"Once upon a time in Nazi-occupied France," as the movie has been tagged, a rough and tumble Tennessee tough-guy, Lt. Aldo Raine (Pitt) put together a small team of Jewish-American soldiers. Dressed as civilians scouring France, these so called INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS built quite a reputation as the most violent and twisted soldiers the United States had to offer. Fear spread through Nazi ranks as the brutality of the Nazis was returned via these vengeful young men.
But Quentin Tarantino's latest tale offers far more than its advertised gore-fest. BASTERDS is a genre-bender made of multiple stories tightly woven until their epic convergence. As always, Tarantino manages to slip in laughs among cringes, all held up by dutiful, beautiful dialogue. As well, BASTERDS is a dogpile of characters, each notable in his or her own right. Topping the list of greats is Lt. Aldo Raine and his endless array of southern style euphemisms. Crossing the spectrum is the easy-to-hate (but perfectly acted) Col. Hans Landa (Waltz), a Nazi detective who keeps no more than a step behind any Ally plot. And Shoshanna Dreyfus (Laurent), a beautiful young Jewish woman hiding under a French alias who finds the chance to impact the war like she never imagined.
For a war movie, BASTERDS is great. For espionage it takes another step up. And in the grand scheme of memorable stories with unforgettable characters, Tarantino has reached a peak unseen by most writer/directors in the Hollywood gully of fast flowing baloney.
As for the spelling, Tarantino himself has given no straight answer. Suspected is that it hints to Pitt's Raine as not being full literate as it is seen briefly on the stock of his rifle, engraved INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS.
