Tarantino Week - Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Hey guys, Chuck here. After the release of Kill Bill: Volume 2 in 2004, Quentin Tarantino worked on two more projects with Robert Rodriguez. One of them was a 2007 double feature called Grindhouse, which featured two films: Planet Terror, which was directed by Rodriguez, and Death Proof, which was directed by Tarantino. The other project was directing a single scene in the 2005 film adaptation of Sin City, which was directed by Rodriguez and Sin City creator Frank Miller. In 2009, however, Tarantino would return to the big screen with the World War II film, and subject of today's review for Tarantino Week, Inglourious Basterds.
The movie, set in Nazi-occupied France, opens with SS Col. Hans Landa interrogating dairy farmer Perrier LaPadite upon the whereabouts of a Jewish family: the Dreyfus family. After deducing that the Dreyfus' were under the floorboards, Landa summons his men into the house, where they open fire at the floor, killing the Dreyfus'. However, one Dreyfus, named Shoshanna, survived and made her escape, with Landa allowing her to do so.
A few years pass, and we meet Lt. Aldo Raine, who brings together a squad of eight Jewish-American soldiers. The squad's goal is to enter France disguised as civilians, and spread fear in the German ranks by killing and scalping them, or as Aldo puts it: "Killing Nazis." Aldo and his squad, known as the Basterds, recruit German Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz, who was infamous among the German troops for having killed thirteen Gestapo officers. As the years go on, the Basterds have become notorious among the German ranks, killing many Germans and leaving omly a few survivors, each one with a swastika carved into their foreheads.
Five years after the massacre of her family, Shoshanna Dreyfus, now under the name of Emmanuelle Mimieux, is operating a small movie theater in Paris, where she catches the eye of German soldier and war hero Fredrick Zoller. Zoller, it turns out, became famous for killing hundreds of American troops in Italy while perched inside of a bell tower. Zoller's story became so famous that Joseph Goebbels decided to produce a film, titled Nation's Pride, about the event, starring Zoller as himself. With the premiere planned to be held at the Ritz, Zoller convinces Goebbels to change the venue to Shoshanna's theater, which is much smaller, and would make the event more exclusive. After convincing him to do so, Shoshanna and her lover Marcel, who is the projectionist, plan to trap the Germans inside and, using their collection of highly-flammable 35-millimeter nitrate film prints, burn the theater to the ground with the Nazis inside. Meanwhile, British Lt. Archie Hicox, after receiving instructions from Gen. Fenech, meets the Basterds in the French village of Nadine, where he, along with Basterds Stiglitz and Wicki, are to meet German film star Bridget von Hammersmark in a basement tavern to discuss Operation Kino, where the plan is to use explosives to blow up the theater with the Nazis inside during the premiere of Nation's Pride. After many interruptions my enlisted German trooper Wilhelm, who was celebrating the birth of his son Max, and sitting to have a conversation with Gestapo Major Dieter Hellstrom, Hicox gives himself away with a British hand gesture, leading to a shootout, costing the lives of everyone in the tavern, with the exception of Wilhelm and von Hammersmark. Aldo and the Basterds extract von Hammersmark (who kills Wilhelm), and she tells them that not only has the Nation's Pride premiere changed venues, but Hitler himself would be at the premiere. Aldo comes up with the idea to get von Hammersmark to get himself, Sgt. Donny Donowitz, and Pvt. Omar Ulmer into the premiere, with the three posing as her Italian guests.
The night of the premiere arrives, and Shoshanna and Marcel have recorded a piece of film that they attach to Nation's Pride, as part of their plan. Meanwhile, Landa, having gone to the tavern that von Hammersmark was in nights before, meets with her and the Basterds, and taking her to another room, finds that the shoe he found was indeed hers. Landa has his men apprehend Aldo, and throws him into the back of a truck along with another Basterd: Utivich. Landa offers to make a deal with the American general that commands Aldo and the Basterds, and he agrees to allow Operation Kino to proceed as planned, leading to the deaths of Hitler, Goebbels, and the rest of the Nazis at the premiere, in return for a full pardon, full American citezenship, and property purchased by the American government on Nantucket Island. Meanwhile, Zoller goes to chat with Shoshanna, and the two ultimately kill each other. Marcel, after trapping everyone inside, sets fire to the nitrate film print, which starts to burn the theater to the ground. At the same time, Donny and Omar break into Hitler and Goebbels' theater box, shoot both men, and open fire on the trapped Nazis below. The explosives the Basterds brought with them go off, destroying the theater and everyone inside. At the line leading to the American front, Landa and his driver, Herman, release Aldo and Utivich, and surrender to them as prisoners. Utivich handcufs Landa, and Aldo shoots Herman. After discussing the notion of Landa removing his Nazi uniform after the war, Aldo decides to give Landa "a little something you can't take off." After carving a swastika into the forehead of a screaming Landa, Aldo looks at it, and claims it to be his masterpiece, ending the movie.
Inglourious Basterds has been viewed as Quentin Tarantino's best film since Pulp Fiction, and I have to agree. I think that Inglourious Basterds is one of Tarantino's best films, and it really managed to stand out against the summer 2009 box office, as a huge chunk of that summer's releases sucked. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Terminator Salvation, X-Men Origns: Wolverine, Aliens in the Attic, let's just say that the summer of 2009 was incredibly disappointing. If not for Tarantino with Inglourious Basterds, or newcomer Neill Blomkamp with District 9, I feel that the summer of 2009 would have been completely forgettable, save for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and J.J. Abrams' Star Trek. Part of what I enjoyed about Inglourious Basterds is the cast. Big names like Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth, Mike Myers, Samm Levine (one of my favorite personalities from the Movie Trivia Schmoedown), and BJ Novak, upcoming talent such as Christoph Waltz, Melanie Laureant, Michael Fassbender, Daniel Bruhl, and many others making up the cast of this picture, I was completely enthralled with every performance. Much like all of Tarantino's films, the writing is clever and fantastic, and his directing was top notch. Surprisingly, Inglourious Basterds was the first Tarantino film I saw on the big screen, and I enjoyed it so much that I saw it twice. So, I'm giving Inglourious Basterds a rating of 5/5. This is Chuck signing off. Tune in tomorrow as we head to the pre-Civil War American South with Django Unchained, as we continue Tarantino Week.
The movie, set in Nazi-occupied France, opens with SS Col. Hans Landa interrogating dairy farmer Perrier LaPadite upon the whereabouts of a Jewish family: the Dreyfus family. After deducing that the Dreyfus' were under the floorboards, Landa summons his men into the house, where they open fire at the floor, killing the Dreyfus'. However, one Dreyfus, named Shoshanna, survived and made her escape, with Landa allowing her to do so.
A few years pass, and we meet Lt. Aldo Raine, who brings together a squad of eight Jewish-American soldiers. The squad's goal is to enter France disguised as civilians, and spread fear in the German ranks by killing and scalping them, or as Aldo puts it: "Killing Nazis." Aldo and his squad, known as the Basterds, recruit German Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz, who was infamous among the German troops for having killed thirteen Gestapo officers. As the years go on, the Basterds have become notorious among the German ranks, killing many Germans and leaving omly a few survivors, each one with a swastika carved into their foreheads.
Five years after the massacre of her family, Shoshanna Dreyfus, now under the name of Emmanuelle Mimieux, is operating a small movie theater in Paris, where she catches the eye of German soldier and war hero Fredrick Zoller. Zoller, it turns out, became famous for killing hundreds of American troops in Italy while perched inside of a bell tower. Zoller's story became so famous that Joseph Goebbels decided to produce a film, titled Nation's Pride, about the event, starring Zoller as himself. With the premiere planned to be held at the Ritz, Zoller convinces Goebbels to change the venue to Shoshanna's theater, which is much smaller, and would make the event more exclusive. After convincing him to do so, Shoshanna and her lover Marcel, who is the projectionist, plan to trap the Germans inside and, using their collection of highly-flammable 35-millimeter nitrate film prints, burn the theater to the ground with the Nazis inside. Meanwhile, British Lt. Archie Hicox, after receiving instructions from Gen. Fenech, meets the Basterds in the French village of Nadine, where he, along with Basterds Stiglitz and Wicki, are to meet German film star Bridget von Hammersmark in a basement tavern to discuss Operation Kino, where the plan is to use explosives to blow up the theater with the Nazis inside during the premiere of Nation's Pride. After many interruptions my enlisted German trooper Wilhelm, who was celebrating the birth of his son Max, and sitting to have a conversation with Gestapo Major Dieter Hellstrom, Hicox gives himself away with a British hand gesture, leading to a shootout, costing the lives of everyone in the tavern, with the exception of Wilhelm and von Hammersmark. Aldo and the Basterds extract von Hammersmark (who kills Wilhelm), and she tells them that not only has the Nation's Pride premiere changed venues, but Hitler himself would be at the premiere. Aldo comes up with the idea to get von Hammersmark to get himself, Sgt. Donny Donowitz, and Pvt. Omar Ulmer into the premiere, with the three posing as her Italian guests.
The night of the premiere arrives, and Shoshanna and Marcel have recorded a piece of film that they attach to Nation's Pride, as part of their plan. Meanwhile, Landa, having gone to the tavern that von Hammersmark was in nights before, meets with her and the Basterds, and taking her to another room, finds that the shoe he found was indeed hers. Landa has his men apprehend Aldo, and throws him into the back of a truck along with another Basterd: Utivich. Landa offers to make a deal with the American general that commands Aldo and the Basterds, and he agrees to allow Operation Kino to proceed as planned, leading to the deaths of Hitler, Goebbels, and the rest of the Nazis at the premiere, in return for a full pardon, full American citezenship, and property purchased by the American government on Nantucket Island. Meanwhile, Zoller goes to chat with Shoshanna, and the two ultimately kill each other. Marcel, after trapping everyone inside, sets fire to the nitrate film print, which starts to burn the theater to the ground. At the same time, Donny and Omar break into Hitler and Goebbels' theater box, shoot both men, and open fire on the trapped Nazis below. The explosives the Basterds brought with them go off, destroying the theater and everyone inside. At the line leading to the American front, Landa and his driver, Herman, release Aldo and Utivich, and surrender to them as prisoners. Utivich handcufs Landa, and Aldo shoots Herman. After discussing the notion of Landa removing his Nazi uniform after the war, Aldo decides to give Landa "a little something you can't take off." After carving a swastika into the forehead of a screaming Landa, Aldo looks at it, and claims it to be his masterpiece, ending the movie.
Inglourious Basterds has been viewed as Quentin Tarantino's best film since Pulp Fiction, and I have to agree. I think that Inglourious Basterds is one of Tarantino's best films, and it really managed to stand out against the summer 2009 box office, as a huge chunk of that summer's releases sucked. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Terminator Salvation, X-Men Origns: Wolverine, Aliens in the Attic, let's just say that the summer of 2009 was incredibly disappointing. If not for Tarantino with Inglourious Basterds, or newcomer Neill Blomkamp with District 9, I feel that the summer of 2009 would have been completely forgettable, save for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and J.J. Abrams' Star Trek. Part of what I enjoyed about Inglourious Basterds is the cast. Big names like Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth, Mike Myers, Samm Levine (one of my favorite personalities from the Movie Trivia Schmoedown), and BJ Novak, upcoming talent such as Christoph Waltz, Melanie Laureant, Michael Fassbender, Daniel Bruhl, and many others making up the cast of this picture, I was completely enthralled with every performance. Much like all of Tarantino's films, the writing is clever and fantastic, and his directing was top notch. Surprisingly, Inglourious Basterds was the first Tarantino film I saw on the big screen, and I enjoyed it so much that I saw it twice. So, I'm giving Inglourious Basterds a rating of 5/5. This is Chuck signing off. Tune in tomorrow as we head to the pre-Civil War American South with Django Unchained, as we continue Tarantino Week.
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