There are very few who make films like Quentin Tarantino. The man has a distinct vision going into whatever project he makes; he plans out just what he wants to make and goes for it with all his might. The man has a special kind of love for cinema and it just oozes from every frame of film that he shoots. In some ways he is a modern day Edward D. Wood, Jr. Wood may have been a terrible filmmaker, but there is no denying that he loved everything he shot. Now, if he had talent, he might have been a Tarantino. In any case, Quentin Tarantino is a director with vision, and love him or hate him, you have to respect the energy he brings to the screen, plus the fact that you will be guaranteed a unique experience.
Inglourious Basterds is another Tarantino film where the man begs, borrows, and steals from a large chunk of cinema history, puts it through the blender and creates a film that is fresh and definitely worth seeing on the big screen. This is a film that Tarantino has been talking about for years. I remember it coming up before he made the Kill Bill films and it had pretty much been written at that point. After seeing the film I can sort of see why, as this is easily his most ambitious film to date. It has a large scope and marches to the beat of a drummer that is distinctly not that of modern Hollywood.
The story is told in chapters and follows a few different threads, all of which converge in the finale. In typical Tarantino fashion, he eschews the three-act format and tells it his way, comprised of chapters that tell the tale in a non-linear fashion. It is a movie that demands that you pay attention, but it is also one that does not require personal involvement. This is the one area in which the movie fails for me. As good as it is, as beautifully pieced together and superbly acted and written, I feel that I was left out in the cold emotionally. The parts of the film that should evoke an emotional response just miss. It is more often the visceral moments that got the biggest reaction out of me. Still, it is a point minimized by the rest of the film and its content.
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