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EDITOR'S PICK
Rating:
**1/2
Everything that comes out of Hollywood need not be always perfect. Even if the
filmmaker at the helm of affairs is none other than Quentin Tarantino, an
institution in himself, one can`t get extraordinary results in each of his
outings. However, from Tarantino one did expect a lot more out of this 150
minutes long drama.
`Inglourious Basterds` doesn`t quite turn out to be the kind of violent action
entertainer that one would have expected. In chapter after chapter (as is the
trademark Tarantino`s story telling style), there is an overdose of dialogues,
which makes it a little too tedious an affair. Yes, there are blazing guns and
dead bodies falling too - but all of that is only intermittently.
What one gets to see all the time is conversations and more conversations. One
still sticks on as the plot is exciting and one does look forward to how it
would end. Reason being that `Inglourious Basterds` is a fictional tale where
the target is none other than Hitler himself. There are multiple groups who want
him dead.
A team called `Inglourious Basterds`, which is led by a First Lieutenant (Brad
Pitt) is forming its own plan along with Diane Kruger, a film actress. On the
other hand a civilian (Melanie Laurent), who owns a theatre in France, also
plans to kill 350 odd Nazis in collaboration with her boyfriend (Jacky Ido).
While these multiple stories running in isolation unfold through various
chapters, audiences are kept privy to all the plans. And while the various
characters are unaware about what`s brewing elsewhere, as audiences you root for
them to reach their common goal.
All chapters are important though and very integral to the film. A German war
hero (Daniel Br?ooing an uninterested Melanie, Brad Pitt`s soldiers killing
Nazis, a detective (played by Christoph Waltz) finding Jews and nailing them
down, Melanie making her own silent plans, Diane conspiring with the Basterds to
go for the kill in Melanie`s theatre - they all are integrated quite well for
the film to reach an explosive end. Now if only this end would have come
quicker, the film would have been a more engaging watch.
From the performance standpoint, the film is Christoph Waltz`s show all the way.
As the antagonist of the film, he creates terror even as he wears that constant
smile on his face. On the other hand, Brad Pitt comes on the scene
intermittently. Melanie is avaerage though Diane looks every bit the actress
part that she is required to play.
The film is set in the 1940s in the times of the World War II. This is not a war
film though if one is expecting battlefields, gun shots, air strikes or maimed
bodies. Instead, just as is the tradition with Tarantino films, Inglourious
Basterds has a touch of humour lacing the most dramatic of sequences.
One is used to seeing blood all over in Tarantino`s films, something most
visible in the Kill Bill series. However, Inglourious Basterds
is more in the genre of Pulp Fiction or the lesser known
Jackie Brown where drama took centre stage.