Inglourious Basterds – 4/5

I want to start with the title. I understand that Tarantino doesn’t really explain the odd spelling changes to both words in the title, but I like it. In fact, I really like it. I am a little surprised he had to pay for the rights of the original when they are both, apparently, very different films. Although the topic of this post, Quentin Tarantino’s most recent film, Inglourious Basterds, is not as topical as I might like, it is still in theaters.

This is certainly not history’s second world war, and, rightfully, it’s not the “King’s” spelling. The creative take on fact demands a creative title. To me, and this may sound silly, the spelling, “inglourious” seems to exude more ingloriousness, and “basterds” does evoke a grittier, possibly mispronounced version of the word. This is the sort of mispronunciation Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) would certainly spit out with abrupt fervor. Perhaps this is also the sort of spelling mistake a hillbilly like Aldo might make, basing his letter choices off of said mispronunciation (think about it: “inglourious basterds” as, in-glau-ri-aus bas-terds. I can see Aldo annunciating that).

The plot is not simply guys-on-a-mission doing their thing. It is less of that and more of a postmodern bombardment of plot episodes. The reflexivity of the film is part of this as well. From one character’s introduction, with giant text of his name filling the screen, and a scene with a surprise gun shot, there are places where the film seems to acknowledge it is a film. Having the narrator also emphasized that I was watching a film, multiple views of the same story, and I loved every second of it.

For an action film, it definitely has its comedic moments. The genius of portrayal of the wily SS officer Hans Landa (Chrisoph Waltz) offers most of these laughs, and Pitt’s Raine, particularly the character’s hysterical attempt at speaking Italian, offers others. In fact, there is a whole scene that, while pushing the audience’s suspended disbelief (it seems obvious that the "basterds" stick out, but that seems to be another pomo element: it is so ridiculous that it works), has a three of the “basterds” attempting to pass as Italian. It is one of the funniest scenes in the film.

At the end, despite having a general feeling of satisfaction, I couldn’t help but feel that maybe something was missing. Perhaps it didn’t quite reach the epic proportions that the trailer had me pumped for. Or perhaps it was that the chronology was messed about with in a way I wasn't expecting. Instead it was a smart, tight Tarantino film. Maybe I was expecting to see a band of soldiers brought together in comradery as they make their way through France, with the eventual goal of Paris. Instead it felt jumpier: we get the plot in bits and pieces.

This is not necessarily a bad thing at all; Tarantino uses this process to his advantage and makes powerful bursts interspersed with masterfully developed tension.

Not enough Stiglitz. Read more…