Inglourious Basterds
The title is a discussion in itself. The misspelling of the title is derived from Jean-Michel Basquiat - a Neo-expressionism artist and the American pronunciation of the word bastards. It was inspired by the 1978 film Inglorious Bastards.
On a cerebral level it is definitely amazing without a doubt. It is quite amazing to see how a director can actually get worse throughout his career - and continue to do so with financial success and critical praise. This is a typical Quentin Tarentino Film, which to me means that it is told in his style of storytelling aka mixed up chapters that assemble at the end like a puzzle. This style of storytelling is fine in itself, but puzzling, is the expended rate of which this director has come to rely upon it...it is at best, exhausting. If you are to use the very same format time and again, then you had better come up with something very original and exciting. Given, this is a point of view from the WWII era seldom seen in mainstream cinema for which kudos will not be given due to the fact of...well where do we start? According to wikipedia.org there are at least 707 films about WWII, and this list does not include documentaries or holocaust specific films. Among these films is Casablanca, Schindler's List, and the Pianist. But never before has it been told like this! A slogan that I've heard many times before. However, and I would be lying if I didn't say this, the film is entertaining. I can still appreciate his "chapters". Gone, is the fast-paced, self conflicting dialogue that Quentin Tarentino is known for. Gone are the conclusionary statements that offer profound insight to the internal conflict of characters.
The plot of this film tells the story of two plots: Lieutenant Aldo Raine, who leeds a group of Jewish-American soldiers in a plot to kill Nazi political leaders, and Emmanuelle Mimieux who escaped to Paris after her family's murder. It is in effect, entertaining to see how the lives of these characters intertwine and come together for resolution at the end of the film. The fictional story of The Basterds is told through an expended poor attempt of humor from the likes of no other than Brad Pitt. Brad Pitt is by far one of the best actors of our time. How can this be you ask? The ranking of actors does not lie solely upon technical ability or the portrayal of emotion but on the talent of entertaining([scoffing]a relatively new concept for mainstream America). Throughout all of Brad Pitt's film's I find myself thinking, "This is Brad Pitt", where as other popular actors of our generation, such as the young Jack Nicholson clone: Leonardo DiCaprio - are so involved in their roles, that one could almost believe they are actually watching a documentary, and the characters are in fact, real. This is not the case with Inglourious Basterds, nor was it mean't to be. The story contains many holes. The perspective of this film is an original concept to my immediate knowledge. There are of course historical inaccuracies, but who cares? You just paid your hard earned money to watch the new Quentin Tarentino Flick!
The film is entertaining at best. The cinematography was superb. Nation's Pride(the film within the film) is reminiscent of 1930's Hell's Angels meets Saving Private Ryan and was directed by Eli Roth and is a testament to the quintessential emotional portrayal of actors - which I feel we have in a sense lost the dramatic feel of, due to the big Hollywood(or Bollywood) Blockbuster type films. I felt that the ending was good, giving me a sense of empowerment from modern-American Naziism. I also thought that the story could have been better given the past capabilities of the writer/director and circumstances.
The bottom line? Any film lover owes it to them self to watch the new Quentin Tarentino Film. But given the theater rates these days? I'm glad I waited for it to come out on DVD. One thumb up and one thumb down, the latter signifying the place this film will rest in the annals of cinematic history.
No comments:
Post a Comment