Forget it's Tarantino, forget it's Pitt, just watch and learn

Rating: 10/10 (23 September 2009)

I can only imagine like me, there are a load of people who both can't wait for, and dread the release of a new Tarantino movie in equal measure. This is because despite being one of the most followed and admired film makers out there (Not to say copied) he has that sort of vulnerability about him that I feel like I want to protect, because despite creating a legendary flick in Pulp Fiction, it seems like some people revel in seeing the mighty fall.
Granted it will be a mean feat to emulate the dizzy heights of PF, I doubt it'll happen, so what you've got to try and do is take each movie on its own merit and enjoy it for what it is. Now if you can forget who made it and watch it as a piece of war-fiction and it's actually really good. Second thing to put aside is the thought that this is a Brad Pitt film. It's not. Crafty advertising will draw QT & BP fans in by the bucket load but really this is like having an elaborate, wordy novel acted out to you on screen. Saying that, get your reading glasses on because most of it is subtitled and apart from the quality of the way it's made, the real stars are the relative unknowns Mélanie Laurent & Christoph Waltz – the latter in particular, is amazing.
So many films these days are churned out in a way so that they appeal to the masses, which I spose is fair game, most people do in fact fall in the category of 'the masses' so we enjoy them, but this makes the movies feel like business rather than art which you got to question which is more important. I suppose making money, and it is the 'movie business' after all, but occasionally you get a film which was clearly made to be a film that the maker wanted to see and this is one of them. So I guess what I'm getting at is not everyone is going to like this, but there will be some that love it.
So again you've got a chapter styled story here and again, it's told in a way where it has a few bunches of stories going on independent of each other which ultimately culminate and mash together in the climax. Tarantinos' style I guess, but done so well that every little chapter feels like an epic in itself and I recon you could quite easily just watch one of them on their own without finishing the film, like catching an episode of your fave show - they're that good. The dialogue is snappy, but not too hip (It is the 40's after all) and to get this sort of snap from four different languages takes something special. It's fair to say that every angle of war has probably been shown on film so why not twist it up a bit? And that's what happens – don't go in expecting a accurate history lesson because it's not that, so what? I can't see why people are getting annoyed with that? So what if it doesn't tell history as it was – even films like Braveheart had people up in arms because William Wallace didn't sport long hair and blue face paint, so just go with it.
So there was a bunch of Nazi hunters that did exist and what they did was horrific and this follows them for the short part, the other parts of the film though are the gems, the movie within the movie is a cool touch, directed by Eli Roth who isn't half bad actually. The standoffs, both verbal and physical are brill and the ending, although no spectacular twist, is really satisfying and gutting in equal measure. I literally cannot wait for the interviews and ramblings on the disc, it will no doubt be a treat!
OK so he doesn't follow the rules, and he sure as hell doesn't in this film, but you've got to give it to him he has had a stab at most things right? Gangster, Kung Fu, Hammer Horror, and now War, I mean what's next I wonder? A Rom-Com? Now that would be interesting...