Kill Bill Vol.1 (DVD)

...trip of revenge, ready to kill each perpetrator one by one, leading up to the top dog, Bill. How will she get on? Watch Kill Bill to find out!



As I say, lots of people were talking about this film at the time, and even now people seem to be very opinionated about it, not necessarily in a good way. A lot of people felt that there was just too much blood and that the fight scenes dragged on too much. However, The Bride ...
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Before Kill Bill, I have to admit I knew very little about Uma Thurman, in fact I had probably been guilty of seeing films with her in but never really remembering her specifically (e.g. Pulp Fiction!). Well, this was definitely the film for her because after seeing Kill Bill, I could recognise this lady anywhere! Uma plays The Bride, the woman who refuses to remain a victim for long, suffering this horrible ordeal only to put all ... more

This came out while I was in my first year at University, and I remember it well, because everyone was talking about it. Whether it was the massive death count (about 95 - fictional deaths of course) that the film was meant to have, the gore, the use of Japanese Samurai swords or the fact this was a Quentin Tarantino film, expected to be violent even for his standards, it was a must-see. It's weird because I still remember going to the cinema with only one other person, and to a very quiet cinema too (I think the football or something was on because there had been a bloody fight outside when we finally left!). In spite of the turnout, I could understand why so many people were talking about this film. Before I say any more, I hadn't realised, and nor it seems had many others, that the name of "The Bride" - our main character, is actually mentioned at the beginning of this film, so is not kept secret until the next film – unless I just saw another version. I had thought the name mentioned was a pet name, but actually it is her real name, however, I will not mention it here anyway since there may be people who’d regard it as a spoiler.

Story

The thing that thrilled me most about this film was going in knowing absolutely nothing about it, so of course I feel sort of bad if I am now going to write a plot summary that will tell you exactly what to expect, because it would have spoiled it for me! I am bearing in mind though, that this film was out in 2003 - six years ago - and by now you are bound to at least know people who've seen it and know something about it. Plus it was on telly just before I wrote this review! Nevertheless, for the few of you who know nothing, and for those who want to avoid knowing everything, I will keep it simple!

The Bride is out for revenge. All we know in Vol 1 (there is a Vol 2, by the way) is that her wedding was gatecrashed by Bill and his "Deadly Viper Assassination Squad," who murdered her 9 guests and put a bullet in her head. Worse still, she was pregnant at the time. Miraculously, The Bride wakes up 4 years later from a coma and sets out on a brutal relentless and unforgiving trip of revenge, ready to kill each perpetrator one by one, leading up to the top dog, Bill. How will she get on? Watch Kill Bill to find out!

As I say, lots of people were talking about this film at the time, and even now people seem to be very opinionated about it, not necessarily in a good way. A lot of people felt that there was just too much blood and that the fight scenes dragged on too much. However, The Bride narrates her own story, as well as the stories of the people she is after (particularly O-Ren Ishii) and we do learn quite a lot from this, even if not particularly intelligent, it is certainly interesting. The film is broken into chapters, which seems to add in suspense and a kind of Frasier-like expectation of what might come next. Coupled with the narrations, you might easily think you stumbled upon a video-book!

Unfortunately films like this can never be free of fault, and being so drastic can only mean that there will be the potential for plot holes, errors and things that simply could never happen - and this film does not appear to claim to be a fantasy in any way. The truth is that this is a film that is not interested in minor details and sometimes common sense, maybe even has intentional errors but if you can choose not to care about its flaws, it could still be worth watching.

The only other thing to point out here is that you must not be misled into thinking that this is, an intelligent film. It is really only aimed to surprise us in new and mostly violent ways. The glorification of revenge is not something to be encouraged, and the emphasis on this in the film was a bit of a shame, because it made it seem like there was really no other way. Most people will be sensible enough not to be influenced by this sort of thing, but may still be disappointed by it.

Acting/Characters

This first volume features some interesting characters, well, some more than others I suppose.

Before Kill Bill, I have to admit I knew very little about Uma Thurman, in fact I had probably been guilty of seeing films with her in but never really remembering her specifically (e.g. Pulp Fiction!). Well, this was definitely the film for her because after seeing Kill Bill, I could recognise this lady anywhere! Uma plays The Bride, the woman who refuses to remain a victim for long, suffering this horrible ordeal only to put all her energy into getting her revenge. She is passionate and shows different sides to her personality, often misleading us in our estimations of her, then taking us by surprise. It's the variety in her display of emotions that makes her so special, and also something about her appearance always seems to fit. Perhaps another actress could have played this role well, but personally I think Uma played it brilliantly.

The other key character that stood out well to me was O-Ren Ishii, played well by Lucy Liu. I've heard people say she has a constant fierce expression, but to the contrary in this film, she is quite unpredictable. Her actual scenes are only small but effective and the tension between her and Uma is powerful.

Also good were the other members of the assassination squad, and some really creepy or crazy characters. The other squad members to notice are the cold blooded Elle Driver, played by Daryl Hannah and Bill’s younger brother Budd, played by a sly looking Michael Madsen. Also look out for 17 year old Gogo Yubari, played by Chiaki Kuriyama - she is intriguing. Then there's the nasty Buck, by Michael Bowen.

Film qualities

It stood out more to me the second time, than the first time I saw this film, how much had been put into this film to make it look totally 1970s, yet I'm really not sure if it was meant to have been set in the '70s, or that was just an idea to make it look different. This includes the use of a lot of bright colour, as props, costume and also random flashes of colour across the screen.

The narration of O-Ren's life story by The Bride is completely illustrated by cartoons, rather than real actors. I thought this was really clever, and seemed to keep an element of mystery about O-Ren's past, whilst still making it easy to relate to the drawn on characters.

Alongside some really amazing music on the soundtrack (my favourite was Spanish-style music during a fight with O-Ren), there were suddenly '70s-style sounds thrown in. First time I saw the film, the soundtrack seemed pretty random, but on a second viewing I suppose I appreciated it more. I hate old-fashioned stuff, and in my opinion things left in the past are left there for a reason! However, this was actually quite good and at least I was able to appreciate, if not enjoy the '70s bits.

The fighting choreography is impressive, particularly on the first viewing when you have no idea what to expect! The moves often seem much too fast and in too many different directions to be real, but following it with your eyes is where the fun lies anyway.

There is a hell of a lot of blood in this film, and for some, even though it looks like bright red ketchup, blatantly, watching it spurt from wounds could be off-putting still! There are too many, erm, severances in this film, and after a while it actually gets a bit tired. Blood does spurt rapidly from the biggest arteries, but the 70's style used here means it looks completely fake, and personally I didn't like this effect. I suppose you can't just go halfway with the '70s style.

Classification

The rating could not have been any less than 18 and the reason is pretty clear. This is one bloodthirsty movie, filled with crude imagery, swearing and although no sexual scenes, ideas about them that would make a porn star cringe. So to give a lower rating would not just be wrong or irresponsible, it would be crazy. As I said above, most people would not be easily influenced by this kind of film, but the exception probably is younger audiences, and before you accuse me of exaggerating I was once unfortunate enough to meet someone who thought threatening people with fake Samurai swords was clever (he remained a stranger, thank God). This film definitely makes violence and revenge look clever and sexy, and that means people who can't think of any other way to look clever or sexy will pick up the wrong principles.

Conclusion

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