What it perhaps lacks in heart and total production it more than covers with tension in well-acted and well-shot scenes (SPOILERS)

Rating: Null/10 (9 December 2009)

Looking forward to my viewing of this film I must confess that I expected it to be a particularly self-indulgent mess. It is an idea that has been mentioned since Tarantino first burst onto the scene and had a lot of choices in what he did next and it is not a short film and, to be frank, Kill Bill did not really do much for me at all. Basterds starts with more though because instead of the tiresome excess that Kill Bill Volume 1 brought with it, this film has much more patience to it. The plot is a bit of a mess and others are correct when they say that in a way he is referencing propaganda films of the period but it does run longer than perhaps it can really sustain. Having so many characters is one of the problems perhaps but in another way the length is necessary because most of the scenes do run quite slowly. Those expecting a big Hollywood action movie will be disappointed but ironically enough the film's main selling point is how well so many of the individual scenes are done.
The dialogue sets it up because, whatever the language, it is mostly well written. Some is funny but mostly it works because it has a tension in each scene that is almost behind the dialogue – the ever present threat of violence or discovery or both. This makes you pay attention to each moment rather than being bored by the discussion taking place, because you know something is happening or something is being hidden behind the words, you're just not sure what will happen or who knows what. The cellar bar room scene is a perfect example because it does seem to have a lot of "nothing" happening but while this "nothing" is happening, the situation is feeling tenser and tenser. The same is true of the film's opening scene, the first face-to-face meeting of Shosanna and Landa and several other key scenes that have a real edge to them. Tarantino's direction is a big part of this working as well as it does on the screen. His shots are mostly very well framed and they add to the tension in a way that you notice because of how effective it is as a tool (although I suppose that could be taken as a criticism, if one is able to notice it happening). The dialogue scenes in particular are very well filmed because of the effect on the tension. The violence seems a little obvious and it is ironic that it is least effective when it is most gratuitous. Speaking of irony I would also have liked a bit more intelligence to the delivery of scenes where the viewer is clearly going to make a contrast in their head but yet the film offers nothing in the way of commentary or opinion; in particular this is telling where we are watching a Nazi propaganda film of Allies being gunned down to the crowd's delight, only to be put in the place of the in-film audience as we see Hitler and many other Nazis being gunned down and are probably having the same reaction.
This lack of insight is sort of the problem with the film because it does feel like it is constantly of the moment and doesn't have a lot of heart behind it. The total film feels less important than the specific scene and, while this does mean that the running time runs by with lots of strong scenes, it somehow doesn't feel quite as good when you look back on it. A quibble perhaps, when it is so engaging moment to moment, but it is still the impression I was left with. The cast are not so prone to problems though and indeed they seem to work best because of the focus on the scenes and the dialogue rather than anything else. For all the names in the film, it is Waltz who dominates the screen. His insincere facade and his playful menace makes many of his scenes occur on the edge of a knife and he is great every time he is on. Laurent herself does very good work but her material is not quite as strong as she has to carry more of the "heart" of the film – a "heart", as I said, which is not particularly strong. Pitt has a lot of fun and his sections of the film add to the dark comedy of the piece. Brühl is enjoyable in his turn as well – doing good work with Laurent. The supporting cast beyond this is mixed but mostly solid enough to do the specific jobs they are asked to do; personally though I found Roth, Myers, Novack and a few others to be distractions rather than additions to the film.
I went in to Inglourious Basterds unsure of what to expect from it and when I was finished I was quite pleased with what I had seen. It is a rather hollow film as a whole but it is surprisingly engaging thanks to how well the majority of the scenes are put together. What it perhaps lacks in heart and total production it more than covers with tension in well-acted and well-shot scenes with Tarantino's usual good use of music. Not a great total film perhaps but a very good demonstration of Tarantino's skills in how well it works as you watch it. Certainly an improvement on Kill Bill.