With its pulp fiction take on the Nazi regime, World War 2, and a band of Jewish avengers, many have wondered how Quentin Taratino’s Inglourious Basterds would play in Israel. Well, if initial press reports are accurate, the answer is pretty well. Haaretz.com titles its story, “Israelis go wild for Inglourious Basterds,” noting that Tarantino introduced the premiere by saying, “Are you reading to kill some Nazis?” (They didn’t note the second line: “Are you ready to fuck up some Nazis?”). See the intro here:

The film opens in Israeli theaters on Thursday, and we’ll check out the reviews when they are posted. In the meantime, here’s an almost 40-minute clip of Tarantino’s press conference in Tel Aviv. In his pick-up of this video, Cinemascopian wrote, “Granted, as an Israeli Jew, some of Tarantino’s choices seemed to go overboard from the irreverant to the rude, as far as Holocaust representations go (he seems like he’s actually rooting for the Nazis!). But in his press conference today in Tel Aviv, Tarantino was quite eloquent in explaining what he was trying to do, and some of his rhetoric was brilliant.”

Quentin Tarantino press conference, Tel Aviv, Sept. 15 2009 from cinemascopian.com on Vimeo.

(To read my interview with Tarantino in the current issue of Filmmaker, please consider taking advantage of our Stimulus Plan subscription offer. You’ll receive the next four issues of Filmmaker for only $10 and will be able to read all back issues through 2005, including the current Inglourious Basterds issue, via our digital edition, bundled free into this deal. This offer expires September 24.)