BBB.5
(out of 5)
There’s a scene, relatively early on in this picture, when a member of the titular special elite force of Jewish American soldiers secretly operating in Germany finishes his killing of a soldier by scalping him in graphic detail for the camera to see. Director Quentin Tarantino is letting the audience know that this level of brutality is what you can expect to see for the next two hours: if you don’t like it, now’s a good time to leave. Then the spiffy American auteur shocks those bold enough to stay in their seat by reversing the expectation and presenting a film that, while still maintaining scenes of gun-blasting, knife-wielding, bomb-blowing mayhem, is mostly reliant on conversation and quiet, dramatic intensity. Christoph Waltz plays a near-loopy S.S. bigwig who discovers a Jewish family hiding in a French country house and murders them all save their daughter (Mélanie Laurent), who escapes. Later she takes over a movie theatre and, upon meeting a German Sergeant York (Daniel Brühl) sees an opportunity to get revenge. Meanwhile, Brad Pitt leads the aforementioned force of vengeance-seeking soldiers who are plotting to end the war by killing Hitler and all his elite. Little does he know that the operation he is planning, to assassinate Hitler, Goebbels, etc. while they watch the premiere of a Nazi propaganda film in Laurent’s movie theatre, coincides with the young woman’s own designs. The film mainly plays out in a few lengthy, grounded sequences, scenes of long conversations whose innocuous nature is the familiar distraction that Tarantino provides before using guns as the surprise punchline. Individually the scenes all work very well; a basement tavern sequence with a mesmerizing Diane Kruger is a masterful piece, as is the climax in the cinema, but there’s something lacking. The connection of cause and effect between the events of the film is brittle at best and the end result not as emotionally satisfying as Uma Thurman’s revenge in the Kill Bill movies. It is still a worthy enterprise, even if it does feature a very silly fantasy version of historical events, and the performances are all superb; Waltz is a first among equals as the masterfully terrifying yet slightly loopy murderer who speaks five languages but can’t master the English idiom when it comes to yelling “Bingo”.
Universal Pictures, The Weinstein Company, A Band Apart, Studio Babelsberg, Visiona Romantica
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Screenplay by Quentin Tarantino
Cinematography by Robert Richardson
Produced by Lawrence Bender
Production Design by David Wasco
Costume Design by Anna B. Sheppard
Film Editing by Sally Menke
Film Festivals: Cannes 2009
Cast Tags: Alexander Fehling, André Penvern,Andreas Tietz, Anne-Sophie Franck, Arndt Schwering-Sohnrey, August Diehl, B.J. Novak, Bo Svenson, Brad Pitt, Buddy Joe Hooker, Carlos Fidel,Christian Berkel, Christian Brückner, Christoph Waltz, Daniel Brühl, Denis Ménochet, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth, Enzo G. Castellari, Eva Löbau, Gedeon Burkhard, Harvey Keitel, Hilmar Eichhorn, Jacky Ido, Jana Pallaske, Jasper Linnewedel, Julie Dreyfus, Ken Duken, Léa Seydoux, Lena Friedrich, Leo Plank, Ludger Pistor, Martin Wuttke, Mélanie Laurent, Michael Bacall, Michael Fassbender, Michael Kranz, Michael Scheel, Mike Myers, Olivier Girard, Omar Doom, Patrick Elias, Paul Rust, Petra Hartung, Rainer Bock, Richard Sammel, Rod Taylor,Salvadore Brandt, Samm Levine, Samuel L. Jackson, Sönke Möhring, Sebastian Hülk, Sylvester Groth, Til Schweiger, Tina Rodriguez, Volker Michalowski, Wilfried Hochholdinger, Wolfgang Lindner
Academy Award
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Christoph Waltz)
Nominations
Best Cinematography (Robert Richardson)
Best Directing (Quentin Tarantino)
Best Film Editing (Sally Menke)
Best Picture (Lawrence Bender, producer)
Best Sound Editing (Wylie Stateman)
Best Sound Mixing (Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti, Mark Ulano)
Best Writing (Original Screenplay) (Quentin Tarantino)
Golden Globe Award
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture (Christoph Waltz)
Nominations
Best Motion Picture-Drama
Best Director (Quentin Tarantino)
Best Screenplay (Quentin Tarantino)
New York Film Critics Award
Best Supporting Actor (Christoph Waltz)
Nominations
Best Director (Quentin Tarantino)
Best Screenplay (Quentin Tarantino)
Los Angeles Film Critics Award
Best Supporting Actor (Christoph Waltz)
National Society of Film Critics Award
Best Supporting Actor (Christoph Waltz) (tie)
Nominations
Best Film
Best Screenplay (Quentin Tarantino)
National Board Of Review Award
Top Ten Films
Cannes Film Festival Award
Best Actor (Christoph Waltz)
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role (Christoph Waltz)
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Nomination
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role (Diane Kruger)
Directors Guild Award Nomination
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (Quentin Tarantino)
British Academy Award
Best Supporting Actor (Christoph Waltz)
Nominations
Best Screenplay (Original)
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best Production Design
David Lean Award for Direction (Quentin Tarantino)
Toronto Film Critics Awards
Best Picture (tie)
Best Supporting Actor (Christoph Waltz)
Best Screenplay (tie)
Nomination
Best Director (Quentin Tarantino)
Boston Film Critics Award
Best Supporting Actor (Christoph Waltz)
Chicago Film Critics Award
Best Supporting Actor (Christoph Waltz)
Nominations
Best Picture
Best Director (Quentin Tarantino)
Best Cinematography
Best Screenplay, Original
