Inglorious Basterds

There are a lot of lists aound the web about what the best films of all time. The American Film Institute has one, IMDB has one, different critics have one. I guess it's inevitable to put all these works of art into a list, to pit them against each other to achieve their proper rankings. Personally, I enjoy reading these kind of lists. I don't necessarily approve of the numbers/rankings, as I think it is impossible to gauge how one film is better than the other, but I still quite enjoy looking at these lists.

Sometimes, a film comes a long that challenges these lists. There comes a film that presents itself as a beautifully crafted piece of art that sets itself as a competitor for a spot on the list of the greatest. Let me now say that I don't think the movie was made to compete in any list. However, it's a film that can be on those lists.  I firmly believe that in a few years, Inglorious Basterds will belong in the list of the greatest films ever made. Will it be the greatest? I'm not sure. I don't think so, but I won't be surprised if it finds itself on the top spots. It's one of those films that moves you in different directions, sparks curiosity and emotions.

No one can ever deny the genius that Quentin Tarantino is. He has established who he is in the film industry and I'm sure everyone recognizes the talent and passion that Tarantino oozes. He's a pure genius, that's exactly what he is. He was also able to use all the actors to portray a disturbing portrayal of a war story. Everyone in the movie's so good, especially Christoph Waltz. He actually struck fear into me, just minutes into the film. There were times when I just wanted to close my eyes because of the anxiety of watching his character strike fear and terror into others. It really felt real. Another standout was Melanie Laurant. Her portrayal of Shosanna allowed me to empathize with the character. She was really good in this movie. Everyone was phenomenal in portraying their own characters, but these two were exceptional in this movie.

I liked how each section of the movie was assigned a certain chapter. It was like reading a book, except not really. Still it was a nice touch to the film to have it organized that way. It became a smooth transition from one chunk of the movie to the other. The story of the movie was intriguing. There were basically two attempts to kill the Nazis, One was a form of revenge by a Jew, and the other was plotted by Germany's enemy. With that much characters involved, it's interesting to see how they all played a part in the story. Some had a bigger role than the others, but all of them were equally important. That's one of my favorite things about the movie. Every character was relevant, every detail was worth noting, every scene was significant. It showed the caliber of Tarantino's writing, which we all know exudes nothing but brilliance.

I had flashbacks from Schindler's List, one of my all time favorites. It tackled the same era, the same war, the stories of the same people. It had a different approach, it had a different plot, it had different characters, but the main essence of the both films, I thought, were similar. It's about the World War and how the war affected different nations, especially the Jewish nations. Although similar, Inglorious Basterds still set itself apart by having multiple elements to it. There's an element of revenge of a surviving Jew, a gang ready to kill the Nazis for all their atrocious activities,

This movie was very disturbing and very violent. I still liked it, though. Not because of the blood or the violence, but because it's probably one of the best movies created. It was invigorating and depressing at the same time as it showcased a variety of details in the storyline. The plot was strong and structured, the cast gave performances nothing short of excellence, and the whole way the movie was done, from the shots to the music, was painfully breathtaking. It's a movie that future generations will still watch. It's a film that will be discussed for a long, long time.