Controversial Inglourious Basterds

Half fun and stylized WWII spaghetti western, half irresponsible schlock, Quentin Tarantino's «Inglourious Basterds» proves controversial.

«Inglourious Basterds» has the potential to annoy one set of viewers, while also providing pulp lovers with 2 hours and 40 minutes of happiness. In this copy/paste of styles that include those of the Sergio Leone spaghetti western and «TheDirty Dozen», Tarantino has taken a lot of liberties with History: Hitler is shot in Paris in 1942 and the Americans are already in Europe. In the background thumps a soundtrack of hits by Ennio Morricone and David Bowie.

During the press conference after the screening, the maker of «Pulp Fiction» didn't hide the fact that real history doesn't interest him, stating he enjoyed filming a western in Nazi-occupied Europe. He went on to say his movie is a Jewish revenge fable with a comic angle, and that the power of the movies was strong enough to topple the Third Reich.

This grindhouse version of «Valkyrie» may not necessarily find itself showered with awards, though: a few months ago, Tarantino got tired of the antics of one of the female leads of «Inglourious Basterds» and fired her ­- that actress was Isabelle Huppert, the current jury president of the CannesFilm Festival.