Buongiorno Tarantino, It's Been Too Long

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
Rated R for strong graphic violence, language and brief sexuality.
153 minutes
The Weinstein Company
***** out of 5

My first experience with Quentin Tarantino will be always remembered. I had read tons of reviews of “Pulp Fiction” when it was released theatrically way back in 1994 but was not allowed to see it by my parents. Being 14 at the time I was completely perplexed by this as I had been raised on everything from “Jaws” and “Poltergeist” to the “Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Friday the 13th” and “Halloween” series from the day I was born. How in the world could a movie about gangsters, applauded around the world possibly be worse than any of those films? A cousin of mine decided that once it was released on VHS that I was destined to see this film. She rented the film from a local Blockbuster, we waited till my aunt left to run errands and then we pushed play and sat back to see what would be the most mind blowing extravaganza I had ever witnessed at that point in my life.

After that I rushed out to Media Play to find a copy of the film. It was very high priced as it was a new release and not worth breaking the bank of a fifteen-year-old. Instead I sought out another film by the name of “Reservoir Dogs.” Luckily I new the best way to watch films even way back then, widescreen (then known as letterbox), and found a $10 widescreen copy of that film instead. Even by VHS standards I could tell that the film had then received no amount of remastering and looked quite atrocious. It did not stop me from loving QT’s sophomore outing one bit. Here was a movie that did so much with such a simple premise that between having watched “Reservoir Dogs” and “Pulp Fiction” I knew at the tender age of fifteen, and surprisingly raised in an LDS family, that I had stumbled upon a man of unimaginable genius. Lucky for everyone, this has held true for every feature film released since. With the films to follow: “Jackie Brown,” the “Kill Bill” saga, “Death Proof” and now “Inglourious Basterds” I am officially right. The man is a cinematic force to be reckoned with and the unofficial universe he has been creating is finally beginning to meld together.

To read a QT screenplay is one of the best reading experiences as far as screenplay’s go. To watch behind the scenes footage of the man in action is always hilarious and listening to him in interviews is more educational than just informative. The real win when it comes to QT is to witness first hand his completed films up on the big screen in a dark theater with the sound cranked up to 11. I first wanted to see "Inglourious Basterds" in a theater with digital projection and was under the assumption that I was, however, it was a print that was shown to its audience this weekend and it was a pristine print that renewed my faith in the presentation. But it was the film that completely blew my mind. This is a director that has shown what a master he can be when it comes to taking everything old and making it more new than you could ever have imagined. Even when he uses musical cues or credit fonts from his previous films, most directors would be seen as getting lazy. With QT it just goes to show that this man can take everything you thought you new and show you how to see it again in a brand new light regardless of whether it was last seen or heard only five years ago. QT did not set out to make a film based on fact about WWII. He set out to make his very own WWII epic and take it in his blissfully twisted direction and show you what could have happened which is very obviously based completely in fiction. Use some facts, show the fiction. This is what QT does with “Inglourious Basterds.” Whether you buy it or not, you are in for one wild, crazy, hilarious, blood-soaked extravaganza of violence and espionage as seen through the eyes of Hollywood’s most brilliant wild card, Mr. Quentin Tarantino.

The simplest of explanation is the absolute best way to breeze through the basis of plot in order to keep all the fun for one to experience on their own. Most will assume that it is the story of Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) leading the Basterds deep into Nazi-occupied France in 1944 to collect some scalps. The real story, and surprising heart of the film, revolves around Shoshanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent). In 1941 she single handedly witnesses the demise of her entire family at the hands of Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) who were in hiding beneath the floor boards of a farm house owned by a French dairy farmer, Perrier LaPadite (Denis Menochet). Presumably as a way of concreting himself and his actions into her mind, Landa allows Shoshanna to escape only to meet up with her again under her new name Emmanuelle Mimeux. Shoshanna now owns a French Cinema and is asked to host the premiere of the new German film “Nation’s Pride” starring the Nazi war hero Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Bruhl). A double agent, actress Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) meets up with the Basterds to inform them that the premiere has been moved to Shoshanna’s theater and that all of the highest ranks of the Third Reich are to attend, including Hitler (Martin Wuttke) himself. Soon enough, everything comes together and the story unfolds and QT’s WWII pastiche completes itself.

Will Shoshanna exact her revenge against the Nazi parties that slaughtered her family? Will the Basterds collect their scalps, attend the premiere, get all four and end the war? Is David Bowie relevant to WWII? The truth lies in the fiction of "Inglourious Basterds" and the fun lies in whether you can accept the fiction and bear in mind that this is simply a fantasy of ridiculousness brought to us by a director who continues to top each preceding film and needs to stop being looked at so seriously yet looked at as seriously as he should be. As one character says to another, “I think this just might be by masterpiece.” No QT that is every film you make until the next one comes along. Arrivederci!