The opening scene of Basterds is a masterpiece in and of itself anchored by the subtle yet sublime performance of Denis Menochet (yeah, I has to look it up), who grounded the sequence with his heartbreaking humanity. Love this film, Tarantino’s best IMO.
Here's a quote: "At an early age children are weaned on the marvelous, and later on they fail to retain a sufficient virginity of mind to thoroughly enjoy fairy tales. No matter how charming they may be, a grown man would think he were reverting to childhood by nourishing himself on fairy tales....The fabric of adorable improbabilities must be made a trifle more subtle the older we grow....But the faculties do not change radically. Fear, the attraction of the unusual, chance, the taste for things extravagant are all devices which we can always call upon without fear of deception.There are fairy tales to be written for adults, fairy tales still almost blue." (Andre Breton, "Manifesto of Surrealism", 1924.) In "Basterds" and "Once Upon a Time" Tarantino gives us precisely what Breton is calling for. The point of these films is to dissolve the artificial barrier that "adulthood" has imposed between ourselves and the marvelous, and it does not matter at all whether or not this effect was deliberately sought by Tarantino. I felt real fear in watching the opening scene of "Basterds" and the crescendo of creepiness and fear in the Spawn Ranch tableau in "Once Upon a Time" is almost unbearable. Tears filled my eyes at the end of "Once Upon a Time" when beautiful and joyous Sharon Tate invites DiCaprio's character into her home, when the carnage of the night has safely passed over them. Our own time is redolent of Breton's, may it not end in yet another world-consuming cataclysm.
Very well said and I have found myself near or in tears at the end of HOLLYWOOD the last few times for precisely the same reason: it’s shockingly sentimental, almost, a real surprise for someone not often categorized as overly sentimental in his storytelling. (I actually think this is wrong—Jackie Brown and KB Vol 2 also are deeply sad-sweet—but it’s still not what we think of when we think of Tarantino.)
Nothing like vibrant conversation to cheer up a cold and dreary day in Central Ohio. I was eagerly and hopefully waiting for discussion of the opening scene, which personifies, in bold lettering, tension, anxiety and distress. Walz oozes with "charm". You feel the farmer's despair and understand that you yourself would succumb.
August Diehl as Major Hellstrom was so incredible. The tavern scene is the best scene of the movie. The violence at the end of the sequence was completely secondary to the scene itself.
The camera angles, the music, the entire feel of the scene was incredible. The tension builds & builds to the point you feel almost like you are sitting there observing it wanting to interject. Then there’s a certain point early on in the conversation that you know the Major has either already identified them or like the game they play he will find a way to uncover them. Diehl only had one long scene as the Major but his acting was as memorable as Christopher Waltz was as Col Landa over the entirety of the movie.
Totally agree. I haven’t watched the movie in awhile, but I recall feeling like their entire game was up as soon as the major gets up to chat with them. I think he had them made immediately.
The best Tarantino film. Said it then. Saying it now.
When do they actually start talking about the movie? I got bogged down in all the back and forth about posts from movie bloggers
The opening scene of Basterds is a masterpiece in and of itself anchored by the subtle yet sublime performance of Denis Menochet (yeah, I has to look it up), who grounded the sequence with his heartbreaking humanity. Love this film, Tarantino’s best IMO.
Here's a quote: "At an early age children are weaned on the marvelous, and later on they fail to retain a sufficient virginity of mind to thoroughly enjoy fairy tales. No matter how charming they may be, a grown man would think he were reverting to childhood by nourishing himself on fairy tales....The fabric of adorable improbabilities must be made a trifle more subtle the older we grow....But the faculties do not change radically. Fear, the attraction of the unusual, chance, the taste for things extravagant are all devices which we can always call upon without fear of deception.There are fairy tales to be written for adults, fairy tales still almost blue." (Andre Breton, "Manifesto of Surrealism", 1924.) In "Basterds" and "Once Upon a Time" Tarantino gives us precisely what Breton is calling for. The point of these films is to dissolve the artificial barrier that "adulthood" has imposed between ourselves and the marvelous, and it does not matter at all whether or not this effect was deliberately sought by Tarantino. I felt real fear in watching the opening scene of "Basterds" and the crescendo of creepiness and fear in the Spawn Ranch tableau in "Once Upon a Time" is almost unbearable. Tears filled my eyes at the end of "Once Upon a Time" when beautiful and joyous Sharon Tate invites DiCaprio's character into her home, when the carnage of the night has safely passed over them. Our own time is redolent of Breton's, may it not end in yet another world-consuming cataclysm.
Very well said and I have found myself near or in tears at the end of HOLLYWOOD the last few times for precisely the same reason: it’s shockingly sentimental, almost, a real surprise for someone not often categorized as overly sentimental in his storytelling. (I actually think this is wrong—Jackie Brown and KB Vol 2 also are deeply sad-sweet—but it’s still not what we think of when we think of Tarantino.)
Love this movie!!
Nothing like vibrant conversation to cheer up a cold and dreary day in Central Ohio. I was eagerly and hopefully waiting for discussion of the opening scene, which personifies, in bold lettering, tension, anxiety and distress. Walz oozes with "charm". You feel the farmer's despair and understand that you yourself would succumb.
August Diehl as Major Hellstrom was so incredible. The tavern scene is the best scene of the movie. The violence at the end of the sequence was completely secondary to the scene itself.
The camera angles, the music, the entire feel of the scene was incredible. The tension builds & builds to the point you feel almost like you are sitting there observing it wanting to interject. Then there’s a certain point early on in the conversation that you know the Major has either already identified them or like the game they play he will find a way to uncover them. Diehl only had one long scene as the Major but his acting was as memorable as Christopher Waltz was as Col Landa over the entirety of the movie.
Totally agree. I haven’t watched the movie in awhile, but I recall feeling like their entire game was up as soon as the major gets up to chat with them. I think he had them made immediately.