Inglourious Basterds (2009)

They say that War has no heroes, no romantics, and there are only those unhappy, cowed, and completely exhausted people deprived of hope and faith for a better tomorrow. Obviously, this is one of the beliefs that guided Quentin Tarantino in his blockbuster Inglorious Bastards.

Several story lines are intertwined in this film, with several main characters paying off their old scores to the Nazis and fascism in general. A Jewish girl, whose family was shot by the SS death squad; a German army's sergeant Hugo Stiglitz, who understands at some point that fascism is not worth losing humanity; a squad of eight heavily armed Jewish-American soldiers leading a guerrilla war in the forests of France; an SS officer, who has a sharp mind and instincts; an English spy, and other characters in the movie have nothing in common, except that they take part in a devastating anti-Nazi war.

As always, the cast in this Tarantino's movie is terrific. There might be no role that Brad Pitt cannot play. Just remember his acting in such movies as The Tree of Life and Fight Club! Brad Pitt gets the perfect feel of his role of Lieutenant Aldo Raine. Christopher Waltz played his part magnificently. His vision of the role of an arrogant SS officer, the most successful hunter of the Jews, perfectly fits into the overall film's slightly chaotic atmosphere. Til Schweiger is an excellent fit for his role of Hugo Stiglitz.

As director and producer, Quentin Tarantino has created about 40 movies, including Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, "Kill Bill", and others. While working on the script for Inglorious Basterds, the original idea has been changed several times. Tarantino originally thought it would be something similar to Spaghetti Westerns, but afterwards he decided to split the film into several different stories revolving around common characters.

The first story depicts Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), nicknamed "The Jew Hunter", who comes to a French farmer Perrier LaPaditu suspecting him of sheltering a Jewish family, the Dreyfus. In a very convincing manner, Landa makes Perrier to show him the Dreyfus, and the family is shot. However, a nineteen-year-old girl, Shoshana Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent) manages to escape.

The second story revolves around the squad of American-Jewish soldiers led by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt). The squad, called by the Nazis "Inglorious Bastards", works in France, where they catch Nazis and mercilessly murder them, taking their scalps off. After this team makes its raids, nobody is left alive, except for just a few lucky soldiers that are marked with a special scar on their forehead.

The third story revolves around Shoshana Dreyfus, who hides under a French name "Emmanuelle Mimieux" and owns a cinema, inherited from her uncle. A German soldier, Fredrick Zoller meets Shoshana and boasts of his deed – in 3 days, he shot 3 hundred American soldiers. Zoller becomes a hero featured in a German film "Nation's Pride" (Stolz der Nation) that will be shown in Shoshana's cinema, with all known Nazis and Hitler invited.

The fourth story tells us about the mission "Cinema". A British film critic, Lt. Archie Hickox is sent to Paris, where he meets the "Basterds" team and a German actress Bridget Von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger). They have to get to the premier and blow up the Nazis.

The fifth story dwells on the premier of the German film in Shoshana's cinema. The Basterds carefully prepared their plan, but Hans Landa stays alerted. However, none of them knows that Shoshana has also something in her mind as such high-ranking people gather in her cinema.

Half of the screenplay (about 2.5 hours), the characters will now and then speak English, then German or French. The film is watched easily. Endless dialogues involve us in the action, while a caustic humor complements the situation perfectly.

Tarantino doesn't open any deeply buried and philosophical questions, but instead he shows every moment in a cheerful and tasteful way and depicts how all the characters are gripped by the conventions and stereotypes of war, since they are all the "Inglourious Basterds".