They always say war is hell. Saving Private Ryan and Meat Locker sure made it look that way. Most of Quentin Tarantino’s movies look like hell too, so if you combine Tarantino and war, you should get hell squared right?
Wrong. You get art. And comedy. In Basterds, this artsy, funny feel comes from the acting, script, imagery, and even text used to tell the story of a band of bloodthirsty Jewish-Americans seeking revenge on the Nazi Party.
Let’s start with the acting. Brad Pitt was genius in his portrayal of a backwoods general from Appalachia, merciless and brash. Much of the film’s comedy comes from his character. Then there is every single actor in the Jewish squadron, who, whether they are actually Jewish or not in real life, perfectly captured the crazed rage of revenge of their characters. The casting of Hitler was nothing short of hilarious. Bust most impressive was the character Shoshanna, played by Melanie Laurent. Here was a woman who had everything taken from her by the Nazis, and for the rest of her life battled between quiet anonymity and deep-rooted hatred. No one else could have so beautifully juxtaposed both emotions as Laurent did.
The script and imagery also contributed to the tone of the film. It took a gravely serious topic (The Holocaust/War/Death), and turned it into comedy. It wasn’t the mainstream version of comedy, however. Not like Tropic Thunder. No, this was real, smart, dark comedy that gave the film its artistic look. Like brutally beating Nazis with baseball bats and shouting about baseball, or shooting Hitler 10331357987 times only to die themselves.
But possibly the most artistic (and almost out of place) part of the film was the text and soundtrack. The text was colorful, jazzy, and loud and the soundtrack was an eclectic mix of rock and roll. Like I said, almost out of place, but perfect.
I have to say I was disappointed that the Basterds themselves didn’t get more character development. If you haven’t already, check out “Reservoir Dogs” to see a gang of violent guys you can care about.