As the quintessential modern auteur director, to date Quentin Tarantino has made nine films. He has gone on to reinforce the idea that his tenth would be his final. Considering this, the bulk of his work has already been viewed by his greatest fans. This will be the toughest debate for film enthusiasts forever and ever, but, of the nine he has released thus far none are as skilled, as highly conceived, nor as memorable as Inglorious Basterds.
It can be agreeably argued that Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is the culmination of Tarantino’s life’s work, and so it is a close second to Inglorious Basterds. However, Basterds is unlike anything else he has ever made and for many other reasons should be lauded as the finest film of Tarantino’s film career.
Inglorious Basterds struck theatres in 2009 and made a Tarantino record of 321.5 million dollars (subsequently beaten by Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and his current top performer Django Unchained). Prior to this point, Tarantino was best known for making contemporary action-crime flicks like Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction, or pastiche genre pieces like Kill Bill or Death Proof. Basterds was his first foray into historical fantasy and remains his best. Typical to a Tarantino movie, Basterds’ roster is chock-full of notable high caliber actors and actresses like Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, and an at-the-time relatively unknown Michael Fassbender. It also featured the American debut of Christoph Waltz. Again, typical of a Tarantino movie, its story is divided up into several asynchronous chapters closing in on a dramatic unforgettable climax.
Timeless Period Piece
By setting Inglorious Basterds in the Second World War Tarantino has established the movie in one of Hollywood’s most popular and exciting time periods. The Second World War is an era frozen in the cinematic memories of all audiences. If one were to watch his contemporary set films like Jackie Brown or Pulp Fiction the clothing styles or the lack of smart technology would age them poorly.
An equivalent experience would be like rewatching an early 21st-century spy thriller (The Bourne Identity for example), and marveling at the old CRT computer monitors and flip phones. The Second World War provides this epic a visual quick hand. The Nazis are intuitively recognized as the big bad evil guys. The Allies, both the Basterds and the British Commandos, are automatically the heroes (despite some of their more grotesque behaviors). More specifically, the plight and rage of the Jewish escapee, Shosanna Dreyfus, is even more dire and pronounced in context of the historical tragedies of the war. With a plot about the assassination of the entire Nazi High Command, what is there to protest against? The entire premise is easily internalized and celebrated by the audience.
Cavalcade of Characters
Within that, Tarantino introduces the audience to some of the most memorable characters of his film collection, and perhaps even all recent cinema. To name three, Brad Pitt’s Lt. Aldo “The Apache” Raine is a bold and brutal squad leader of what is essentially the Allied equivalent to the Nazi’s mobile killing squad. The Basterds are an ironic and comedic inversion of the Einsatzgruppen. Eli Roth boosts the Apache’s ranks as the baseball bat-wielding tough Donny “The Bear Jew” Donowitz.
Finally, the unforgettable and terrifying SS detective Hans Landa, notoriously known as “The Jew Hunter.” Hans Landa alone makes Inglorious Basterds the definitive Tarantino viewing. He is more than a Nazi villain; he is the visible manifestation of a fox. He is clever, cunning, and vicious while remaining charismatic, sociable, and restrained. Waltz’s performance won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. It is mesmerizing and as unbelievable the first time to see as the last.
Immersion 101
If one were to watch Tarantino’s movies from first release to most recent, one would see the growth and development of a highly skilled and talented director. In the beginning, he was about action, rampant violence, and thoroughly expressive vocal characters. As his abilities grew, and likely as his budgets grew, he became more able to shoot richer and more stylized scenes. Compare the opening act of Inglorious Basterds to anything he made prior and there is a clear and stark contrast of his control over the camera.
The landscape shot of the pastoral French countryside as Shoshanna runs for her life away from the taunting Hans Landa is unassailable. The closest he has come since to toping that scene is the driving sequence in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and arguably the visit to Spahn Ranch in the same movie. Tarantino’s choice of music in Basterds enhances the material as well. Typically, Tarantino uses a choice list of eclectic pop songs as soundtrack to his films. Here, he uses a rousing and evocative score (such as the opening orchestral “The Green Leaves of Summer”), even including a single modern piece by David Bowie.
One hopes Tarantino’s final film becomes his most celebrated and remembered. He is a master filmmaker who has provided the art of cinema with a distinct wave of awesome movies. Other than a potential case for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Inglorious Basterds is the finest movie Quentin Tarantino has ever made.