Christmas Countdown: Top 25 Movies of 2009 – No.6

Today’s movie is not quite the masterpiece everyone was waiting for but it was a truly brilliant, truelly delightful piece of cinema. Deeply flawed but equally charming it heralded a fine return to form for one of cinema’s favourite sons.

Number 6 is…

The time: 1944. The place: Nazi-Occupied France. Lt. Aldo Raine is leading a crack team of soldiers deep behind enemy lines. Their mission: To stage guerilla warfare against the Nazis and ruthless hunt, murder and generally intimate the Germans using any means necessary. And by God are they good at it. Tasked with a covert operation to take out the German High Command they head for Paris. Meanwhile in the city a Jewish survivor of her family’s massacre is plotting vengeance of her own.

Why is it worthy: This movie is typical Tarantino, all long dialogue sequences and frothy action. And the marriage of the two works beautifully here. It’s close to being his most confident and brilliant directorial effort. Christoph Waltz is superb, giving a performance of the highest calibre. Every time his Col. Hans Landa is on the screen he takes possession of the scene. Cool, collected, arrogant, without a trace of self-doubt Landa is a man totally at home with his profession, hunting Jews. It’s a beautifully well-mannered evil streak and Waltz must be commended for it. Stylistically this movie is fantastic, the loving warm colours for Shosanna, the cooler ones for Raine and his men. The action feels very real too, shot on 35mm film it looks like it could be from the time. The soundtrack, essential for any QT movie, offers wonderous riffs on spaghetti westerns and WWII action films. It’s Where Eagles Dare meets The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Fatal flaw: It’s nonsense, oh utterly enjoyable nonsense to be sure, but nonsense nonetheless. The only historically accurate thing in the movie is the fact that World War II happened, everything else is a figment of Tarantino’s imagination. Eli Roth is abysmal, a personality vacuum void of all acting ability and yet supremely cocky and self-assured. Brad Pitt is under-utilised, I mean he was the face of the movie but most of it happens without him. The movie is called Inglourious Basterds but even the Basterds themselves are marginalised, a few scenes here and there but mostly necessary for the ending. It probably should have been titled Once Upon a Time in Nazi-Occupied France. It’s a bit long, some scenes like the opening exchange in the farm-house and in the bar just drag more than they should as Tarantino’s love of dialogue gets the better of him. This takes some of the tension and impetus out of the story.

Verdict: An extraordinary movie from a cinematic genius this is not to be missed. Totally bonkers and totally brilliant.

25. This Is It
24. Adventureland
23. Drag Me To Hell
22. Anvil
21. In the Loop
20. Watchmen
19. The Hangover
18. Coraline
17. Public Enemies
16. (500) Days of Summer
15. Harry Brown
14. The Wrestler
13. Fantastic Mr. Fox
12. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
11. The Hurt Locker
10. A Serious Man
9. Let The Right One In
8. Gran Torino
7. Zombieland