge against the Nazis. At around the same time, The Bastards receive news of the premiere from double agent Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger), a well-known German actress. While our two sets of heroes prepare to cripple the Nazi command structure, things become much more difficult when it’s revealed that the always-observant Hans Lands will be handling security for the event.

Those expecting an action movie will be disappointed. Remember, this is an alternate universe version of World War II seen through the lens of Quentin Tarantino. There isn’t one battlefield sequence, and when violence does occur, it’s quick, brutal and usually in very close quarters. Instead, the emphasis is on the dialogue, something which the director has excelled at in the past. With Inglorious Basterds, he achieves mixed success. A number of the scenes drag on for too long, demonstrating that Tarantino is obviously talented but sorely lacking someone to rein him in.

The best moments in the film come when Brad Pitt or Christoph Waltz are present. Pitt plays Aldo the Apache with plenty of gusto, much of which borders on the delightfully cartoonish. With a rope scar on his neck (which is never explained) and a clenched-jaw enthusiasm for his job, Raine is a character we’d like to know more about but never get the chance. Despite his top billing, Pitt never seemed present enough for my liking.

As for Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa, he simply steals the show. His opening minutes spent talking with a French farmer are the best in the film, and it sets a standard that later scenes fail to match. In the hands of Waltz, Landa is cheerful, intelligent and highly observant. But just below his pleasant surface lurks a man of ruthless efficiency. Just watch the way in which he fills a fountain pen or eats his strudel: this is a man whose entire world revolves around attention to detail and exacting precision.

Unfortunately, there are other performances which aren’t as memorable. Eli Roth immediately springs to mind, as he demonstrates that he’s a much better director than actor. As Donnie Donowitz, Roth simply lacks the charisma needed to pull off the role of the feared “Bear Jew.” He certainly buffed up for the role, but he should’ve included some acting lessons along with his trips to the gym.

And while I like Mike Myers, he’s nothing more than a distraction as General Ed Fenech. When he smiles and affects a British accent, it’s impossible not to think of Austin Powers (no matter how bad they make his skin look). In fact, I would’ve preferred to see the entire scene with Fenech, Lt. Archie Hicox (Michael Fassbender) and Winston Churchill (Rod Taylor) scrapped. While it does clue us in to the Bastard’s final mission, it also falls into a tiresome discussion of cinema which once again demonstrates why Tarantino’s unchecked ego and geekdom can often hinder more than help.

There’s the expected amount of Tarantino gallows humor, and Pitt provides some of the funniest moments to be had. Perhaps the finest example is when Raine tries to infiltrate the movie premiere in the guise of an Italian stuntman. He does this because he’s supposed to speak the best Italian of The Bastards. What he failed to mention, however, is that his Italian is so thickly marked with a Tennessee twang that only a deaf man would fail to notice.

As for the rest of the film, it certainly lives up to Tarantino’s claim that it would be a “spaghetti western but with World War II iconography.” Ennio Morricone music is used extensively, and the opening couple of minutes are highly reminiscent of a Sergio Leone film. The rest of the soundtrack, by the way, is comprised entirely of music from other films (including The Alamo, White Lightning, and Kelly‘s Heroes), which is appropriate considering the director’s tendency to borrow heavily from older works. If you’ve ever wanted to hear David Bowie sing in a WWII movie, then you’re in for a treat.

While Inglourious Basterds fails to live up to the standards set by Pulp Fiction, it remains a welcome break from a summer movie season dominated by lackluster comedies and downright shameful sequels. Tarantino shows his creative spark from time to time, but he can’t manage to sustain the momentum created by the film’s two outstanding opening scenes. It’s a slightly disappointing experience, but Inglourious Basterds still manages to surpass the average war movie based on the performances from the two male leads and a flame-filled finale that’s pure wish fulfillment.

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