So I was having a Quentin Tarantino overload. I watched Inglourious Basterds in the afternoon and came back home and watched Reservoir Dogs which was released in 1992. So on to the Basterds first.
*ing : Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Melanie Laurent,
Directed by : Quentin Tarantino
Inglourious Basterds is about a group of sadistic American Jews who are out to avenge the Holocaust and kill the Nazis brutally. They see their mission to spread fear among the officials of the Third Reich and each enlisted bastard has a duty to scalp a 100 Nazis. Leading the mission is Aldo Raine(Pitt). In a parallel story, Nazis continue their Jew extermination and heading this is Col. Hans Landa(Waltz) who is polite, humourous and menacing at the same time. Melanie Laurent plays a Shoshanna who is a theatre owner and has her own agenda against the Germans.
All the plot lines cross each other at some point. As with all Tarantino movies there is a lot of violence and a huge amount of bloodshed juxtaposed with some comical situation. People get killed at the drop of a hat while the context of disposal might be inherently funny. Now while we know that the Nazi brutality was relentless, and whatever the savage treatment the Jews dish out to the Germans is justified, but after a while the movie's attempts at black comedy fall flat. There is really nothing funny about a man getting rammed in the head by a baseball bat for example.
This is the quintessential Tarantino though, which is seen from the scene in the cellar when the Basterds have a rendezvous with their contact. The dialogues, the drama and the tension is absolutely gripping. Unfortunately such scenes are few and far between. This is because the rest of the scenes have been unnecessarily stretched that make this supposed war movie extremely boring. The movie is atleast forty minutes too long.
If it is slightly watchable, it is because of Christoph Waltz and his mind-blowing performance as the opportunistic Colonel Landa. Also noteworthy is Melanie Laurent who brings real iciness to her character. But they cannot carry this movie alone. Brad Pitt, who is an above average actor anyway, gives perhaps the most pathetic performance of his career and most of the time you can't even understand what he is saying. The rest of the basterds are forgettable since all they have to do is to look mean and kill other people.
Tarantino delivers a real turkey this time which is neither an entertaining spoof, nor a solid war drama. His fictional take on WWII is a senseless collection of violent scenes serving no purpose and no justification. It is a let down from the man who gave us Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill and .........
Reservoir Dogs
*ing : Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi
Directed by : Quentin Tarantino
Now this is a movie ladies and gentlemen. Seven strangers get together for the perfect robbery - sounds vaguely familiar. Ofcourse our own desi version Kaante was inspired from this one.
The movie runs in a non-linear narration about the botched robbery when it is discovered that one of the men is a police informant. So the movie which takes place entirely in a warehouse delves into the past of the men and takes us step by step in discovering the culprit among them
While I cannot rate the performances brilliant but all the actors , Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth and Steve Buscemi are just cool and do justice to their roles. Perhaps the only complaint one could make is that not all characters were explored fully. But that is a minor quibble as compared to the extremely sharp script and dialogue. Violence is cool and this movie is an instant classic.
There are two Tarantinos here. One, a creative genius who with his taste for delirium dazzles us with his uncharacteristoc cinema while the other is stuck in a moment , flogging a dead horse under the impression that the more blood you draw(aesthetically ofcourse QT style), the more glorious the message. Inglourious basterds is made on a larger scale and budget but Reservoir Dogs is substance with a hell of a lot style. Will the real Tarantino please stand up?
The movie runs in a non-linear narration about the botched robbery when it is discovered that one of the men is a police informant. So the movie which takes place entirely in a warehouse delves into the past of the men and takes us step by step in discovering the culprit among them
While I cannot rate the performances brilliant but all the actors , Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth and Steve Buscemi are just cool and do justice to their roles. Perhaps the only complaint one could make is that not all characters were explored fully. But that is a minor quibble as compared to the extremely sharp script and dialogue. Violence is cool and this movie is an instant classic.
There are two Tarantinos here. One, a creative genius who with his taste for delirium dazzles us with his uncharacteristoc cinema while the other is stuck in a moment , flogging a dead horse under the impression that the more blood you draw(aesthetically ofcourse QT style), the more glorious the message. Inglourious basterds is made on a larger scale and budget but Reservoir Dogs is substance with a hell of a lot style. Will the real Tarantino please stand up?
