Spitball Army

–  Inglourious Basterds  (2009)
Despite what you might think – considering the war and Nazi theme – or as you might expect – given the reputation and track record of the film’s director, Quentin Tarantino – Inglorious Basterds is a fun romp.  It’s also a special treat for film buffs: I noticed references to Citizen Kane (deep focus shot through the cabin window) and The Searchers (character walking away into sunlight, framed in a doorway) in the first sequence alone, then stopped counting and just soaked them up. The violence was not as over-the-top as I was expecting (thankfully), and the long tableaux (such as at the La Louisiane basement tavern, and the lunch scene with Joseph Goebbels) really establish a terrific tension and sense of character. In fact, it is the quieter World War II resistance thriller genre that I identified this movie with – films like Casablanca, Plenty, Charlotte Gray, and The Good German – considering its intensity and smoldering sense of fear. The last line of the film (“This just may be my masterpiece”) was perhaps overly indulgent on the director’s part. But, all in all, this is an entertaining, well-crafted film with some outstanding performances (notably Christoph Waltz as the Nazi “Jew Hunter”), typically dramatic music choices and vivid cinematography.