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In the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that I have never been the biggest Quentin Tarantino fan. Don’t mistake me, I respect the guy, I admire his work, and I’m glad that he’s in the world making movies – but for reasons even I don’t fully understand his movies have always left me a little cold, at least until I saw his WWII genre bender Inglourious Basterds](Inglourious Basterds (2009) - Movie | Moviefone) (I know, I’m a little late to the game, but sometimes when movies are your job, you get very little time to watch them). There were so many scenes to choose from that could demonstrate just what it was about this movie that had me so hooked: Shosanna meeting her would-be murderer, Colonel Landa (Christopher Waltz), the introduction to Hans Stieglitz (Til Schweiger). But if forced to choose, I’m going to have to go with the scene in that little French tavern when Operation Kino comes to a grinding halt.
In one of Tarantino’s best moments of on-screen tension, the audience can only watch helplessly as years of plotting to end the madness of Hitler hinges on a German movie star (Diane Kruger) and a British film critic in service of the queen against a Nazi officer with an ear for accents. If you haven’t seen the movie I won’t reveal how it all turns out, but lets just say Tarantino gets to put one of his best known traits as a filmmaker to good use: a (very) bloody resolution.
After the jump: “We ain’t in the prisoner-taking business…”