Inglourious Basterds (R)
Two reviewers take on Tarantino’s new flick.
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Writer-director Quentin Tarantino isn’t pretending to be serious, or capturing reality. But he doesn’t make enough of a statement about the legacy or circumstances of WW II to defend turning it into one of his traditional revenge fantasies. Starring Brad Pitt as the leader of a gang of Americans out to kill Nazis, the film actually spends very little of its two-and-a-half hours with the soldiers. More time is devoted to entertaining but inert dialogue and one-note characters, with Tarantino grazing instead of, as he normally does, zeroing in. You could argue “Basterds” makes an attempt to present Nazis as both people and monsters, and Americans as heroes who sometimes become nearly as notorious as their enemies. But the attempt is not just a failure but smugly devoid of feeling, which is inappropriate with this subject matter. Tarantino lands on a tone that’s dangerously close to triumphant; if that’s a hilariously ironic joke or a commentary on history rather than just on cinema, obviously I don’t get it. MATT PAIS, METROMIX
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Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” may be the most inventive, outrageous film of the year, a Hebrew revenge fantasy in which Jewish commandos bring WW II to an abrupt end by targeting the German high command. That isn’t the way the history books tell it, but after seeing this overripe wonder you may prefer Tarantino’s take. Though it features among its players Brad Pitt and several excellent European actors, “Inglourious” hasn’t any real stars. Or rather, the only star that matters is the man behind the camera. From the very first frame with its crashing spaghetti Western music and opening words — “Once upon a time in Nazi-occupied France” — this movie is about a filmmaker strutting his stuff. … In the hands of almost any other filmmaker we’d grow weary of all [the] talk, talk, talk. But Tarantino fashions each encounter like a one-act play filled with subtle shifts in emphasis and packed with ever-changing dynamics. Even when the topic is benign, something sinister always lurks just below the surface. ROBERT W. BUTLER, THE KANSAS CITY STAR
