Arguably one of Tarentino’s best, Inglorious Bastards is an action-packed war extravaganza. It takes place during WW2 and follows a group of Jewish soldiers known as the Inglorious Basterds on a mission to take down the Nazi government to help end the ongoing war. It coincides with the story of Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent). She is a Jew living in Nazi France who owns a cinema- and also happens to be looking for revenge over the murder of her family. After his war success story, Frederick Zoller (Daniel Brühl) looks to hold the premiere of his war film at Shosanna’s cinema in a bid to gain her affection. In classic Tarentino fashion, the events following the Basterds collide with Shosanna’s schemes. The entire cast was amazing, from Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine, Christopher Waltz as Hans Landa and Martin Wuttke as Adolf Hitler. I laughed almost anytime Hitler was on screen as he was just such a dramatic and overexaggerated character and a joy to watch. One casting that did seem fairly random was Samuel L. Jackson as the narrator, he only had 2 voice appearances, although it’s hard to be mad considering its Samuel L. Jackson. One part that stood out to me was the restaurant scene with Shosanna and Hans. This scene was so crucial as it perfectly integrated one of Tarentino’s trademarks into the scene- the prominence of food. In the scene, Hans orders her a glass of milk, which calls back to her early life on a dairy farm. This already helps Hans assert dominance over Shosanna in such a clever way.Furthermore, Hans then tells her to wait for the cream to arrive before she eats her strudel, which again perfectly demonstrates his power over her. Both Waltz and Laurent were fantastic during this scene and really gave their all throughout it. However, I was not a fan of the use of on-screen text to give context to a certain character or scene. I understand that it is necessary for historical context, but I would much rather Sam Jackson narrate more, maybe even call Hitler a bad word! Overall, I have few complaints about this great war fantasy that really shows everything that Tarentino is capable of.
