Saturday 21 April 2012

Inglorious Basterds (2009)

For those of you who haven't seen it a quick summary: the film follows the progress of two fictitious plots to kill off a large number of Nazi command figures, one by a Jewish woman who evaded capture and took a new identity and one by a group of US soldiers (the titular "Basterds") who are waging a guerilla war on the Nazi army.

The film goes along at quite a slow pace, with certain scenes being very long and drawn out. This is not a bad thing though, the richness and attention to detail, from the characters' mannerism to individual close up shots of something inconsequential like a bowl of cream, gives a real feel of quality and dedication to the production. Every feels like it was done completely on purpose, and done exactly as envisaged. I think it's these production values that have turned me around to Tarantino, his films all feel very rich and authentic.

There are two particularly stellar performances on show in the film: Brad Pitt's Lt Aldo Raine and Christoph Waltz's Col Hans Landa. Raine is your typical, over-the-top man on a mission and he just seems to secrete charisma and a sense of power. The scene in the theatre's lobby where he is masquerading as Italian but doesn't even try to cover up his Tennessee accent sums him up perfectly. Waltz as Landa is a different but equally impressive performance. Landa is oddly hilarious and suave while simultaneously chillingly sinister. The opening scenes in the farm house where you just know he knows what the farmer is hiding is one of the best opening's I've seen in a while.

It's also pretty refreshing to see the heavy use of subtitles and languages other than English being spoken for once in a mainstream movie.

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