Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Diane Kruger, Michael Fassbender, Melanie Laurent, Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz
Rating: R

Brad Pitt stars in Inglourious Basterds. (Courtesy photo)

The unexpected abounds in Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino’s buoyant piece of provocation. Some of them are familiar to veterans of Tarantino—bursts of violence leading to shockingly early exits of major characters. Others are not so familiar, such as the amount of the film dedicated to stories other than those of the title characters.

Broken into a handful of chapters, Inglourious Basterds is actually only a handful of scenes. Each one is fascinating, too long, and seemingly prepped for the live stage version. With a few exceptions, the acting is outstanding.

There’s a heck of a lot going on in this film. At the center is sadistically shallow wish fulfillment that is as wildly entertaining as your conscience will allow it to be. Around the edges are innumerable details and themes. Much of it should have been cut, but in spite of Tarantino’s obvious attachment to every word he shoots, Inglourious Basterds is undeniably fascinating.

There are two disparate storylines that eventually join together in the final act. One involves a special platoon of Jewish soldiers, brought together by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) to do one thing: kill Nazis. More than that, they plan to kill them so brutally that word of their violent ways will spread like a disease through the German ranks. Eventually Raine’s squad is asked to team up with Archie Hicox (Michael Fassbender), a “veddy British” lieutenant whose fluent German makes him the perfect man for an undercover assignment. He’ll meet with a German counterspy, movie star Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger).

The other major storyline involves the three-year cat-and-mouse chase between the notorious Jew hunter, Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), and a young French Jew named Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent). Having made her way to Paris and running a movie theater, Shosanna is stunned to learn her theater will be used for the premiere of a new Goebbels film. And it will be attended by many members of the German high command. This theater figures prominently in Hicox’s undercover job.

Quentin Tarantino’s deeply indulgent half of Grindhouse left many viewers with a bad taste in their mouths. A faster, flashier Basterds would have erased all concerns raised by Death Proof. But in spite of its many twisted pleasures, Basterds is neither fast nor even terribly flashy. In fact there is very little about the platoon doing their gruesome duty, and we only get to know a few of them. It feels like a considerable gap in the narrative, though ultimately the movie still works. Tarantino’s most frustrating choice is to focus the most attention on the least talented performer. Director Eli Roth (Hostel I and Hostel II) plays a Nazi-clubbing brute named Donny Donowitz. Donny isn’t meant to be sympathetic, but as played by Roth he simply feels amateurish. The excessive length of the movie and the casting of Roth suggest that Tarantino is missing that impressive self-discipline he showed early in his career. He’s still one of the most naturally gifted filmmakers going, but Basterds is only mid-level Tarantino.

Brad Pitt may not be the most talented actor, but the man knows how to match the material. He’s hilarious as the Tennessee-born commander, taking clichéd gruff fearlessness to new levels. As fun as he is, neither he nor anyone else can match Christoph Waltz as Landa. Waltz took an acting prize at Cannes for his sweet-faced sadist, and it was well deserved. Tarantino certainly helps him out by supplying terrific dialogue. But Waltz has created an indelible character, a counterpoint to Ralph Fiennes’ Amon Goeth from Schindler’s List. The third exceptional performance is by Melanie Laurent as Shosanna. Laurent gives a beautifully restrained performance amidst the big personalities, and she’s quite moving.

Is Inglourious Basterds offensive? Yes, in so many ways. The so-called “Jewish revenge porn” nature of it can be deeply disturbing if taken more seriously than the filmmaker intends. And of course, that’s every viewer’s right. I found it shocking but also transparent. It’s not by accident that the officially designated villain, Landa, is the only one who points out that the Basterds employ purely terrorist tactics. I found Inglourious Basterds less offensive, though, than the 1997 critical darling Life is Beautiful. That film, under the guise of being a fairy tale, was far more ignorant and careless with its commentary on the treatment of Jews by the Nazis. Inglourious Basterds is sick, but it’s also genuinely absurd. That doesn’t absolve it, of course—nor, I suspect, would Tarantino ask for absolution. Knowing the filmmaker, he’d welcome a discussion with every single viewer who had an opinion.

Alex Manugian lives in Sherman Oaks, Calif. He grew up in Groton and has reviewed movies for Harvard readers for many years.