CANNES -- Funny, cruel, ridiculous, violent, transgressive, gory, profane, stylish, clever, poetic, cartoon-like and just hellishly brilliant, Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds shredded the Cannes Film Festival yesterday.

The raging Second World War romp tells the fictional story of maverick Jewish-American soldiers who rip through occupied France. Their mission: terrorize Nazis, target Adolf Hitler. They murder, mutilate and even scalp victims. With every massacre, they let one German escape to tell the tale, but not before Brad Pitt brands him with a Swastika carved with a Bowie knife.

The feverish film, which played in competition last night, made its debut at an 8:30 a.m. press screening which generated wild applause, along with seething anger from some German critics (partly because it does not distinguish between Nazis and regular soldiers -- mostly because it screws royally with history).

Then Tarantino and company strode triumphant into their press conference. Sun Media, which copped the first question, asked Tarantino if Inglourious Basterds is the ultimate Jewish revenge fantasy.

"That wouldn't be exactly how I would define it 100%," Tarantino said with a big grin.

"But you can definitely say that. It works completely that way. But that wouldn't maybe be the section of the video store I would put it in. It's funny, people have come up to me a lot and asked: 'Is it a fairytale? Is it a Jewish wish-fulfillment fantasy? Or just a wish-fulfillment fantasy for anyone?' And there are aspects of that, all right."

Actor Eli Roth, who plays one of the Basterds, a nickname for the outlaw GIs, put it more bluntly.

"I can say that, being Jewish, for me it's like Kosher porn! It's something that I fantasized about since I was a very young child. And it really was like I performed a sex scene when I beat that guy with the bat and ... well, you get the idea!"

In the movie, Roth's character smashes a German's head into mash with a baseball bat.

Pitt's character also indulges in graphic behaviour, especially with the Bowie. But Pitt soft-sold the movie. "First of all, it was outrageous," he said from prodding by Sun Media, "which I was game for."

Then he went diplomatic, especially about Tarantino's approach to culture and nationalities. "I appreciate the international cast, all these people from different countries. There were three different languages (Basterds plays primarily in English, French and German, with a side order of Italian) and he respected the languages. He cast German for German. He cast French for French. He cast American for American and so forth ... (Pitt paused to glance over at Mike Myers, the brunt of Canuckleheaded jokes) ... and Canadians for British."

In part, Pitt & company could not be more specific because none had seen the movie yet. "Quentin has kept it under wraps, under the golden curtain," Pitt said. "So it's going to be really nice for us all to see it together tonight. All we know is we wrapped three months ago and we shot our respective parts and, suddenly, here we are!"

Tarantino only finished tinkering last week ... and may mess around more before it is released. It is his dream project. It has been percolating for eight years. He said he loved all his characters, even the Nazis.

"I love them all from this God perspective, because I am God, as far as these characters are concerned. I created them, all right? And I love them from their perspective, all right? They know where they're coming from."

His actors certainly love him. Several planted kisses on Tarantino's cheeks yesterday, led by Christoph Waltz, who plays a uber-savage SS officer. As for Myers, he expressed his devotion and willingness to take a cameo as a British general.

"I am the biggest Quentin Tarantino fan that you will find. In terms of coming up and serving at the pleasure of the president, it was perhaps the greatest fantasy realized."

Toronto-born Myers also explained that both parents came from Liverpool and served in the British armed forces during the Second World War before emigrating to Canada. "World War II was talked about at the table constantly. So I got a call: 'Would you like to play a British general?' And I did a jig! I was very happy. And I'm still very happy. I'm having an out-of-body experience at the moment."

Cannes was always the plan

Quentin Tarantino said yesterday he had no intention of presenting the world premiere of Inglourious Basterds anywhere but at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival.

"That was always the goal, always the dream," Tarantino said yesterday before his kick-ass Second World War movie played as a competition gala.

"Because, to me, there's just no place like Cannes for filmmakers on the face of the earth. I've heard people quote back things I've said: 'Oh, it's the Mount Olympus of Cinema, it's the Cinema Olympics, it's this, it's that, it's Cinema Nirvana.' Well, it is! One of the wonderful things about Cannes is that, during this time here on the Riviera, cinema matters. It's important."

Tarantino even likes having a world of film critics here to praise or damn him instantly.

"There is something about all of them being here. It's like the cat is out of the bag for the entire Planet Earth. And I am down with that. I am not an American filmmaker. I make movies for the Planet Earth. And Cannes is the place that represents that."

Tarantino won the Palme d'Or when Pulp Fiction premiered here in 1994, generating the same kinetic energy that Basterds did yesterday. The brash American filmmaker said he does not think that his chances are hurt this time because French star Isabelle Huppert is the jury president. She was offered a role in Basterds but the deal fell through.

"When it was brought up, I didn't have any fear at all because there's no acrimony between us that I am aware of at all. I am still her biggest fan!"

'It's art, oakeh?'

Quentin Tarantino refuses to explain why he messed around with spelling in the title of his new movie, Inglourious Basterds.

"It's not a typo!" Tarantino insisted yesterday when his movie debuted at the Cannes Film Festival. "Here's the thing: I'm never going to explain that. You do an artistic flourish like that, and to describe it, to explain it, would just take the piss out of it and invalidate the whole stroke in the first place.

"Basquiat (the late American artist) takes a letter 'L' from a hotel-room door and sticks it on his painting. If he describes why he did it, he might as well not have done it at all. That's my answer!"

Tarantino uses vino

Quentin Tarantino courted Brad Pitt with wine and something that went up in smoke to convince the superstar to take a role as the biggest Basterd in his movie Inglourious Basterds.

Pitt said yesterday he woke up at home the morning after a late-night visit from Tarantino and surveyed the carnage.

"I saw five empty bottles of wine and something that resembled a smoking apparatus ... I don't know ... and apparently I agreed to do the movie!

"It's hard to say, really."

Six weeks later he was filming.

More Artists