Inglourious
Basterds
I don’t know why the spelling. The
subtitles, on the other hand, to translate the, variously, German, French, and
Italian, are spelt impeccably. And there certainly are a lot of them, carefully
translating, it would seem, the screeds of, we could easily believe,
jaw-breaking dialogue that constantly threatens to overpower this film and,
literally, the actors themselves. And so, to give one example, we have the banal
discussion of a mexican standoff, reminiscent of the “Royale-with-Cheese”
dialogue of Pulp Fiction. Not that
there’s nothing else going on. There is. There are moments of real tension, for
example, and intrigue, and, the overwriting aside, for which reason the action
sometime drags, there are strong elements to the screenplay. The segment with
some of the most left-field reimagining (the story as whole is based on a
revisionist conception of events in WWII) is introduced by a great use of David
Bowie’s Cat People (Putting out fire),
and concludes with some seriously well-handled pyrotechnics.
Something of a mixed bag, then.
Perhaps conceived and released to coincide with the recent 70th anniversary
of the beginning of WWII, there are certainly many moments of what we could
suppose are cathartic for those who suffered at the hands of the Nazis. There’s
also an interesting take on cinema, we all know Tarantino’s love of that
subject, carried through in constant references to the propaganda movies of the
time, and the cinema in which much of the action is set is decorated with
apparently authentic movie posters, including one for The Assassin lives at Number 21, which is perhaps
one of Tarantino’s favourites, and is roughly accurately placed, chronologically speaking.
Tarantino’s movies are also
known for their often graphical violence and their music, and both are present
and correct here. Though set in the 1940s, it’s nice to see that modern music features.
Not exclusively though, it can be said. In general, there is a strong reliance
on music to enhance a mood and, in general, it’s an effective device. The “ear
scene” in Reservoir Dogs quickly became
infamous, and here again we have individuals making their mark with blades. The
bodily harm suffered is gratifyingly sickening, and Tarantino will, thankfully,
let some principals be killed, even audience favourites, so we’re kept on our
toes by that fact, at least. “Once upon a time……in Nazi occupied