I went to watch Tarantino's stab at the Second World War over the weekend.Style-wise it sort of harks back to Pulp Fiction - long, detailed dialogue broken up with short moments of graphic violence, and the treatment of captions and graphics and things. Two main things struck me, firstly just how much tension Tarantino managed to create in simple dialogue scenes, it's rare that you get that peeking-through-the-fingers feeling just at dialogue, really impressive stuff. Secondly that I didn't really notice just how long it was. That must be a good thing, surely? Christoph Waltz as Colonel Hans Lander is horribly, despicably good.
If you've seen it what did you think? The person I went to see it with described it as 'three hours she feels she had stolen from her'.
PS - I can't believe that I forgot to mention Mike Myers' bizarre cameo, where he appears to be playing Doctor Evil in a British Army uniform. Oddness.
I normally like Tarantino films and maybe it's because I'm not a fan of war films in general, but it seemed to go on forever. There's also something very unsettling about watching people trapped in a cinema being burned alive whilst actually being sat in a cinema.
ReplyDeleteBest bit for me was the old cinema signage and letters - how sad is that!
True to form - very good but very long - I thought it was great!
ReplyDeleteExcellent movie.
ReplyDeleteI really want to see it. I didn't think I did but then it got ok reviews (AMAZING reviews can just batter you over the head with hype.)
ReplyDeleteAnd if the man from Sell Sell say 'yeah', well then that's another reason to check it out. Seeing as you've given a reason why and all!
(And that reason just happens to have something to do with writing.)
I wonder if the person you went to see it with hated it so much because you loved it so much - you know, just to restore order.
But back to reviews.
Read this?
http://trendwatching.com/briefing/
I saw it 2 weeks ago. Had a blast. I don't think it's his masterpiece, but it's sure as hell better than Death-proof.
ReplyDeleteBlimey Hayes, just had a look at that link. All that writing just to tell us that word of mouth is still the best form of advertising. Next up: "Briefing - Bears shit in woods etc. etc."
ReplyDeleteI thought it was alright. And im sure thats the last thing Tarantino would want. He'd either want you to love or hate it i expect. Waltz was superb and there were some other good performances. Overall it was lacking what Tarantino does best i think. Dialogue never really flowed to the extent that it could be brilliant as the switch in languages restricted the flow and also the lack of character development of which he is usually pretty successful with just felt flat. Brad Pitt who i love in most other films, just felt out of place and felt like he was fighting to get through his script. But saying that, i did enjoy it! It just felt a little thin on the ground and the Chapter splitting just felt a little unnecessary. Boo Hoo. Sorry for waffling!
ReplyDeleteOne minor thing: Stiglets is undercover in the bar scene? Yet it says earlier in the film everyone in the German army knows Stiglets, so how did he suppose he would be a good undercover agent? Nevermind getting into the film premiere?