A truly Unique Roller Coaster Ride

Rating: 9/10 (22 August 2009)

Quentin Tarantino's new brain child, Inglourious Basterds, touted to be a revenge fantasy drama, is set in an imaginary alternate universe, where Hitler and his Third Reich are being targeted upon for a massacre by different groups of like minded people, when the Fuhrer & Co. gather for a movie premiere in Paris.
She is true to her genes and we get to see Tarantino written all over her. Every frame in the movie worked for me. He promised us a chance for vengeance and he stayed true to his word. To appreciate this movie better, we need to step into this fantasy world of Tarantino. In this world, films are events and these events are inter related. Often, one film will inspire a bunch. Tarantino goes one level above and 'responds' through Inglourious Basterds to various events that happened over time in this world - Schindler's List, The Pianist, Life is Beautiful and the likes. The world would have seen 100s of such events which talk about the Holocaust. Apart from acknowledgement, honor and pity, these events deserve Vengeance in this world, in terms of a stylish response as in giving them a taste of their own medicine and they have been crying out loud for that. QT heard them. The point is, to appreciate the movie better, we've got to leave our judgmental hats on the Nazi/Jew issue at home and step into the vengeance bandwagon in this fantasy world. If you keep your real world hats on, you will either fall in love or despise her depending on your prejudice. Either way, you'd be too biased and bias affects judgement Tarantino takes us back to the good old days right from the opening credits card. The title card and the cast list roll without much drama and the color tones used are reminiscent of the 'Gone with the Wind' days. How's that for a first impression? The opening frame reads 'Once upon a time in Nazi occupied France' and we get to see the shot of a dairy farm, a pretty unexcited and frustrated average WW II times Frenchman, his not so happy looking daughters. Great color tones back to back and you get to see them aplenty. The Nazis are given one last screen space chance for their exploits and Tarantino decides that they've had enough. The tale is about how the plans of various vested vengeance seeking groups' plans unfold in this fantasy world.
Brad Pitt, Waltz and the rest of the cast have done an excellent job with Waltz being the pick of the lot and rightly honored by Cannes. As one can expect from a QT film, the dialogs are a big asset and keeps you all the more interested. He sets the ball rolling right from the opening interaction between Waltz and the Frenchman. But, more than dialogs, Tarantino has relied heavily on his fantasy script and screenplay in Inglourious Basterds, which has redefined gripping. There are no distractions, no 'could have been better/avoided' moments - absolutely. And yet again, QT excels in the depiction of violence and action sequences.
Taraantino has carried this movie on his shoulders all along and this movie is another milestone in mainstream commercial cinema. The announcement to his fellow makers is 'Guys, be it art house or commercial - Innovation is the Key'. The man has delivered, yet again. The Verdict has success written all over it. Hats off!