Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Directed by: Quentin Tarantino | 152 minutes | action, war, adventure | Actors: Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Mélanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz, Daniel Brühl, Eli Roth, Samm Levine, BJ Novak, Til Schweiger, Mike Myers, Samuel L. Jackson, Cloris Leachman, Michael Fassbender, Christian Berkel, Julie Dreyfus, Maggie Cheung, Jana Pallaske, Rod Taylor, Ken Duken, Gedeon Burkhard, Paul Rust, Omar Doom, Jacky Ido, August Diehl, Michael Bacall, Ludger Pistor, Martin Wuttke, Enzo G. Castellari, Léa Seydoux, Richard Sammel, Sylvester Groth, Denis Menochet, Soenke Möhring, Anne-Sophie Franck, Petra Hartung, Anastasia Schifler, Alex Boden, Alexandrs Petukhovs

Quentin Tarantino has rewritten the history of the Second World War with a big wink in ‘Inglourious Basterds’. His version has become an amusing (and successful) mixture of the ingredients of the classic war film, a touch of spaghetti western, a portion of absurdist nonsense and a dose of falsification of history. He lets us experience the end of the Third Reich as it could have been in his rich fantasy. The story consists of five chapters. In the first part, Hans Landa (the Jew hunter) is introduced (a particularly convincing role by Christoph Waltz). He finds a Jewish family in hiding on a remote farm in France, from which daughter Shoshanna Dreyfuss (Mélanie Laurent) manages to escape. She will later play an important role. Then the Inglourious Basterds are introduced: an infamous collection of Jewish-American mobsters, psychopaths, murderers and half-failures. All have their own skills: one is ‘handy’ with knives, the other likes to hit with a baseball bat.

This special American army unit is led by Lieutenant Aldo Raine (great role by Brad Pitt). His most important credo: ‘I’m in the business of killing wet seas’. Behind the front line, they must kill as many Nazis as possible, establishing their reputation by scalping them afterwards. Later we meet the refugee Jewish Shoshanna again. She now runs a cinema in Paris. A still young but famous German war hero (Daniel Brühl is on the mend) falls in love with her and in honor of his exploits a German propaganda film starring him has been made which – through his mediation – will premiere in her cinema in Paris. . It is an excellent opportunity for Shoshanna to take revenge on everything and everyone in the Nazi top in a plot with her real lover. But the Inglourious Basterds reappear in the story. They also have a conspiracy in mind with the help of the German undercover agent Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger). These two conspiracies get in each other’s way and the amusing developments follow each other in quick succession. The punch line remains a secret here, but it can be revealed that Tarantino has given free rein to his imagination with a nice result as a result.

A well-known statement by Tarantino is: ‘I think you can steal quietly if it makes the film better. If you get caught, you can always say it’s a tribute.” The title was ‘borrowed’ from the 1978 film ‘Inglorious Bastards’ by Enzo Castellari, with some deliberate humorous language errors. The film is also indebted to the famous classic ‘The Dirty Dozen’ (a great film in its genre at the time). The camera work is beautiful, the acting of all the actors excellent. Christoph Waltz’s portrayal of the amiable and tough SS officer Hans Landa stands out, for this he received a Golden Palm in Cannes. As a film and as a tribute, ‘Inglourious Basterds’ is a success. Tarantino has again added a beautiful and characteristic piece of cinema, confirming his reputation as director of surprising films. Black humor, lots of big winks, it’s all wonderfully over the top.

For a film about the Second World War, the actions are relatively limited. Although the scalps are regularly rushed and the baseball bat is sometimes used as a deterrent weapon, it all remains within limits, even if it is a bit of a shock now and then. However, the cool design is paramount. The soundtrack is by maestro Ennio Morricone and makes a strong supporting contribution, here too many fat and tasty winks to the music of his spaghetti westerns! ‘Inglourious Basterds’ is laughter and enjoyment for enthusiasts!