Quentin Tarantino
Bastardi Senza Gloria

Quentin Tarantino is the quintessence of cinema, a genius of visual art, the synonym of cinephilia, a very original screenwriter, but above all, a provocateur. His cinema has always divided audiences and critics; it is usually said "you love or hate Tarantino", it's true, but there is an element in his cinema that manages to capture everyone unanimously.

Quentin Tarantino hits you! Like a punch to the stomach... it doesn't matter if you are despising the film at that moment or loving it, the punch lands, and you can't avoid it..   no matter how much a critic might hate him, they can't ignore it... what's in front of them is always a product of style, of almost excellent quality, of uncriticizable elements. I think what annoys the detractors of this mad genius is the extreme quoting (mistakenly taken for lack of originality) and the irony with which violence is treated (I don't understand how one can be scandalized in front of such violence treated with such genial humor.. I don't get it). This doesn't detract from the fact that in this insipid cauldron of new generation films, Tarantino always manages to bring out something that makes a difference; a cinema that quotes but at the same time much more original than many pseudo-original films and millions of sequels and remakes without ideas (Tarantino's cinema is a cinema that feeds on cinema, and it's beautiful, wonderful because of this), and the punch hit me again this time.. beautifully strong! (and what a thrill!)

Ten long years of planning, such a rich screenplay that if Tarantino had included everything in the film we would have been faced with a 240-minute work, instead, we have to settle for a scarce 153 (luckily he didn't split the film into two as he did with "Kill Bill" otherwise I would have joined the detractors' side). A decade of preparation, rivers of written words, sequences that had been swirling in his mind for such a long time.. and the result could only be astonishing.

To realize Tarantino's return, images aren't even needed; the opening titles with a spaghetti western soundtrack are enough to make you tremble. From the very first images, we are faced with a more mature work, a cinema of respect; a long shot on a countryside in Nazi-occupied France, a man chopping wood with his axe, and a woman doing laundry... a calm, serene setting, unusual for a Tarantino film, where he stands out more for his stunning shots (each frame of the film could be displayed in an art museum). The idyll is abruptly interrupted by the arrival of Nazi soldiers, all narrated with the splendid music of Ennio Morricone. Tarantino elongates time, creates character profiles, letting only the images speak, for a moment poetry is touched, it's all perfect... but Quentin's specialty is dialogues and comic violence; thus we witness one of the most beautiful and intense opening scenes in cinema history; a masterful Christoph Waltz as a Nazi colonel engages in a long dialogue with the farm's owner, a potential traitor who might be hiding Jews in his home. The dialogue, seemingly calm, gentle, over a glass of milk and a pipe, is emotionally overwhelming, the monologue on rats, the play on different accents, the calm atmosphere that turns into tragedy.. the best Tarantino ever! The price of the ticket was repaid by these opening scenes. Imagine the rest.

Over two hours of the usual Tarantino mix, here more admirable and authored than before: spaghetti western, melodrama, comedy, action, citations, a cinephile smoothie to the nth degree. The aspect of citations in this new film has been treated less blatantly, there are loads of cinematic references but inserted in a less blatant and self-serving manner, Tarantino proves to be less of a "film thief" and manages to cleverly disguise his "thefts" which I consider ingenious (Tarantino's cinephile madness can be understood in the way a citation taken from a Z-Movie becomes in his hands a masterpiece scene.. it's pure and manic love for cinema, it's passion, it's everything except a lack of originality, as often they want us to believe. "Inglourious Basterds" is a film of incredible originality... and enough with this stealing story! Everyone steals, Tarantino does it with love, talent, and originality, he is cinema) even Enzo G. Castellari's film (from which the title is taken) is transformed, becoming more of a homage than a remake, given that the plots are almost completely different. The most powerful element of Tarantino's cinema is undoubtedly the cast, here never before so perfect! Perhaps Brad Pitt (although he was good) seems a bit overshadowed compared to the other bastards... but for Christoph Waltz, an Oscar as best actor should be given immediately. As it was with the late Bill Carradine, Tarantino digs out an actor at the end of his career (a bit forgotten) and relaunches him greatly, too greatly! The interpretation of the Nazi Colonel Hans Landa is nothing short of amazing, I wonder how Tarantino manages to bring out the best from his actors, in every film! The answer is given by Waltz himself "When I read the screenplay of Inglourious Basterds I couldn't understand... then I watched all of Tarantino's films, reread the script and this time I understood his ideas perfectly.. I had entered his world" and there.. I think you need to get into his crazy brain to become a genius character in one of his films. I sincerely hope that Waltz can take home the well-deserved golden statuette (unforgettable!).

The film has a structure similar to "Kill Bill" thus becoming a self-reference (not too excessive), the story is divided into chapters, the characters are presented through descriptive cards (freeze frame with the character's name written) and some sound accompaniments from Kill Bill are even heard. The soundtrack would deserve a separate review, from Ennio Morricone to "Cat People" by David Bowie, a joy for the ears. I must admit that in front of the scenes where the cinema owner prepares for her revenge with the background of "Cat People" I almost felt sick! Art museum-worthy shots, enchanting close-ups, an emotional crescendo worthy of the best cinema ever. Prepare for an overdose of humor and violence (here marked a bit less) that will thrill you to madness. Tarantino in the finale plays on a non-original but very effective idea, cinema within cinema! The final sequence in which the nastiest violence takes place in a cinema works perfectly.. because in cinema anything can happen... you can even afford to do things that in reality (in that reality) would have been impossible, a finale that brings us back as children and makes us have crazy fun, the satisfaction of seeing a Jew stabbing a Nazi (carving a swastika on his forehead with a hunting knife) is an indescribable satisfaction, not so much for political ideologies, but for the fact that we enjoy seeing history books turned upside down, and Tarantino does it with humor, with poetry, with extreme but at the same time exorcised cruelty from the basic concept (happening in a cinema everything becomes surreal). When you are faced with a work where the music is excellent, the shots are artworks, the cast is Oscar-worthy, the editing is perfect, the director is a living film library, there is only one term: A work made to perfection. Translation: a masterpiece.

Tarantino's detractors are bitter, they are out of fashion, they should retire.