Glorious Inglourious

At first blush, I did not like Reservoir Dogs; it was the violence. But then, after chatting and chatting about it with people, I took another look and I've been a Quentin Tarantino fan ever since.

Oh, he's not for everyone and I totally understand that. There are many filmmakers that I don't like. I was never a Mel Gibson fan; didn't care for Braveheart. Of course, I feel totally vindicated about that now.

Last night, I saw Inglourious Basterds and loved it! I had that same feeling I have after every Tarantino movie: uh, um, wow, did I like it? Seriously, there is so much to digest that I'm a little dumbfounded.

Leaving the theater, I overheard another patron say, "Tarantino is back." And, I guess that's when it hit me, oh yeah, he is.

The script definitely does not sparkle like Pulp Fiction. But whereas Pulp Fiction was about the script, this movie is about, well, movies. He crams so many visual references into this film, you almost don't care what the characters are saying. In one scene, I saw references to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Godfather, Titanic and Lord knows what else.

Sure, the villain is a Nazi but I don't think he's referencing WWII Nazis, I think he's referencing cinema Nazis; that's what he's riffing on. He's not saying anything about World War II, just World War II movies (among others). He stuffs the film with so many movie references and cinemas and movie critics, it's as if he's beating us over the head with the idea that this is a movie about movies.

And he succeeds. Oh does he succeed. Yes, the violence is awful but by this time, you have to expect that from Mr. Tarantino. I feel like if he doesn't make you squirm at least once, then he thinks he has failed. The thing is, the Nazis commit only 2 of the atrocious acts in the film. The goriest violence is done to the Nazis. And true to a Tarantino movie, the villains all get their comeuppance.

There was one part I loved and I don't even know what it means. The Nazi villain, Landa, pulls a ridiculously large pipe out of his pocket near the beginning of the film, when he discovers Jews hiding at the house of a Frenchman. At the end of the film, Landa discovers that the famous German movie star, von Hammersmark is a double agent working for the Americans. To nab her, he has her pull her own shoe (found at the scene of the crime) out of his coat pocket. It's the same size and color scheme of the pipe he pulled out earlier. It's so cool when he references an earlier scene like that.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. It's a feast of sights and sounds that I felt as if I ate too much rich food at the end. But of course, like any glutton, I'm going back for a second helping.