WATCHING INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS AT THE ARCLIGHT IN HOLLYWOOD

On Saturday I had the joy of watching Inglourious Basterds at The Arclight Theater on Sunset & Vine.  

From the  outset, it was clearly  a Tarantino film, the Fleu di Lise played on a grand piano, juxtaposed with classical el mariarchi guitar, in the opening sequence of  the film’s soundtrack, let you immediately know Tarantino was hard at work as an auteur of Hollywood  film. Ironically the music was working. Very clever.

I normally don’t  like violent films. So, every time there was a violent scene, I closed my eyes. Consequently, I heard but did not see 1/4 of Quentin Tarantino’s latest film. That being said, despite the  swastika being carved into the foreheads of Nazi heads with Brad Pitt wielding a jungle knife, I still enjoyed it  a lot.

The way the different storylines all came together, to an explosive end was clever to say the least. Set  in Nazi  Germany occupied France, the Basterds chronicles the fictitious death of Adolph Hitler and Josef  Goebbels in a small town cinema theater.

Let’s face it, Steven Speilberg may have done Shindler’s List, a brilliant masterpiece about The Holocaust, but Inglourious Bastards is a film that is the ultimate in Jewish-Centric cinema. I mean,where else does Hitler’s face get shot up and grossly disfigured at close range by a gun to the point that Freddie Krueger looks pretty.

It’s Italian-American director, Quentin Tarantino giving the Hollywood powers  that be, what they really want. He’s the anti Mel Gibson really, and it’s so working for him in this film as he nudges towards another Oscar nod. Yet politics aside, and looking outside of a Jewish-centric lens for a second, Soshanna’s storyline, brings an aspect of human redemption, that makes her story, a story about humanity and not just the Jewish struggle of survival.

Finding that fine line, amidst spectacular grotesque violence and how she avenged the death of her family, makes this film work and forgivable of  its many violent representations. Redemption happens in this film. That’s why I’m giving it the thumbs up.

To see Shoshanah, a Jewish projectionist, get revenge on Hitler, was actually quite thrilling. And we have to agree with Brad Pitt’s character (Lt. Aldo Raine) in the movie, who gets the last word that “this could quite possibly be [Brad's]  best work yet.”

The Arclight theater was packed at 1pm Saturday (a good sign). People  clapped at the film’s end (another good sign). They left the cinema smiling (perhaps at sheer relief the 2hr 40 minute movie was actually over). And the world seemed  like a better place out of the theater in the  Californian sunlight again.

Because of its very pro-Jewish storyline, rumor has it, that Inglourious Basterds has Oscars buzz written all over it. Hollywood is a very Jewish run town. So it wouldn’t surprise me. One of Quentin Tarantino’s best films to date. Though Pulp Fiction still remains my fav. If  you are 18 or over and love blood, guts and gore. This is your movie hot ticket this year.

The movie  belongs to two  actors Stellar performances: Christoph Waltz playing Nazi  Cpl Wilhem Wicki and Diane Kruger’s brilliant Brigette Von Hammersmark (a German actress, turned anti-Nazi informer). Both were brilliant but Waltz was incredible. At his hands, a glass of  milk, whipped  cream on apple strudel, or the  pristine plaster-of-paris-white of a leg-cast, have never looked so chilling.

To see more info of the film’s ensemble cast, go here to IMDB.Com. RP

August 25, 2009 | Categories: Entertainment Celebrity News | Tags: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Diane Kruger, France, Hitler, Inglourious Basterds, Jews, Josef Goebbels, Lt. Aldo Raine, Nazis, Oscars, Quentin Tarantino, Redemption, Schindler's List, Steven Spielberg | Leave A Comment »