(latimes.com)
Quentin Tarantino 2009
I approached this movie with caution. Partially because I'm a wimp and can't handle blood and gore. I assumed this film would be filled with violence cuz..after all it's a Tarantino film. I was also nervous of the subject matter.
The preview trailer for the film tells us that Brad Pitt plays a man who will be killing off Nazi soldiers. While that sounds like a good thing, it also seems a bit odd to me when people applaud death of any kind.
(movieblog.ugo.com)
Brad Pitt as Aldo the Apache in Inglorious Basterds
Last night I saw a late showing of the two hour film. I was quite impressed with the acting. I won't be surprised if some of the actors in the film receive Oscar nominations. The actor who I was most impressed with was Christoph Waltz who played Standartnerfuhrer Hands Landa aka "The Jew Hunter."
Waltz's performance was intense and also quite stressful to watch. I can only assume that is precisely the point. Waltz executes a performance of a man who intimates those whom he interrogates by presenting himself in an overly sweet friendly manner but all the while he is quite aware that the other party is shaking in their boots.
While the film's trailer seems to portray a bloody comedy, the film is anything but. There are some humorous moments however it is not the main focal point.
Inglorious Basterds - Trailer
As I watched the film I became increasingly aware of my initial concern prior to viewing the film. In the film the Nazis take much delight in killing Jews. Similarly, Brad Pitt's character and his men enjoy killing Nazis. And then here we are the audience attending a movie about killing. I can only wonder if Tarantino meant the film to be ironic in any way.
As my curiositiy intensified I decided to peruse Youtube.com to see if I could find any revealing interviews from Tarrantino, Pitt or any of the film's participants. Unfortunately, I didn't find out anything about his motive to make the film other than he enjoys period pieces and has wanted to make a World War II flick for quite some time. Tarantino repeats in several interviews that the film took him 10 years to complete. The film grew in size and he took on other projects all the while. Tarantino also tells us that "Basterds" is spelled with an "e" rather than an "a" as that is how the word is pronounced when spoken. Also, he says it is "Tarantino spelling."
The film had me re-visiting questions I've asked myself in the past. Can true pacifism really work? Can war really be avoided? Is there ever a just war?
The film actually had me thinking back to a film entitled The Life of David Gale. In the film professor David Gale is accused of a terrible crime and is sentenced to death row. The film is very much a socio-political film disguised in a intense drama. In the film one of the actors who plays a professor who is part of a anti-death penalty group speaks to the masses. She tells her audience that when you sentence people to die you become victim to blood lust.
Is blood lust appropriate in the case of Hitler and his army? Eli Roth who plays "The Bear Jew", a man who kills Nazis with a bat, says in an interview that as a Jewish American the film is everything he's ever fantasized about.
A part of me really felt uncomfortable with this and I had to really think about why. Of course the Nazis were evil and there are many KKK and neo nazis that exist today and their practices and beliefs are dispicable. I do not condone Nazism (obviously) but I find it sad when it seems the only real option in terms of removing evil is through slaughter.
Remember when Sadaam Hussein was killed? Many cheered and of course I can understand why. However, I still find it a sad event when taking a life seems to be the only way to end the cruelty.
When I watched Inglorious Bastards I was not applauding at the deaths of the Nazis. I was sorrowed by the blood lust on both sides.
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