Inglorious Basterds

Tarantino takes no prisoners

Lover: Taken from IMDB
“Inglorious Basterds makes no apologies, asks for no forgiveness, it's a no holds barred assault on the senses. Tarantino doesn't care if he offends, if he steps all over stereotypes and clichés, this is film making at it purest. It's great to see a film maker whose work clearly isn't interfeared with by the powers that be. Tarantino is a master of effortlessly cranking up immense tension and suddenly mixing it with laugh out loud moments; you're not sure if you should be looking away in disgust or rolling around laughing, either way it's a roller coaster and one not to be missed! It's not for everyone and I'm unsure how Germans will take the film, certainly if you're not a fan of Tarantino's style, this may be a little hard to swallow, but never-the-less, it is a film which simply has to be seen. No self respecting film fan should miss this. And the performance of Christoph Waltz... Oscar don't you dare ignore him!!”

There is no doubt that Tarantino is a very talented director and that Basterds is one of his better films, however I think he’s films can blur between talent and arrogance.

Hater: Taken from IMDB
“Seriously disappointing performance by Brad Pitt and Q T, the plot is very superficial and lame, and, unless indirectly intended, this film actually glorify the Nazis and portrays them as men of honor, and show that the Jewish people are deceiving, cant keep promises and bloody vicious. ((THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SPOILER)) Hitler together with the most notorious Nazis are attending a stupid plot less movie about the killing of 300 Italian soldiers in a small cinema theater in Paris is unbelievably ridiculous. the Nazis laughing and hooraying each killing in the movie as if watching a basketball game STUPID, the deal at the end is lame. whats really appalling is that the movie earned great reviews and is ranked here in the 40s amongst the greatest 250 films. will not be surprised if it harvested many awards, including Oscars, as well. the movie is simply a kissing ass to the Jewish people, but hey reconsider, its not even doing a great job doing that. it truly dwarfed the whole Nazi - Jews conflict and a pure insult to all who fought and suffered from the tyranny of the Nazis.”

This is a bit of a touchy review and indeed a touchy subject, I mean ptraying the Nazi’s has “honourable men” may glorify them but in most cases they were honourable men. Most of the German army were proud fighting men who risked their lives just was much as the allies. The higher echelons of the Nazi party were of course not so honourable and the atrocities that occurred were mainly due to the decisions and the propaganda created by the few. I think that’s what this guys is going for? This armchair critic also contradicts himself and I quote “show that the Jewish people are deceiving, cant keep promises and bloody vicious”. He then goes on to say “the movie is simply a kissing ass to the Jewish people”, hmm well whatever, I don’t think it does either.

What I thought:

The Hater review is a little mis-directed but I can see why people will hate this movie. It takes some huge liberties with history but then it does start “once upon a time”! I liked this movie and I though it was a return to form after the convoluted and arrogant mess of Kill Bill!

The dialogue is sharp, intelligent and witty exactly what you expect from the uber-geek auteur. His control over tense scenes is still second to none; just watch the scene in the bar, utterly compelling viewing or the early scene that Christopher Waltz announced his triumphant entrance onto the world stage. I mean he was fantastic in this, one of the finest performances of the last few years without doubt.

Tarantino’s arrogance in this film is only that he knew he would get away with taking such historical liberties, apart from that this is a fine alternative reality WW2 movie!

The Buzz 17/08/10

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More Salt madame?

The History of WW2 in movies and TV…

Part 1: Pre-war Germany, the war clouds begin to gather

It was a time of political unrest, WW1 “the war to end all wars” had left Europe a bloody mess and Germany was left not just to lick its wounds but pay the price. Some say the Treaty of Versailles was too hard on Germany some will say otherwise; the important thing to remember is that the German people thought it was. A German Solider and veteran of WW1 Adolf Hitler certainly did and it created a monster. Hilter was a talented public speaker and took advantage of his countries unrest to create the Nazi Party.

Hitler: The Rise of Evil
Director: Christian Duguay
Main Cast: Robert Carlyle, Matthew Modine, Live Schreiber, Peter O’Toole

To Portray this part of history is a bit of a pitfall for any filmmaker, how do you portray a man so recognized as one of the Evilest men of our time. The Rise to Evil shows you a Hitler that seems socially inept and even a little unhinged at times. However from witness’s accounts at the time Hitler was actually very charming, he would become frantic when talking publicly (as seen in numerous videos of his speeches) and towards the end of the war he was particularly erratic. Not this early though.

That’s probably the biggest niggle about this 2 part TV movie made in 2003, there are several historical inaccuracies; ranging from dates, people being omitted or played differently from how history portrays them. There are other liberties taken but as a portrayal of pre war Germany and the rise of the Nazi party it’s very good.
Robert Carlyle has the difficult task of getting the man on screen and we all know he’s very good at the psychotic characters. His Hitler is morose and un predictable, not to mention crazy but not really how the real Hitler was at that point in his life, according to the history books he was more charming. When Carlyle’s performance really takes off is in his public speaking scenes where he has clearly studied the footage of Hitlers speeches.

The production is fantastic and looks incredible and the rest of the cast give committed performances, overall Hitler: The rise of evil looks and feels great but it does glorify this man slightly and does turn Hilter into a bit of a pantomime villain. Especially in the earlier scenes when he’s played a bit like young Voldermort from Harry Potter. Also would have preferred this film if it had been in German or that the cast at least attempted German accents but like I said little niggles in what is quite an enjoyable period piece, just don’t treat it like a history lesson.

Country of Origin: UK
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 177 mins

The History of WW2 in Films and TV

The number of people to have lost their lives during WW2 varies between 62 million and anywhere up to 72 million people. The truth is we will never really know the exact figure, much like people born after that time will never really understand the sacrifice made or the atrocities that occurred.

I believe that one of most important and indeed one of the best ways of educating people in what happened is through our media, or more specifically TV and Film. There are literally hundreds of films and TV programmes that portray WW2 and events surrounding it. Some of them are true stories like Band of Brothers or Schindlers List; others take a few liberties like Tarantino’s Inglorious Bastards, all of them have one thing in common; delivering a message of some sort, even dead snow; the Nazi zombies are a personification of peoples fear of the SS and Hitler's Henchmen.

My aim with this is to go through a history of what was one of the costliest conflicts known to man. To mark out the events that made the War, the feel of pre-war Europe, the Germans advance and Blitzkrieg, The Allies turning the tide and the aftermath and show them as they are portrayed by our films and TV. Are these films historically accurate, does this TV series truly capture what it was like? These are just some of the questions I’ll tackle on my way. This is only the introduction and these updates will be sporadic to say the least, due to researching as i go and the time it takes obtaining the more obscure things to watch.

I hope you find it as interesting as I did researching it.

Peter Bee (Beeonfilm)