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Inglourious Basterds was really, really good.
When I first heard of it I had no idea Tarantino was directing it. Fuck, I barely had any idea who Tarantino WAS at that point. I had seen Kill Bill, and I loved them dearly of course, but directors? Good movies? Important things? What are those?*
Now see, I am a girl who likes her Nazis. Before you all freak your shit, I mean I loved learning about war in school. World War II fascinates me; as does Hitler.** So of course the Nazi’s are in my list of “Interesting things I’d like to learn more about and pay attention to.” I love a good Nazi story. I LOVE seeing people become Nazi characters through film; it’s the same as seeing an actor become a serial killer, a pedophile, etc. You see them being ripped from the standards of life as we know it right now and being told “You need to not only show us the lowest form of evil, you need to make us believe it.” See Ralph Fiennes in Schindler’s List. He was intimidating and even, to a point, terrifying as Amon Goethe. His performance stuck out like a bleeding, rotten thumb on the hand of a pretty young girl. And I loved every second of it.
So it’s a little strange to me, I guess, that I didn’t go apeshit crazy over the release of Inglourious Basterds. Well, that’s just me showing my biggest hipster quality around. If people hype up something way too much around me, I’m going to be disinterested. Which is very hypocritical of me to say, seeing as when it comes to things I love, I get over-zealous, hyper and obsessive. Also I’ve never really cared much for Brad Pitt. So I initially looked at this movie as “Oh, just an over-hyped mainstream movie with an actor I dislike. I guess I’ll watch it eventually.”
Some times passes. I fall more in love with Kill Bill. To the point that I’m a little too in love with it. Quentin Tarantino refers to his scripts as girlfriends. Some you marry, some you don’t. If I were to refer to movies as girlfriends, Kill Bill would be one of the girls that I spend years courting, marry her, and take my final breath next to her. We’d be buried side by side, and our children would always keep out photographs on the mantle, a family legend, known for our love for one another.
I figure it’s time I find out a little more about this director of one of my favourite movies. And it’s Quentin Tarantino.***
As of last night, I had seen 3 movies he had written and directed, one he wrote, and Natural Born Killers (which is only technically related to him anymore). I kept looking at Inglourious Basterds thinking, “This doesn’t look like a Tarantino movie. This doesn’t feel like a Tarantino movie (in regards to the trailers), I wonder just how different it is from his other things. Is this actually a Tarantino movie? It’s so, subject matter wise, far from the other things he’s done.”
Then it was watched. I can say now that Inglourious Basterds is definitely a Quentin Tarantino movie. Everything from the characters quirks, the dialogue, the conflicts, the story itself, is a perfect Tarantino movie. I found myself laughing softly when noticing his trademark directing movies; I jumped in my seat a bit when again, the calmest of all the characters pulls a complete 360; I grinned from ear to ear at the closing scene, when yet again, the movie ends on a high note. I felt my eyes sting, and tears form when the words “Written and Directed by Quentin Tarantino” appeared on screen in that recognizable font.
I feel like a fool, for many reasons right now. First and foremost, for not recognizing Quentin as such a remarkable movie maker when I watched Volume 1 of Kill Bill for the first time. Secondly, for waiting this long to watch a movie that appeals to me on all counts. Thirdly, for not accepting my excitement for such a film and letting the disillusionment of hype and attention get to my head. And mostly, for thinking for even a moment that Inglourious Basterds wouldn’t be able to rise up to the quality of his past work. I was so, so wrong.
*I didn’t start watching movies seriously until about 2008-2009. My family didn’t have cable/internet and didn’t have the funds to rent/buy movies for pretty much my entire life up until my late teen; so only when I started making some of my own money was I able to start watching whatever I wanted to watch.
**One day I’ll explain it, but right now isn’t the time.
***Again, one day I will go into depth about why I really got into his films, what I love about his style, etc, but not today
When I first heard of it I had no idea Tarantino was directing it. Fuck, I barely had any idea who Tarantino WAS at that point. I had seen Kill Bill, and I loved them dearly of course, but directors? Good movies? Important things? What are those?*
Now see, I am a girl who likes her Nazis. Before you all freak your shit, I mean I loved learning about war in school. World War II fascinates me; as does Hitler.** So of course the Nazi’s are in my list of “Interesting things I’d like to learn more about and pay attention to.” I love a good Nazi story. I LOVE seeing people become Nazi characters through film; it’s the same as seeing an actor become a serial killer, a pedophile, etc. You see them being ripped from the standards of life as we know it right now and being told “You need to not only show us the lowest form of evil, you need to make us believe it.” See Ralph Fiennes in Schindler’s List. He was intimidating and even, to a point, terrifying as Amon Goethe. His performance stuck out like a bleeding, rotten thumb on the hand of a pretty young girl. And I loved every second of it.
So it’s a little strange to me, I guess, that I didn’t go apeshit crazy over the release of Inglourious Basterds. Well, that’s just me showing my biggest hipster quality around. If people hype up something way too much around me, I’m going to be disinterested. Which is very hypocritical of me to say, seeing as when it comes to things I love, I get over-zealous, hyper and obsessive. Also I’ve never really cared much for Brad Pitt. So I initially looked at this movie as “Oh, just an over-hyped mainstream movie with an actor I dislike. I guess I’ll watch it eventually.”
Some times passes. I fall more in love with Kill Bill. To the point that I’m a little too in love with it. Quentin Tarantino refers to his scripts as girlfriends. Some you marry, some you don’t. If I were to refer to movies as girlfriends, Kill Bill would be one of the girls that I spend years courting, marry her, and take my final breath next to her. We’d be buried side by side, and our children would always keep out photographs on the mantle, a family legend, known for our love for one another.
I figure it’s time I find out a little more about this director of one of my favourite movies. And it’s Quentin Tarantino.***
As of last night, I had seen 3 movies he had written and directed, one he wrote, and Natural Born Killers (which is only technically related to him anymore). I kept looking at Inglourious Basterds thinking, “This doesn’t look like a Tarantino movie. This doesn’t feel like a Tarantino movie (in regards to the trailers), I wonder just how different it is from his other things. Is this actually a Tarantino movie? It’s so, subject matter wise, far from the other things he’s done.”
Then it was watched. I can say now that Inglourious Basterds is definitely a Quentin Tarantino movie. Everything from the characters quirks, the dialogue, the conflicts, the story itself, is a perfect Tarantino movie. I found myself laughing softly when noticing his trademark directing movies; I jumped in my seat a bit when again, the calmest of all the characters pulls a complete 360; I grinned from ear to ear at the closing scene, when yet again, the movie ends on a high note. I felt my eyes sting, and tears form when the words “Written and Directed by Quentin Tarantino” appeared on screen in that recognizable font.
I feel like a fool, for many reasons right now. First and foremost, for not recognizing Quentin as such a remarkable movie maker when I watched Volume 1 of Kill Bill for the first time. Secondly, for waiting this long to watch a movie that appeals to me on all counts. Thirdly, for not accepting my excitement for such a film and letting the disillusionment of hype and attention get to my head. And mostly, for thinking for even a moment that Inglourious Basterds wouldn’t be able to rise up to the quality of his past work. I was so, so wrong.
*I didn’t start watching movies seriously until about 2008-2009. My family didn’t have cable/internet and didn’t have the funds to rent/buy movies for pretty much my entire life up until my late teen; so only when I started making some of my own money was I able to start watching whatever I wanted to watch.
**One day I’ll explain it, but right now isn’t the time.
***Again, one day I will go into depth about why I really got into his films, what I love about his style, etc, but not today