Once Upon A Time In Nazi Occupated France

Rating: 10/10 (26 August 2009)

This film has a simply premise; a group of Jewish Soldiers are sent behind German lands during World War 2 to kill as many Nazis as possible. It may sound like the plot of an exploitation film or a war film from the 60s or 70s, but Tarantino makes it work as a homage to those films.
Set during 1944, Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) leads a team of Jewish Soldiers, the Basterds behind enemies lines. Within this group includes 'the Bear Jew' (Eli Roth) and psychopath Hugo Stiglitz (Til Schweiger). They mission, killing Nazis! They cause fear in the German ranks and are very successful at their mission. British Intelligence discover that the Nazis are planing to have a premier to the film Nation's Pride, and that the whole Nazi leadership is going to attend. British Intelligence sent Lt. Archie Hicox (Michael Fassbender) and plan with the Basterds and spy Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) to bomb the event. But hot on their trial is Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), the Jew Hunter. He is the head of the SS in France and an expert investigator. He is also a very sadistic man and great villain for any film.
Also in the mix is Emanuelle (Mélanie Laurent), a French Jew whom family had been killed by Landa. She ends up owning a cinema in Paris and the object of war hero and Nation's Pride star Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Brühl). He is able to convince Joseph Goebbels to host the premier in her cinema. She plans to get her revenge on the Nazis.
Tarantino has shown in the past that he can turn B-movie material into excellent films and Inglourious Basterds is a excellent film to add to his filmography. He shows once again that he just does do action, but focuses on character, has great dialogue and builds up tension in a scene. He is not afraid to use violence to great affect. Some critics say Tarantino is self-indulgent, but he is an great filmmaker. In this film he is able to mix dark seriousness and comedy in one. Within this film Tarantino sticks to a linger narrative, unless most of his previous efforts. There are only a few flash backs in this film. They are great characters, especially Aldo Raine and Hans Landa, both perfectly played by their actors. Brad Pitt and Christoph Waltz are wonderful actors on top form in this film. You care about what happens to them. There are fine supporting characters like Hicox and Emmanuelle, but the biggest surprise is Eli Roth showing he is a decent actor, much better then his efforts as a director.
There is a lovely cinematography within Inglourious Basterds, giving it the look of a 60s/70s war films. There are references to old war-films and Serigo Lorre's westerns (which Tarantino loves). But there are also homages to old Nazi propaganda films and there is a film-within-a-film.
Tarantino also shows his love for music with this film, picking some excellent classical and western style songs for his score. However, this is one of his weaker films for music.
The only one think that felt out of place, the narration by Samuel L. Jackson. But it is only for a few brief moments in this film.
Finally, if you think this film is a history lesson then you really are a gullible fool.
Inglourious Basterds is the best film in 2009, so far.