I rewatched Deathproof not long ago and althoug h I did enjoy it when I saw it in the cinema, I just couldn't watch it in full. Too chatty... "Too chatty"???? That's a Tarantino what did I expect? Well, given that's chatting for chatting in this case, despite the fact that the dialogs are perfectly built, it just fell flat on the 2nd viewing for me. That never happenned to Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown and the others...
And that will certainly not happen with this 6th feature... QT comes back at the top of his game...
From the 1st notes of the opening, the titles' polices and the 1st images (the chaptering...), you know where you are. This is a Tarantino Movie, with the inevitable references and shots taken straight out of a Sergio Leone Western to start with. Yet what could annoy (why does he feels compelled to COPY???) just doesn't. Because what follows is one of the greatest opening scenes in recent memory. A simple dialog, very long (this is a Tarantino feature!), but incredibly well constructed, both in French and English and that builds up an incredible tension, leading to the unavoidable.
In it, Christoph Waltz directly imposes himself as a baddy to be remembered in an incredible performance. Just a close up where you can see his affable expression fading into that of a hunter about to deliver the final blow is quite simply astonishing (and I have to say that I don't praise actors easily, as I tend to put most of the responsibility on the person directing them).
That's only the opening and the rest delivers at least as much...
In a sense it's a "classic" Tarantino movie. Very chatty, with burst of brutal violence and lots of references to other movies. Yet in all he does, he manages to throw eveything out so it feels fresh. He doesn't copy. He recycles. He pays tribute and adds his 2 cents. And he does that incredibly well.
The dialogs here are also a marvel. It's always the case with him, sure, but in our case, they deal with 4 languages!
And they're all delivered by incredible actors. Sure, Christoph Waltz comes on top, but all of them should be commended for their turn. Also, in this case, the dialogs do add to the story. They distill the tension until violence breaks loose. Like in a horror movie, where the "jump" moment is delayed only to be more effective. And we're graced with the music of the words in the meantime.
They are also especially relevant in a setting where only one word (or sign!) can give an ennemy away...
The story is masterfully told, incredibly tense, brutal and darkly ironic as usual.
I realise I refer to "classic" and "usual" a lot. It might give the impression everything is expected, but that's not the case, as here what is expected is to be surprised...
There are things that made me think of Verhoeven's Black Book, despite the fact that Basterds doesn't share its depth (nor does it would try to). But shall we say that the title does describes pretty well every character depicted here...
It is also extremely layered. For example, in essence, this is a WW2 movie without battle scenes. Yet there are, in a movie in the movie...
It's that kind of stuff that you can take home a think about and that make such work very rewarding.
Tarantino movie comes with high expectations which are met in spades here. I might not be far from thinking that this is his best work yet...
Always a good feeling.
This is what Cinema is.
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