Inglourious Basterds

Rating: 10/10 (30 January 2017)

"I do believe this is my masterpiece"
The final line spoken by Brad Pitt in the 2009 film, Inglourious Basterds is one I have often hoped was a declaration of director Quentin Tarantino's. I do believe Inglourious Basterds is Tarantino's masterpiece, excelling his 1992 film Reservoir Dogs, and his 1994 classic Pulp Fiction. The script is airtight with every line of dialogue having a purpose. Starring Brad Pitt and Christoph Waltz-- in an American breakout performance for the ages, Inglourious Basterds exceeds the film mastery audiences have grown to expect from Tarantino.
Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) has found a home in German- occupied France harboring Jews in 1941. Landa slaughters the family with the exception of young Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent) who is able to escape. Shosanna vows to get revenge against Germany and bides her time plotting after her escape. Three years later, the cinema she owns is selected to host an illustrious movie premiere to honor German war hero Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Brühl). Zoller immediately takes a liking to Shosanna, convincing Hitler (Martin Wuttke) through his reservations about the venue. Shosanna isn't the only one plotting a massacre at the movie premiere, however. Unbeknownst to her, a group of Jewish- American guerrilla soldiers led by Lt. Aldo Raine also have a plan for a massacre at the cinema the night of the premiere. The group who does one thing only "kill nazi's" have developed a plan with German movie star Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) to sneak explosives and artillery into the cinema which will be filled with German military and the high command. The two plans are developed, independently of each other, ensuring that, one way or another, Hitler will meet his demise on the night of the premiere.
I am, unashamedly so, a big fan of Quentin Tarantino's. He's one of, if not the best, modern dialogue writers, in my estimation. A script carries a film, and if the script is good, the film will usually be good, as well. No one writes dialogue like Tarantino, with the notable exception of Woody Allen. The other unique thing about Tarantino is his lack of formal film schooling or training. Tarantino never went to film school, yet amassed a wealth of film knowledge from reading an extensive amount of film history, and screenplays. Every Tarantino film is riddled with bits of film history throughout the film, making his movies a cinephile's dream. Film scores are also incredibly important to Tarantino and pivotal to his films. He is able to arrange a film score that seems like it doesn't work, only to reveal that it's perfect. I could spend decades writing about how riveting the interrogation scenes are in Inglourious Basterds, solely due to the fine script, or I could spend an equal length of time talking about how many plot points Tarantino brings seamlessly together by the film's end; Inglourious Basterds, however, is simply a film that begs to be seen and experienced first hand. The lighting, the nods to classic cinema, and every Tarantino-esque moment comes together perfectly creating a film that will be difficult for the director to top.