"Gnat-see" Hunters Versus Jew Hunter

Rating: 9/10 (19 January 2010)

INGLORIOUS BASTERDS is brilliantly scripted, has two of the best acting jobs all year, and is purely Tarantino. If you've seen any of the KILL BILL series or THE GRINDHOUSE films, you'll know to expect a bit of blood and brutality. This is, however, Tarantino's first dip into alternate history, and he does a great job at it. However I do think he toned down the bloodshed a tad. Perhaps he's becoming more aware of it, or perhaps he just didn't feel the film warranted it. Whatever the reason, it balanced out nicely ...compared to his other films which tended to go overboard on the crimson.
The alternate history involves three unique perspectives: Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) aka The Jew Hunter. Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt, BURN AFTER READING). And Shosanna (Melanie Laurent). All three of these perspectives are taken to extremes (no surprise, again, considering we're talking about a Tarantino movie) during WW II in which we see a persecuted Jew get her just dessert by killing Hitler in her own version of "The Final Solution." We get to see Lt. Aldo Raine (Pitt) gather a group of ruthless "Gnat-see" killers and carve swastikas into their foreheads. And finally we get the cream of the crop, Jew Hunter Colonel Hans Landa (Waltz) who's ability to sniff out hiding Jews have given him his title.
Without Christoph Waltz and Brad Pitt in their respective roles, I feel this film wouldn't have been a fraction as good as it was; probably a testament to the casting heads. But specifically to Waltz as Landa, who played the slimy Nazi brutalist only interested in saving his own skin by the end of the war. I think he deserved top billing, not Pitt (although Pitt did his usual extraordinarily great job). Waltz was so key to the entire film that he really held the reins of the story throughout its length. And his range of emotions, from anger to giddiness, was astoundingly disturbing. I loved every second he was on-screen. The fact that the Hollywood Foreign Press gave him a Golden Globe for his supporting role was most appropriate (and I noticed he's garnered praise from many other award ceremonies and, I'm hoping, the Academy Award roster will list him this year).
Brad Pitt as the countryfied, American Nazi-hunter was great. But most of his notable lines are delivered whenever he's on-screen with Waltz. The ending sequence in the woods with Lt. Raines' knife and Col. Landa's ...umm ...life, are wonderfully vicious.
Of course, we cannot leave out French actress Melanie Laurent as the persecuted Shosanna who is forced to watch her family slaughtered by Landa then flee to Paris and blend in with society. Only later does she learn that her new life and career sets her up perfectly to exact revenge on the Nazi party ...and its top leaders; the very top, in fact. She also is forced to fight off the advances of a German soldier whom she finds both endearing and loathsome.
By the end of Inglorious Basterds, you feel like you've been on a wild ride at a theme park, until you realize you've never left your seat. It's a remarkable film that is cast exceptionally well. This one's worth owning for sure.