A wonderfully insane pulp fantasy; Tarantino's best since "Pulp Fiction"

Rating: Null/10 (21 August 2009)

"Inglourious Basterds". "Inglourious Basterds". How I love this title. I first saw the previews for Tarantino's new film at the beginning of this year, and it seemed to me a non-serious version of Bryan Singer's "Valkyrie" (which I haven't seen). Not being exactly a Tarantino fanboy (I love "Pulp Fiction" like everybody else and know he will never do anything as good again, but moderately enjoy his other films mostly for their specific qualities than for the overall results, which don't always engage me), I was very excited for this - and not only wasn't disappointed, it exceeded my expectations.
First of all, to enjoy "Inglourious Basterds", you have to put aside any deeply moral or analytical issues about World War II - and definitely dis consider, just for the moment, Adorno's theories about the banality of evil after Auschwitz. "Inglourious Basterds" is by no means a seriously intellectual, let alone humanistic, piece of work; but a brilliant, unapologetically entertaining mix of pulp, fantasy and propaganda. In Nazi-occupied France, a group of Jewish-American soldiers, led by Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt, whose superstar persona and charm fits the part like a glove), kills and scalps Nazis throughout the Third Reich. Their paths will cross with a young Jewish refugee, Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent, who had a supporting role opposite Gaspard Ulliel in the criminally underrated "Le Dernier Jour" and shows her full range here), whose family was massacred a few years earlier and now owns a movie theater in Paris. Shosanna has some revenge plans of her own, after Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz, Best Actor at Cannes for this performance) and a young war "hero", Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Brühl, of "Goodbye, Lenin!") decide that Joseph Goebbels's (Sylvester Groth) new propaganda film, "Nation's Pride", which stars Zoller as himself, shall premiere at her venue - with the Führer himself (Martin Wuttke) among the attendees.
Highly original, extremely violent (it's Tarantino, after all), and visually intriguing, "Inglourious Basterds" is more than just 153 minutes of bloodbath. Filled with all of Tarantino's trademarks (even his notorious foot fetish is back, with Diane Kruger as the victim this time), great soundtrack (more discreet than usual, appropriately with more instrumental pieces than pop songs) and unique dialogue ("Let's burn down the cinema on Nazi night" and Pitt's deliver of "Arrivederci" are two of my faves), this is easily his most satisfying and ambitious work since "Pulp Fiction". Favourite scene: a momentarily shy Zoller introduces himself to Shosanna, as she stands on top of a ladder changing the titles on the marquee of her cinema. "In France, we respect the directors. Even the Germans", says she. A witty, almost tender moment that epitomizes what Tarantino really is: an overgrown film buff with lots of talent, who sometimes knows how to get the best out of his lovely self-indulgence, and presents us, geeky film buffs ourselves, with wonderful treats like "Inglourious Basterds". 10/10.