Inglourious Basterds

Written and Directed by Quentin Tarantino

After seeing Inglourious Basterds, it is clear that Quentin Tarantino is still filled to the brim with movie fervour.  The movie takes place in 1940s in German-occupied France. The story simultaneously follows the stories of a young girl, Shoshanna, who escapes execution at the hand of a top Nazi shoulder and flees to Paris, and Lieutenant Aldo Raine and his misfit band of enthusiastic “Nazi killers”, engaged in targeted acts of vengeance.  Raine, played by Brad Pitt, meets up with a famous actress and undercover agent Bridgette Von Hammerstein to plot and attack on prominent leaders of the Third Reich. The stories converge at the cinema in Paris, where Shoshanna has revenge visions of her own.

Inglourious Basterds echoes back to World War II movies, but at its heart is a good old vengeance story.   Surprisingly light on action for Tarantino, the focus is mainly an exercise in suspense and tension. But be warned; there is also plenty of his almost-cartoonish style of violence.  The Cinema is more than a metaphoric tool for a thoroughly satisfying revenge plot on Nazis, and one wonders throughout what may come of Hitler in this blend of history and fantasy. Inglourious Basterds provides drama and comedy and a great excuse to root for the bad guys.

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