Film review 'Inglorious Bastard's' (2008)

Summary
Inglorious Bastards, directed by Quentin Tarantino, is set in Nazi occupied France, where a group of Jewish American soldier’s led by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), known as ‘The Bastard’s’ set out to kill and scalp the Nazi’s. They cross paths with a young Jewish girl, Shosanna Dreyfus, who witnesses her family’s murder at the beginning of the film and narrowly escapes. She owns a cinema in Paris, in which she plans to blow-up, as every major Nazi officer is going to attend the movie premier. ‘The Bastards’ hear about the premier and also plan their revenge by conspiring to murder the Nazi’s.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this film, as I do with much of Tarantino’s work. It is an action/ adventure movie with a Western Spaghetti feel, Tarantino triumphs with his use of clever dialogue and brilliant mise-en-scene. What surprised me, was that it had many humours elements in it, which I didn’t expect, or expect that much. I found myself literally laughing out loud as the film mocks the Nazi era through Brad Pitt’s accent or of the German leaders, in particular the camp portrayal of Hans Landa. Tarantino’s use of dark comedy works well within the narrative of the film; he almost makes you laugh at things that, in their context, aren’t meant to be funny. The film is split into five chapters; it doesn’t follow a linear structure, which is another witty and prominent convention from Tarantino. The overall film encompasses pastiche which makes it all the more enjoyable for the audience and even though it isn’t a historically correct film, it is an insight into the powerful and conflicting oppositions during World War II, which nevertheless flourishes in style and imagination.

‘'Inglourious Basterds,' remake or not, is extraordinary.’ (Mark Jones, examiner.com 2008)

'Regardless of what anyone has to say about Tarantino’s past work, “Inglourious Basterds” is the director at his finest (...) Brad Pitt continues to prove he’s one of Hollywood’s best in his role as Lt. Aldo Raine, but Austrian actor Christoph Waltz, deserves the most recognition. His depiction of Col. Hans Landa, was nothing short of genius. Tarantino’s vision of “Inglourious Basterds” has taken many years to come to fruition, but has proven to have been well worth the wait. Fan’s of Tarantino’s past work will not be disappointed with this utterly incredible film.’

Tarantino has been criticised for Inglorious Bastards, in relation to the themes of Nazi’s and the Jewish Holocaust.

'Quentin Tarantino's forthcoming second world war romp Inglorious Bastards is likely to be savaged by critics in Germany.(...)"The collision between Tarantino-style pop culture with the themes of the Holocaust and Jewish revenge (the 'Bastards' of the film are Jewish-American Nazi hunters) is unprecedented in Germany and its results are completely unpredictable."’ (Ben Child guardian.co.uk 2008)

‘Tarantino has remade a really bad Italian-made WWII thriller into an intentionally dumb and violent shoot-'em up with barely a hint of the original film. And he remade it at quarter-speed. Inglourious is slow, dumb -- and in a first for QT in his cinema savant career --incompetent.’ (Rodger Moore, Orlando Sentinel Movie Critic 2009)
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