Inglourious Basterds
2009 · Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Original language: English
- drama
- thriller
- war
The story
In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The Basterds, lead by Lt. Aldo Raine soon cross paths with a French-Jewish teenage girl who runs a movie theater in Paris which is targeted by the soldiers.
What it’s like
Long, tension-stretched takes in candlelit cellars, wood-panelled bars and sun-washed French countryside, with Robert Richardson's saturated, warm-toned photography giving the period a painterly glow that tips into stylised exaggeration. Tarantino's dialogue scenes run long and coiled, built on silences and glances before they erupt, while Ennio Morricone-era needle drops and a few original cues lend a bold, almost operatic pulse. The mood is pulpy, playful and grimly sardonic, a revenge fantasy that treats history with mischievous bravado. Violence is frequent and often graphic: scalpings, bludgeonings and gunfire arrive abruptly, sometimes with comic timing, and a few scenes are prolonged and bloody, so this is not gentle viewing. The emotional register is wry and cathartic rather than mournful, with characters whose bravado masks fear and loyalty. It suits a late-night watch for viewers who enjoy genre play, sharp verbal sparring and revenge stories that refuse solemnity.
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