What aunt_zelda Thinks: Inglourious Basterds

[aunt_zelda]

Yeah yeah yeah, I know, I'm late (again) for the bandwagon. 

I was misled about this movie. My impression was that this was about an hour and a half of Brad Pitt and Eli Roth and some other guys beating "Nat-zees" to death with baseball bats and scalping them, and then they burn down a movie theater containing Hitler and various high-ranking Nazi dudes. 

Turns out … we don't actually see much of the Basterds beating Nazis to death. It's mostly implied, and told from the point of view of high ranking Nazis and people who've only heard rumors of the Basterds' work. 

Which … disappointed me. Very much. It was a good movie, there's no denying that, I enjoyed myself and had a great time watching it with my new friends and eating grapes and Cheddar Bunnies, and I liked the clever things with the subtitles and how LONG and DRAWN OUT the scenes were instead of quick-fire scenes like I'm used to with movies … but … I was promised a movie about handsome dudes killing Nazis. I wanted to see a movie about handsome dudes killing Nazis, sneaking around and ambushing Nazis and taking on loads of Nazis and (though I looked away every time) scalping Nazis and having lovely FoeYay with Nazis they were about to kill and lots of phallic symbolism with knives and guns and finally culminating in them burning down the theater/being there while Shoshanna instrumented the burning down of the theater. 

But I didn't get that. Instead I got … something else. I liked it, but I wasn't expecting it or asking for it, so while it's still good, I feel weird. It's like having to tell a waiter "yes, this pasta dish is very delicious, but I asked for a grilled cheese, please."

Onto me not feeling weird:

Eli Roth OM NOM NOM oh my god, that man looks like if Zachary Quinto had a younger brother! OM NOM NOM! Can I have a whole movie of him beating people's faces in, please? Please? 

Also, Brad Pitt + Dat Accent + DAT KNIFE … that was mighty, mighty fine, I must say. Bunk. NOW! *flings self away*

I loved Shoshanna and Marcel's scenes together. They were subtle and perfect, not hitting me over the head with "SEE, SEE, they're in love! They're best buds! They watch each others' backs!" I liked them a lot and was sad to see her die and him not know right away. 

I may have an unnatural affection for St. Hugo Stiglitz. Especially that scene where he's broken out of jail. Laughed so hard. I love him so much. I know it's wrong and he's an insane murdering basterd, but whatever, I love him anyways. 

The music was fantastic. The lighting was fantastic. The acting was superb, especially Shoshanna and Colonel Hans Landa. Their scene in the restaurant made me feel sicker than the scenes of the guys getting scalped, which is saying something because I was nearly literally puking at those. 

Also, Shoshanna was gorgeous. I loved her when she was sitting int he cafe in her baggy jacket and floppy hat, and I swooned when we got the montage of her dressing up in that sexy red dress and her war paint. Om nom NOM.

That foot scene. Wow. It was sexy in its disturbingness. Creepy Cinderella parallels galore.

Speaking of creepy, after that scene in the theater I am not going to be sleeping well at all. *shudders* That and the scene in the projector box. *shudders some more* 

Also, that bit where Aldo is poking Bridget's bullet wound. AUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH!!!!!!!!!!! That was worse than the scalping! That was worse than Aldo cutting into Landa's forehead in graphic detail. That was worse than the shooting. I was THISCLOSE to actually throwing up. 

But I did like this movie. I liked it a lot. I want to watch it again, and again, and analyze it and look for specific things. 

P.S. I find the whole "Eli Roth finds the Kink Meme and forwards it to Quentin Tarantino" thing HI-LARIOUS. Probably because of what I've experienced in my fandom life.

Comments

[emeriin.livejournal.com]

To be honest, this is one of those movies that I appreciate, but not actually like that much. I get what Tarantino were trying to do, play with your expectations, have a black and black morality and twist the "All Germans Are Nazis" trope, but it just reminded me of how much I love Downfall.