Spot-on characterization of internalization of corrupt values

Rating: 9/10 (13 January 2013)

Yet again, Tarantino shows us a panoramic vista of moral description.
Of course, he also plies his usual wares: Fine direction and acting, engaging writing, great shots and sequencing. And another revenge plot with lots and lots of blood.
Part of what makes Tarantino so special is the way his scripts are heavy on content; every line is a brightly colored thread in a florid brocade... and normally that's not a good thing--people usually appreciate a lighter touch. And Tarantino does not appear to be getting in the habit of handing those out.
I'm suddenly remembering reading Thomas Kuhn's "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions". I was amazed to see a book which met two mutually impossible criteria: Never had I seen writing so dense, and yet at the same time with no fat; every line was necessary.
And this is how it is with a Tarantino script; dense, with every line, every character, every scene part of a disquisition on established mores, and the struggle to change the world in a way that confronts those mores, head-on.
This is not to say that Tarantino's approach has been consistent, especially in regard to this perennial approach to moral questions. These last two flicks play heavier than ever on a kind of (arguably forgivable) puerile fantasy; after all, everyone hates Nazis and Slavers. And they provide convenient piles, driven a mile into the ground, that anchor his flicks and hold them upright. Earlier productions, like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, achieved great heights of moral probity without recourse to such things. This is why I give RD and PF "10" ratings, but Basterds and Unchained a "lowly" 9.
But, all this cogitating aside, I have to add that I was sometimes moved very deeply by Unchained. Add in the surprise of a charming, light-hearted buddies-on-the-road sequence using a Jim Croce tune as background music, and I've gotta say the thing was very well worth watching.