Inglourious Basterds

"Once upon a time in Nazi occupied France... " so begins Quentin Tarantino's new film Inglourious Basterds (sic). A young Jewish refugee Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) witnesses the slaughter of her family by Nazi Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). Narrowly escaping with her life, she plots her revenge several years later when a German war hero quickly takes an interest in her and arranges an illustrious movie premiere at the theater she now runs. With the promise of every major Nazi officer in attendance, the event catches the attention of the "Basterds", a group of Jewish-American guerrilla soldiers led by the ruthless Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt). As the relentless Nazi hunters advance and the conspiring young girl's plans are set in motion, their paths will cross for a fanciful evening that would have/could have changed history.

I had read mixed reviews on this one. I am a huge Quentin Tarantino fan, so it was likely I would go see Inglourious Basterds anyway, but the review in Newsweek really made me think. They lambasted Tarantino for bringing Jews down to the level of the Nazis, by acting like barbarians - they beat Nazi's heads in with baseball bats and literally scalp their victims. It went on to equate the movie's big finale to the incinerating of Jews in concentration camps. Honestly I don't see it that way. Sure revenge fantasies are fun, but nothing can ever undue the atrocities of the Nazi's and I don't think that is what Tarantino is going for. He has mashed up The Good, The Bad and The Ugly with The Dirty Dozen in a revenge fairy-tale. I don't think you should try to make more of it than that, but clearly many of the critics are.

The truth is this movie is funny and gross and over the top - quintessential Tarantino. I went into it expecting Pitt to be awesome, and he was. Like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels his character Lt. Aldo Raine is a caricature. He is a one-note, quote spewing, army stereotype, "You see, we're in the business of killin' Nazis, and boy, business is boomin'." What I didn't expect was how great Christoph Waltz would be as the "Jew Hunter." He easily glides from chill inspiring to camp. And French actress Mélanie Laurent is the new Tarantino hero. Be warned, this movie is really graphic in some parts and there is reading involved, but I think Tarantino is back and this movie will be nominated for an Academy Award.