Absolutely spectacular

Rating: 10/10 (7 December 2009)

"Watching Donny beat Nazis to death is the closest we ever get to going to the movies." - Aldo Raine
Tarantino returns with his first film since the slightly underrated Death Proof, in one of the most entertaining and stylish movies of 2009. Brad Pitt stars as the leader of the Nazi-hunting Basterds, Christoph Waltz as a sadistic Nazi colonel, and Mélanie Laurent as a vengeful Jewish cinema owner. It is a story about revenge, dishonor and tragic circumstance.
The plot is slightly unconventional, in that many scenes are 20-plus minutes long, and there is a lot of dialogue. The pacing is consistent however, and the incredible tension created in each of the scenes means that it never gets dull for a moment. The film is blood-soaked but only in short bursts, and the shock of the violence is higher as a result. The cinematography is beautiful, as is the costume design. The film is shot in a very classical style and doesn't go over the top like some Tarantino films. It never feels like a Taratino film, which shows that he has grown as a filmmaker.
The script is incendiary, going hand in hand with the long style editing to create excellent character arcs (some of which only last one scene.) The performances, particularly by Christoph Waltz and Mélanie Laurent, are totally unforgettable. If Laurent doesn't become huge after this movie, it will be a shame. Brad Pitt is the all-American hero, and though his role is more one-note than the other characters, he has some great lines and was very enjoyable to watch. The supporting cast has some surprises, like Mike Myers nearly unrecognizable as an Allied general, and Julie Dreyfus as the girlfriend of German filmmaker Goebelles, who both make the most out of smaller roles. Daniel Brühl also impresses in his screen debut, as a German war hero.
The plot is centered around the showing of a German war film at a small cinema in Paris, and the film within a film is about a German war hero who killed hundreds of Allied soldiers from the top of a tower. The German high command has showed up to view the film, and both the Basterds, a group of Nazi-killing assassins, and the cinema's owner, Shosanna, plan to take out the whole German leadership during the screening. The film is almost nauseatingly violent, but there is a method to Tarantino's madness.
The film may seem grossly jingoistic at first glance, but I think Tarantino is really trying to say something about the nature of violent imagery. Near the end, Hitler is laughing watching American soldiers die in a Nazi propaganda film. Then, in what has to be one of the most outrageous scenes in cinema history...
*SPOILERS* *SPOILERS* *SPOILERS*
Eli Roth and Omar Doom burst in and mow down Hitler and Goebbels with machine guns.
*SPOILERS* *SPOILERS* *SPOILERS*
Has Tarantino finally lost his mind? Not quite. He's created an alternate history of the end of World War 2, one that we have all pictured in our minds at some point. My personal reaction to this scene was to immediately cheer and clap. Then I realized Tarantino had gotten me. Unbelievably, I actually felt a little sorry for Hitler. I mean, he gets shot to pieces and then shot some more. Leave it to Tarantino to make me feel guilty for laughing at Hitler's death.
My initial reaction proved the point he was trying to make with this movie. Just like Hitler is amused by the death of American soldiers in the film-in-a-film, we in turn laugh when a bunch of Nazis are mowed down. It seems perfectly natural to laugh at such brutality, because this is a fantasy: We would all like to see Hitler die horribly. But Tarantino is testing the audience. It should be shocking, not funny. Tarantino has brought to light one of the most overlooked double standards in film: Aren't American-centered war movies no better than propaganda, and have we been conditioned to view the killing of Germans as entertaining?
By using Jews to kill the Nazis, he is doing a spin on the adage 'Before seeking revenge first dig two graves'. They end up becoming no better than butchers, killing honorable people in the name of revenge. Most of the Jewish characters end up dying at the end, giving a literal meaning to the expression. In the first scalping scene, Eli Roth's character is reluctant to kill the German officer because he knows it's morally wrong. An image of him blasting a dead man's face to pulp with a tommy gun with fire in his eyes shows us what kind of person he has become by the end.
On the surface this film seems simple, but Tarantino has loaded it with philosophical questions. This is not a typical war film, but really a satire of them. Tarantino should be commended for making such an entertaining (which should make the viewer feel guilty, and did for me), shocking, well made and unique motion picture. Stylistically, it's such a throwback to classic film noir that we will likely never see a film like it again. It's so well made that most of it's excesses can be overlooked, and I think it deserves multiple Oscar nominations.
One final note, I didn't feel guilty laughing about the fate of the slimy Hans Landa, who gets exactly what he deserves at the end. In the opening scene he professes his love of rats, and like a rat he sells out the Nazis to save his own skin. In the end, his betrayal saves his life, but it's no longer a life worth living. Likewise, the French farm owner has to live with the knowledge that he let a Jewish family die. I guess it is better to die honorably than live dishonorably.