Inglorious Basterds

The hype on this movie, and that of most Quentin Tarantino movies, is enough to sour me on a whole film. Add to that the three ring circus that follows Brad Pitt to any movie he makes, and I was thoroughly uninterested in anything Inglorious about these Basterds. But I love going to the movies so much, that if that's all someone wanted to see; I'll go simply for the overpriced popcorn and soda. As heavy as the subject matter is, and as depressing as the true story behind the movie is, Tarantino created a fantasy beyond what anyone could have hoped had truly happened over 60 years ago to Hitler.




I'm not sure how Brad Pitt got top billing, aside from the fact that he's Brad Pitt; he wasn't the "star" of the film. Brad was good, and I liked his character's Apache Aldo side, but he was a little too awkward in a tuxedo. I understood the point. He's a man who is more comfortable in a jungle scalping Nazis than at a fancy movie premier, but his composure was so bizarre that that it made me uncomfortable. I will overlook it because Brad was much better than I expected! Nicely done.

Christoph Waltz as Colonel Hans Landa was the shining star of the movie. He was phenomenal. He plays the part of the "Jew Hunter" and mass murderer without the smarmy attitude, cocky demeanor, and snake oil salesman looks that normally accompany such a character. It'll pain you to acknowledge, but Col. Landa IS great at what he does in his role as Jew Hunter. He's a brilliant officer who can "smoke out Jews" in places that other people have searched again and again and found nothing. He seems to never break a sweat. If he's cocky, it's because it's deserved. Hitler has greasy hair, a whiny little voice, and that stupid mustache that makes you laugh at him rather than fear him. But Hans Landa is an intelligent, calm, and well spoken (in 3.5 languages no less) man. You want to like him because he's a kindly man who simply wants to be the best at his job. He even makes an interesting point in the beginning (albeit rudely comparing Jews to rats) by asking a man if he hates rats, and if a rat came into his home would he immediately feel animosity toward the rat, or offer it a bowl of milk. Most people would shoo the rat out, or worse, set a trap to kill it, despite the fact that rats haven't done anything to harm humankind for over 100 years. I don't like being compared to a rat anymore than the next guy; and I'm a firm believer that humans are humans, no religion is the "rat" of the race, but for the first time someone explains racism to me in a way that I can understand, while still not condoning or agreeing with. I hate rats. I wouldn't allow a rat in my house. But a rat has never done anything to me personally. I don't even know if I've ever seen a rat in person.

My one annoyance with the movie was Diane Krueger. She's an actual German born actress, but her English is so good that she has to put on a fake German accent when she speaks English in the movie, and it just sounds phony. I'm a stickler for accents. It's another reason I love Inglorious Basterds so much. I so prefer for 2 French people in a movie to speak French, and have subtitles, than for a French couple to speak English with French accents. It is my biggest pet peeve. No one does good accents, it makes no sense, except that Americans get lazy and don't want to read their movies. Maybe it was his commitment to the subject matter, or maybe Tarantino is such a big star he can just do whatever he wants, but the variety of languages spoken in the movie add to the realism and experience of the entire film.

Highly recommend.