Quite glourious!!

Rating: 8/10 (11 February 2010)

Tarantino is a genius. I think one can assume that beyond a shadow of doubt. For it is only a man like him who can make an English movie which is in French, German and Italian for more than half of its running time. One who can discover a Christopher Waltz and draw him out to flesh out a gruesomely suave character like Colonel Hans Landa with Oscar winning aplomb. One who has the audacity, as on previous occasions, to take a leading actor, in this case Brad Pitt, and effectively transforming him into the caricature of the redneck farm boy leader of the Basterds, Aldo Raine. This film is a welcome return to his signature style of pathos fueled humour. The ironic deprecatory dialogue and the casual use of gore and expletives wouldn't fail to bring a smile to even the most prudish ones. Replete with references and homages to his many influences, and cameos by veteran "Tarantino men", the film also offers sufficient trivia for the obsessive ones amongst us, who revel in these small joys. The use of the soundtrack to reflect the mood of a scene and alter our visual perception of its import is another classic Tarantino strategy which is employed effectively yet again. Right from the opening strains of Fur Elise with the flamenco guitar, to Ennio Morricone's mid western style shootout theme employed during the ambush of a German platoon, or David Bowie's Cat People when Shoshanna gets 'dressed to kill', the music plays the role of romanticizing the scenes and adding texture and depth to it. The trademark long panning camera shot is well used on a few occasions and the editing makes sure that you are gripped despite the length. Hence technically one could certainly not fault this movie in any way. The acting is in most cases adequate, but never takes precedence over the film. The obvious stand out of course is Christoph Waltz, whom we hope to be seeing a lot more of. Why is it then that I have given it a rating of 8 and not more? Well the answer to that lies in my repeated use in this article of signature, trademark and classic. This is evidently attributable to directorial style and method, however therein lies the pickle. This is very much a 'Tarantino comfort zone' movie that has merely undergone a frame-shift mutation and is thus the only reason it will not become as much of a cult classic as say, Pulp Fiction. Regardless, I'm personally a fan of his style and he yet again pulls off what he's a master at, making movies which ooze a sense of cool.