ScreenWize

After some indulgent side trips (Grindhouse, Deathproof), Quentin Tarantino is back to form with this World War II fantasy fiasco. It’s mad, it’s bad and it’s thoroughly entertaining, with some of the most disciplined storytelling Tarantino has produced – even though it’s still nearly three hours long (152 minutes at The 2009 Cannes Film Festival) – taking him one step in the direction of the Coen Brothers style of black humour.

Re-imagining how the war might have ended, Tarantino puts together a revolutionary troup of Nazi slayers – Jewish American soldiers with a mission to strike fear into the hearts of the enemy by slaughtering them in the most gruesome ways possible. Led by red-neck Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), these heroes scalp, knife and torture their way behind enemy lines and ultimately come to the attention of the Fuhrer himself who demands someone do something. The man for the job is the formidable Colonel Landa (Christoph Waltz), an elegant and ruthless SS officer who can smooth talk in many languages, and who opens the film - in a truly gripping sequence – with the discovery of a family of jews being hidden in a French farmhouse. The only one to escape Landa is Shosanna (Melanie Laurent), who ends up in Paris running a cinema during the Occupation, trying desperately to avoid the advances of German war-hero turned movie star Frederick Zoller (Daniel Bruhl).

It’s Shosanna’s cinema where Tarantino’s various narrative threads collide, allowing him some playful references to cinema & filmmaking and a ridiculously over–the-top final shoot out, as the Nazi’s top-brass all descend to watch Zoller’s new film.

The cast – ranging from Eli Roth & Michael Fassbender in Pitt’s team of “Basterds” to Rod Taylor as Winston Churchill and Mike Meyers as a pucker British general – are all clearly enjoying themselves, and produce a flawless ensemble piece, with Christoph Walz stealing the show (he deservedly took out the Best Actor Award at Cannes).

Tarantino structures the movie as a story in five parts, and spices the film’s style with a self conscious Western flavour – clearly paying homage to Sergio Leone – highlighted by much of the music composed by Ennio Morricone. Yes it’s long, but its truly well made, shamelessly self referential, and utterly unpredictable. Watch out for the last line of the film – you’ll find yourself agreeing with it.

Rating:

Filed Under: Reviews by Simon