Extraordinary Basterds

The Plot: Set in World War II, the film follows the exploits of a group of Jewish U.S. Army soldiers behind enemy lines, led by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), with one mission and one mission only – to kill each and every Nazi they come across and spread as much fear and chaos as possible while doing it.  When word comes that the entire German high command, including Adolph Hitler, will be present at a Nazi propaganda film premiere in Paris, the target is too tempting to pass up, both for the “basterds” and for the theatre’s owner Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent), who has her own reasons for wanting revenge on the Third Reich in general, and Col. Hans “The Jew Hunter” Landa in particular.

The Verdict: The plot of the film is simple, and in no way groundbreaking. The film’s strength is in the WAY it’s being told. The fun thing about Quentin Tarantino films is that you can tell they were made by someone who loves movies; not cinema – movies. His voice is that of a fan who has, somehow, been allowed to live the dream of the perfect job, and “Inglourious Basterds” is a full-throated shout.

If you’re the squeamish type, this might not be the film for you. Visually, the film is very similar to “Kill Bill,” from the “chapter” titles to the sometimes over-the-top violence. There are, however, scenes that are primarily dialog that go on, that would, in a hands of a less-confident director, become tiresome. I never felt that in this film. Those scenes, from the first scene at a French dairy farm to a spy mission in a bar’s basement, play their dialog as if it was music, and the music builds to a crescendo that is at once anticipated and still shocking.  The final scene in the theater is brilliant, both visually and from a story-telling perspective.

Bottom line, if you like Tarantino’s films, this is the best one since the “Kill Bill, Part One.”

Interesting Tidbits:

• Why the misspelling in the title? Tarantino said he’d never tell. “You do an artistic flourish like that,” he said, “and to explain it would just take the piss out of it and invalidate the whole stroke in the first place.”

• His performance in this film is good enough that I officially forgive Brad Pitt for his part in the film “Babel.” If you knew how much I hated that piece of overwrought Oscar-bait, you could fully appreciate that level of praise.

• This isn’t a documentary – don’t write a history paper based on this film. You’ll know what I mean when you see it….