Inglourious Basterds by Quentin Tarantino

Category: English

Tarantino is apparently back to doing what he does best or so people say, but truthfully Chapters 3 and 4 in this saga of revenge (a theme from his previous venture) actually establish him in my books as someone who can make the 60's European cinema (as a friend also remarked) come alive, barely but yes. Chapters 1 and 2 are very much like what Tarantino churns out consistently or as I'd like to call it exquisite violence. Chapter 5 is a toss up.

Once again Tarantino relies on creating heavily memorable characters such as Donny Donowitz or Hugo Stiglitz through dialogues, violence and of course the cold blooded killer look. But this time around he relies on some powerful close ups, such as the German Major who first encounters 'The Jew Bear'. He uses plentiful cinematic references in Operation Kino and basically insults people's intelligence by explaining things in a very child like manner (Ref: Nitrate Film).

The film traces the life of Shosanna Dreyfus who is inspired to avenge her family by eliminating the upper echelon of the Third Reich. The Inglourious Basterds led by Aldo are also on their way across the country rampaging through Nazis like ninjas and of course eventually making it to the climax of the film. Shosanna owns a cinema hall where all of her plans are going to come to reality at the release of "Nations Pride", A German propaganda film powered by Goebbels.

To be fair Tarantino does a really good job here of trying to cater to the mainstream audiences while also sticking true to his own brand and trying to incorporate a 60's European cinema feel to it. While also re-working the way we look at conventional WW2 films. Right from the name itself, there's a certain air about the movie that makes it untouchable by conventional cinema these days. The people who don't like homages in films or references to older cinema are obviously clueless about what they are talking about, which is perfect since Tarantino, sadly is making films for them

Recommendation level: 3/5 - Yeah, we're not sheep! Catch the film though.