A fake war, a real director.

Rating: 10/10 (27 August 2009)

As if we needed any reminding, Quentin Tarantino remains as one of the five best directors working in movies today. His previous film, Death Proof, billed together with a gory zombie movie was more than just an entertaining 70's schlock movie. It was a tribute to all the films of that time as well to show that Tarantino could direct a new kind of action movie.
Here, he shows he can direct a new kind of movie altogether: the war fantasy. There is as much historical accuracy here as there is in Hogan's Heroes. Yet, that is the point and anyone who would dislike the movies simply because of that is missing it altogether. Tarantino is doing what Steven Spielberg did with Raiders of the Lost Ark, rewriting history as more entertaining and more to his liking. Here, history occurs as Tarantino (and possibly many of us) would like to see it, which makes it more fun to take in and all the more beautiful.
The opening sequence is astonishing: long, tense and utterly engrossing. We know there is going to be a wild climax, we just don't know what or when. Tarantino feeds off our anticipation and goes all the way with it. Indeed, nearly every sequence feels like that. This being Tarantino, it will be very violent and shocking, but it is in a whole new way. I cannot think of one moment when it is boring or uninteresting. There is a lot of French and German, but even that dialog is entertaining to listen to. It seems that QT has evolved tremendously in his writing, going from tons of pop-culture references to more mature and deep talking; these people have something to say. As for his love of the cinema, it is never more apparent than here, as we get an enormous, over-the-top climax in a movie theater that I know Tarantino was enjoying in his head as he wrote it down. References to German cinema abound and he treats it with respect despite what it looks like.
All in all, this is QT's best work since Pulp Fiction; dazzling, amazing and utterly mind-blowing. His cast rises to the occasion with Brad Pitt and Eli Roth hamming it up as the leaders of the Basterds. Of course, I must point out Christoph Waltz as the Nazi Col. Landa, so ferocious and frightening he deserves an Oscar nod. Just as good is the stunning Melanie Laurent, a Jewish girl who runs the theater the Nazis intend to celebrate in. QT films her with all the affection and love a director can and it all the more increases her performance to new heights. A fake war, but a real director. And one I hope to watch for years to come, no matter how inaccurate it may be.