Inglourious Basterds
    Lt. Aldo Raine: "He bashes their brains in with a baseball bat is what he does. Now, Werner, I'm gonna ask you one more goddamn time, and if you still "respectfully refuse," I'm callin' the Bear Jew over here, and he's gonna take that big-ole bat of his, and he's gonna beat you to death with it. Now take your wiener schnitzel lickin' finger and point out on this map what I want to know."

    Sgt. Werner Rachtman: "Fuck you." [pause]
    Sgt. Werner Rachtman: "And your Jew dogs!" [the Basterds all laugh]
    Lt. Aldo Raine: "Actually, Werner, we're all tickled to hear you say that. Frankly, watchin' Donny beat Nazis to death is the closest we ever get to goin' to the movies." [Calling offscreen]
    Lt. Aldo Raine: "DONNY!"
    Sgt. Donny Donowitz: [From offscreen] "Yeah?"
    Lt. Aldo Raine: "We got a German here who wants to die for his country! Oblige him!"

    "The Bear Jew" and "Aldo the Apache" signs the Nazi life warrant for the returned prisoner.

    In this long, but well paced picture of 153 minutes, we are served up a number of chapters, where we are given some early, but very subtle evidence as to the film’s outcome, and why that outcome is merited. The first chapter introduces Waffen SS Colonel Hans Landa (a.k.a. The Jew Hunter), played by Christoph Waltz, who is the officer charged with rounding up Jews, and dispatching them as he sees fit. In this initial chapter, we are reminded, through the well-spoken rhetoric of Col. Landa (he speaks three languages fluently is this encounter) of the inhumanity of the Nazis’ Final Solution.

    Director Tarantino uses all of the good movie making techniques at his disposal to make a very good film. A list of these tools: Employing copious different languages, with subtitles; English, German,, French and some Italian for comic relief, Nearly all actors performing, within their individual collective groups, were native to their character’s homeland, or ethnicity; American gentile played American gentile, Germans played Nazis, British played English, French played French and American Jews played American Jews, and the sets constructed for each scene within their corresponding chapters were perfect.

    One of the Germans playing a German, Hugo Stiglitz, played by Til Schweiger, who is already a killer of Gestapo officers; 13 at last count - all majors. Lt. Aldo Raine broke into a Nazi prison and killed the guards just to make an offer to the condemned Stiglitz:

    Lt. Aldo Raine: [the Basterds are breaking Sgt. Stiglitz out of jail] “Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz?”

[Sgt. Stiglitz nods]

    Lt. Aldo Raine: “Lt. Aldo Raine. These are the Basterds, ever heard of us?”

[Sgt. Stiglitz nods]

    Lt. Aldo Raine: “We just wanted to say we're a big fan of your work. When it comes to killing Nazis…”

    Nazi Guard: “Uggghhhhaahhh…” [one of the Basterds shoots him]

    Lt. Aldo Raine: “...I think you show great talent. And I pride myself on having an eye for that kind of talent. But your status as a Nazi killer is still amateur. We all come here to see if you wanna go pro.”

    This second chapter obviously gives us some real insight into who are the Inglourious Basterds, and what they are determined to succeed. The previous chapter, and the subsequent chapters after Chapter 2, with the Basterds intertwined within those independent narratives, tells of a parallel story of another pissed-off Jew, Shosanna Dreyfus, played by Mélanie Laurent, whose family was slaughtered by Waffen SS soldiers under the command of Col. Landa. She survives the massacre, and finds a new existence under an alias as a theater operator. She bides her time until she can kill Nazis en masse. She will not have to wait long in this Quentin Tarantino fantasy epic.

    Quentin Tarantino combines both stories of pissed-off Jews as the resolution of this far flung tale finds its natural, and most bizarre conclusion in the classic Tarantino style, where the audience has suspended all disbelief and wonders: Could this have happened?

    The quick answer is maybe, especially with Adolf Hitler - the cruel, calculating, madman - becoming by 1944; Adolf Hitler - the cruel, but bumbling, stumbling, drugged up idiot. However, the Fuhrer may have just survived the July 20, 1944 Wolf’s Lair assassination attempt, and possibly would not have participated so closely with the war effort. Director / Writer Tarantino does not let the subtleties of historical accuracy get in his way of telling a very well scripted (early 1940’s version of “Pulp Fiction“) tale.

    Tarantino lined up his cruel villains, and set them against an almost as cruel bunch of Basterds, then throws into the mix a couple of heroines, including Diane Kruger as double agent, Bridget von Hammersmark, for good measure. The viewer is rewarded with a compelling film, that has many of the components of his classic, “Pulp Fiction,” which could also grow on prickly hise of the film connoisseur, as that classic film did, and eventually become its near equal. Only time will tell, but let me take this moment to advise you that despite the gore, and the fantastic narrative, this is a pretty good film. I’m looking forward to buying the video.

    Rated R. Released on DVD December 15, 2009.

      

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