Bayside resident Mark Metcalf is an actor who has worked in movies, TV and on the stage. He is best known for his work in "Animal House," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Seinfeld."
In addition to his work on screen, Metcalf is involved with Milwaukee Film, First Stage Children's Theater and a number of other projects, including comicwonder.com. He recently filmed an episode of the popular AMC series "Mad Men."
He also finds time to write about movies for OnMilwaukee.com. This week, Metcalf weighs in on Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds."
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (2009)
More than any in recent memory, this film lives in the cinematic world in order to make clear that in certain situations the only answer to insane violence is equally insane violence; and, that the price for such action, which is usually the surrender of something that we tenderly call morality, need not necessarily be paid.
Morality has to do with what is right and what is wrong. Plato, however, takes it a little further. In the dialogues known as Gorgias, he indicates that the moral good should be that which makes us happy and, further, that we are happy when we are doing what is good for the community.
In a way, Tarantino's view of the world in "Inglourious Basterds" reconciles very nicely with Plato's vision. As brutal, violent and horrific as the firestorm of violence is, I, as a viewer, am happier and happier the more fevered the pitch. And the perpetrators of our revenge, even though most of them die, are, or seem to be, happy in their accomplishments.
Of course, Tarantino is the happiest of us all. He obviously revels in the tension, creating long, seemingly endless scenes that we know will end in horrible violence, yet keeping us focused on the small; the mundane details of a glass of milk, the lighting of a pipe, the politeness of the most horrific villains of all time, the efficient Nazis.
In point of fact, there really isn't that much violence -- a couple of slow scalpings, a carved swastika, a baseball bat to the head, quite a few shootings -- but it is the expectation of violence, the anticipation of it, that makes the flesh crawl, makes you squirm in your seat. If you have seen Tarantino at work in "Reservoir Dogs," in particular the brilliant scene when Michael Madsen dances and quietly mumbles to the tied up other guy, whose name I can't remember, the quiet sensual joy that Madsen and Tarantino take in slowly moving toward the cutting off of an ear, if you liked that, then you will be like swine swimming in sweet manure at "Inglourious Basterds." It is elegant. And we respond so well to elegance, to style, to grace. Even in brutal murder.
After taking us to the movies with a Sergio Leone-like swell of music under the credits, the film begins with text as in a fairy tale, "Once upon a time ...".
Thus, he begins to tell us the tall tale of a band of Jewish killers under the tutelage of a Tennessee mountain boy named Aldo Raines who are set behind enemy lines in France to kill Nazis. And not just to kill them, but to butcher them in such a way as to scare the living bejeesus out of all Nazis who hear of their exploits.
The whole set up is a direct homage, if not a rip-off, of "The Dirty Dozen," complete with Brad Pitt's typical over the top impression ("Send up" might be a better description) of Lee Marvin. Pitt makes a meal of it, as he does whenever he is given a small character part to play. He walks the edge of camp, but you end up loving it precisely because he is having so much fun doing it. And for Pitt, as well as for his character, they must be morally good because they are so happy, if not particularly thoughtful, and they are doing good for the world community by ridding it of Nazis.
Again, Tarantino actively loves the movies, giving Pitt's character the name "Aldo Raines," which plays off the name of the great character actor, and veteran of WWII, Aldo Ray. Several other character names pay homage to sometimes obscure actors. Tarantino's embrace of all things that have to do with the movies, especially 1970's era movies, which were the glory days, the re-birth of American cinema, his open-hearted love of cinema in general is endearing.
To my knowledge, there is not a speck of historical evidence that any of the things that happen in "Inglourious Basterds" ever happened in real life. But it's the movies, and so what? Is it disrespectful to soldiers who fought in that war? Is it disrespectful to the Jews who were tortured and murdered during that war? Does it malign the French Resistance, which fought so hard against the German occupation? Does it mock even the Nazi enlisted man or the officer corps? No, never. It's a fantasy, a dream, a movie, and a cartoon, descriptive of a feeling. And the feeling is revenge. We are allowed to exact the kind of revenge our instinctive selves would have exacted if it weren't for that fussy thing called civilization or the law, that overlord that asks us to behave like adults.
The single best thing about "Inglourious Basterds" is the performance of the Austrian born actor Cristoph Waltz as Lt. Hans Landa. The joy he takes in his power over life and death, the unpredictable, darting changes of mood, the pretense to sophistication and humility, the actual erudition of speaking all four languages used in the film, and the downright glee when he strikes his final deal with the devil himself are all magnificent. He draws a fine line between horror and comedy. It is one of those performances, like Travolta's in "Pulp Fiction", that can resurrect a career. Waltz's career in Germany may not have needed resurrecting but he does seem to have been confined to television. Now, with Oscar talk already (rightfully) flying around, he may have to spend some time in Hollywood.
There are some holes that I can't seem to fill. With three plots converging, not as much time is spent developing character in the Basterds themselves. Two of them sort of disappear. I don't remember them dying and they aren't accounted for at the end. The movie may have been even longer than it is now and they had to be edited out. We won't know until the Blu- Ray version in December. All in all, it's a fun popcorn movie. It doesn't break any new ground, but it may take old familiar Tarantino ground to new levels of fun and indulgence. And the name, "Inglourious Basterds," misspelled, in only the way a boy from Tennessee might spell it if he was called upon to create a myth.
