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“Goin* to
the Show...”
with...
Roland
Willis
-INGLORIOUS BASTERDS-
Starring: Brad Pitt, Melanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz,
Diane Kruger, Daniel Bruhl & Michael Fassbender
Written & Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Running Time: 2 hours, 32 minutes
Rated R - Graphic violence
Writer, director Quentin Tarantino
specializes in dialogue-driven violent
films such as Reservoir Dogs, Natural
Born Killers, Kill Bill and Pulp Fic
tion.
The fact that intelligent, intrigu
ing dialogue precedes wanton acts of
graphic violence does not, in my opin
ion, make his films any less disgusting,
and Inglourious Basterds is the current
example.
The previews have been mislead
ing by suggesting that the movie fol
lows the exploits of Brad Pitt and
his group of Jewish-American soldiers
(The Basterds) dropped into occupied
France during World War II to minder
Nazis, leaving a trail of disemboweled,
dismembered, disfigured (scalped)
Nazis for their comrades to find, and so
terrify the occupying forces.
By focusing on the General Patton
style speech given in a West Virginian
drawl by Lt. Aldo Raines (Brad Pitt)
to his volunteers at the beginning, the
previews also gave the impression that
this film is a comedy.
The film is, in fact, a huge ensemble
piece in which the Basterds are only
a part, and the film is by no means a
comedy.
The connecting link between the
subplots is the S. S. Col. Hans Landa
(Christoph Waltz). He prides himself
as a superior detective who happens
to be employed by the Third Reich as a
Jew hunter.
The movie starts with the arrival
of Landa and his soldiers at the farm
of Perrier LaPadite (Denis Menochet)
and his three daughters.
Landa suspects that a missing Jew
ish family is being hidden on the farm
but, instead of ripping the place apart,
he sits down and has a civilized chat
with LaPadite at the kitchen table.
The dialogue is brilliant but, in Tar
antino style, is a prelude to mayhem.
One of the Jewish daughters,
Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent)
escapes and appears later as the owner/
operator of a cinema in Paris.
A German soldier, Frederick Zoller
(Daniel Bruhl) develops a crush on her
and is not reluctant to tell her that he
is a famous German sniper who single-
handedly dispatched some 300 Ameri
can soldiers.
He further points out that the Ger
man propaganda minister, Goebbels
(Sylvester Groth) has made a full-
length feature film about his exploits
in which Zoller plays himself.
Goebbels is planning a huge premier
for the film but when Hitler shows some
interest at attending the opening night,
Goebbels, with Zoller’s encouragement,
picks on Shosanna’s small theatre as
the perfect place for the movie.
Shosanna and her assistant Mar
cel (Jacky Ido) hatch a scheme to kill
everyone at the screening.
Poor Shosanna is then forced to
have a planning lunch with Goebbels,
his interpreter, Francesca Mondina
(Julia Dreyfus), Zoller and, of course,
Col. Landa who murdered her family
and is now in charge of security.
humane society
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THE ISLANDER, AUGUST 31, 2009, PAGE 9
The dialogue is again great but,
fortunately does not have a violent
ending... yet.
In the meantime, the British have
learned of the presence of the German
high command at the premier and
initiate Operation Kino which involves
sending an explosives expert, Lt. Archie
Hicox (Michael Fassbender) over to
Paris to contact a British underground
agent, the famous German actress
Briget von Hammersmark (Diane Kru
ger) who will arrange a meeting with
the Basterds.
The meeting is held in a basement
tavern filled with drunken soldiers and
an S. S. officer, Major Dieter Hellstrom
(August Diehl).
There follows another dialogue tri
umph which, this time, ends very vio
lently.
The big finale is at the premier
and all the main characters are at the
cinema... Hitler, Goebbels, Shosanna,
Marcel, Zoller, von Hammersmark,
Raines and, of course, Landa.
The international cast is terrific.
Although mainly unknown here, they
are veterans of many TV shows and
movies in their native countries, main
ly Germany.
Christoph Waltz, who plays Col.
Landa, should win an Oscar for his
portrayal of the articulate, cold-blooded
but seemingly nice, reasonable Nazi
killer.
Pitt has all the best lines and excels
in this type of serious yet amusing role
exemplified by his work in Burn After
Reading, Mr. and Mrs. Smith and
Fight Club.
However, Waltz steals the show.
The wonderful acting and dialogue
are, unfortunately, offset by the graph
ic violence.
I don’t enjoy people being scalped,
being beaten to death with baseball
bats or having swastikas carved into
their foreheads with a huge hunting
knife.
My rating is B. “I
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THE FINAL DESTINATION (R)
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INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (R)
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Mon-Thurs 4:20,10:05
SHORTS (PG)
Mon-Thurs 1:00,3:10,5:20,7:30,9:40
DISTRICT 9 (R)
Mon-Thurs 2:00,4:45,7:20,9:55
THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE
(PG-13)
Mon-Thurs 1:40,4:30,7:15,10:00
G.l. JOE: THE RISE OF
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Movie Night
at the Casino
.Sponsohedib,vithf§LSt. Simons Library League
Tell No One
Wednesday,
September 16
7 p.m.
Casino Theater
"Tell No One." France, 2006, directed by Guillaume
Canet. The pediatrician Alexandre Beck misses his
beloved wife Margot Beck, who was brutally murdered
eight years ago when he was the prime suspect. When
two bodies are found near where the corpse of Margot
was dumped, the police reopen the case and Alex
becomes suspect again. The mystery increases when
Alex receives an e-mail showing Margot older and alive.
In French with English subtitles; 125 minutes; Rated R.
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