I saw Inglourious Basterds before you, Achtung Basterds?

What audiences have come to know and love of Quentin Tarantino can be expected in his most recent opus, Inglourious Basterds.  His latest release since 2007’s Deathproof,  deals with a group of Jewish Allied Soldiers engaged in a no holds bars all out terror campaign against the Nazi regime in German occupied France.  The Basterds cruelty is aimed to cause a panic that will reverberate all the way back to Berlin.  However what audiences don’t know is what it will be like to have Tarantino turn back the clock almost 70 years doing his first film that isn’t set in modern times or North America.    

 

True to Tarantino’s artistic storytelling style, he weaves the film chapter by chapter, presenting five in all.  Each chapter is filled with cleverly written dialogue, showcasing actors transitioning from German to French to English as the scenes require.  Quentin’s ability to find actors that could seamlessly move from language to language is perhaps most astonishing.  In particular, it’s the performance of Chritoph Waltz(an unknown to English speaking viewers that is unless you fancy yourself a German Cinema aficionado) that steals the show.  Mr. Waltz is the "Jew hunter" the clever and multilingual colonel that works his way throughout most the movie, just as despicable as he is debonair. 

 

On the other hand the performances of the "basterds" were great as well.  Brad Pitt as their leader is likable and ruthless Tennessee country boy turned Nazi killer(imagine Benjamin Button staying 30 for the whole movie and scalping Nazi’s and voila you have Lt. Aldo Ray).  Fellow Basterd, Eli Roth, known to the Germans as the "Bear Jew", plays what could be best described as a Brooklyn street Jew with something of a fetish for employing baseball bats for more than baseballs. The Basterds roll through France, living up to the name the Nazi's have endowed upon them.  

 

Perhaps my only problem with the movie is that it didn't show enough of the basterds.  We don't ever see why they were selected and are only teased with small doses of the mayhem they cause to Hitler’s forces.  Also we don’t have any great battle scenes, shots of troops storming the beaches, or american prisoners jumping motorcycles over barbed wire fences(Steve McQueen!).  The movie lacks the action often shown in classic WWII movies.  As can be expected Mr. Tarantino host numerous quality actors playing small roles like a master chef using only a dash of his best spices to bring out a delizioso taste.  One might speculate that Kill Bill One and Two was enough and dividing up the load into two films would be the case for the Basterds.  However what Inglourious Basterds lacks in action and character development it makes up for in a history altering story-line that only Quentin could conjure.