Day 5: Inglourious Basterds

The best word to describe Inglourious Basterds is awesome. Really, there is no other way I can describe it. Throughout the entire movie, you are glued to the screen. The very idea of looking at your watch, or having to go to the bathroom, is a fallacy, a myth, an ignorant proposition. Who has times for such things, when so much can happen in just a mere second?

It would be defined as a war film because it takes place in France during the Nazi occupation, but it is in truth a Spaghetti Western with World War II imagery. The arrival of the strangers in a hostile environment, the woman that takes charge, the larger than life villain...

Speaking of larger than life villains, Hans Landa is just engrossing as played by Christoph Waltz. That man deserves an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Of course, he won’t get it. The Oscars stopped having any real meaning years ago – how else can you describe Jeremy Goldsmith getting only ONE Oscar for Best Score, when he deserved at the very least three

Two interesting things about this movie: first, that despite its title, the Basterds are not the focus here. In fact, it’s much more focused on the French and Nazi actors. Even more interesting is how rotten the French and Basterds are portrayed, as compared to the Nazis. The Basterds are sociopaths, loving violence and torture. The French will gladly resort to terrorism. However, the Nazis are not portrayed as doing either of these things or anything else that could be considered cruel or inhumane, with the exception of being racists.