This is the part of a series chronicling the 2012 movies I’ve given an A+ grade to. I’ve still to see a few more that might make my list, so this will probably continue for another month or so. Given the nature of international movie distribution, “2012” should be taken liberally. You can see a spreadsheet of all the movies I watch an rate in the description on my Tumblr.

Tarantino’s newest movie is once again an illustration of what it means to be an auteur. Filmmaking is an extremely collaborative process open to different levels of interpretation in the creation of a film. The screenwriter writes one thing, and then the director, actors, composer, cinematographer, etc, all compose it. For Tarantino’s vision to come across so clearly and successfully is a minor miracle.

The film’s subject leads us down all sorts of paths of moral consequence, and Tarantino allows the movie to interpret it in that way by making it a sort of text. The epic template is bent to an original story, composed with symbolism and metatextuality.