Inglourious Basterds
Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, "Inglorious Basterds" is a fictitious, visceral story of WW II in which a small group of American Jewish commandos led by Lieutenant Aldo Raine played by Brad Pitt turn the tables on Hitler and his Nazis. The movie is set in Paris during the German occupation. Besides Pitt, the major character is the Nazi "Jew Hunter" Hans Landa played by Austrian actor Christoph Waltz. Landa is suave, intelligent, shrewd, and deadly. Waltz does an extraordinary job of acting in portraying this difficult character.
The movie movies swiftly and held my attention throughout its 150 minutes. The movie is violent and crude with many scenes of beatings, cuttings, and killings. It captures the brutality of the war. In the movie, while not in fact, the Nazis get a deserved and swift comeuppance. It is a movie of vengeance.
I was engaged with this movie but found it valuable to step back and remember that it is a work of fiction. Some intelligent criticism has suggested that in this film that roles of the Nazis and the Jews has, if not been reversed, at least been somewhat equated. As in some other WW II movies, German top leadership is portrayed as consisting of buffoons. Tragically, WW II did not happen like this.
The movie was absorbing, dark, and wrenching but not especially probing. I did not find it nearly as effective or entertaining as Tarantino's more recent movie, "Django Unchained". Christoph Waltz is outstanding in both films.
Robin Friedman