Tarantino !!!!!

Well, I finally caught up to Quentin Tarantino’s latest film "Inglourious Basterds" this past week.
It’s hard to pigeonhole Tarantino as a director, because each of his films seems to be in a different genre than the last, but his creativity can’t be questioned.

So, we’ve had the gangster film, the blaxploitation film, the martial arts film and the nostalgic seventies car film. This is the war movie.

It’s based on a cheaply made WW2 film which has a cult following but apart from a nod in the direction of that movie’s central concept - we’re in to original Tarantino territory, with typically violent action sequences punctuating sometimes overlong dialogue scenes. The dialogue, though is typically fast paced and realistic.

As the titles fade, the caption reads "Once upon a time, in Nazi occupied France", which explains the outrageous plot and outcome - which I won’t give away here. But, it comes as no surprise that the Nazis are terrorising the locals, particularly one SS officer who revels in his nickname of the Jew Killer.

The "Basterds" of the title are a squad of American Jewish soldiers led by Brad Pitt in a career high performance. Their mission is simple, to kill as many Nazis as they possibly can. Early on, they are told that pit wants 100 Nazi scalps from each of them. (I noticed that during several scenes, Brad Pitt was delivering his dialogue with an exaggerated John Wayne drawl and seemed to be channeling Wayne’s performance in the classic "The Searchers")

The Basterds are on a mission to infiltrate a film premiere attended by the highest officers of the Nazi high command, and that, basically is the crux of the story.

On the whole - not Tarantino’s best in my opinion. That title still belongs to Pulp Fiction but it’s well worth your time. Although there is one particular scene in a Parisian bar that seems to run for at least 10 minutes too long which seems self indulgent of the director.
But, this being a Tarantino film, you know you’re never far from the next blood splattered shoot out.

Other than that, it’s a fast paced two and a half hour film.

Also this past week, news reached me that Tarantino had confirmed on an Italian TV show that there WILL be a third "Kill Bill" which will be set several years after the first two.

He’s waiting for Uma Thurman to age a few years before filming it. (I’m not sure he can still call it "Kill Bill" though, seeing that Bill died). But the Bride WILL be back, fighting.

See a clip of the interview below.