I guess you could say that Quentin Tarantino films have never much interested me. I did enjoy some of his previous work - 'Pulp Fiction' perhaps - but nothing about his movies really stood out as mindblowing.
'Kill Bill' - part one of a two-part set - is the first Tarantino film I've really been interested in seeing. Uma Thurman's bright yellow leathers have already become such a strong image on magazine covers... I couldn't help my curiosity. And when I realised that Chiaki Kuriyama - who played the vicious, spiteful high-school-brat-turned-murderer Chigusa in Battle Royale, I really had to see what the fuss was about.
--> THE BASICS
Tarantino describes Kill Kill as a revenge movie, a movie utterly detached from reality, and "a movie that the characters in Pulp Fiction would go and see". It's definitely all those things and more.
The movie opens with a sequence that nicely sets up the framework for the story to come. The Bride, played by Uma Thurman, is lying bloodstained on the floor when the faceless Bill puts the final bullet in her head. Slowly we realise that the attempted murder is part of a plot by The Deadly Viper Assasination Squad to wipe out everyone present at her wedding - including her unborn child.
The Bride is assumed to be dead, but then found to be in
a coma. After four years she wakes up and promptly murders the hospital attendent who has been prostituting and raping her unconscious body.
Then, she sets out to take revenge.
--> THE PLOT
Tarantino wanted this film to be set totally outside the realms of reality - and he has succeeded totally. We never see cops, we never see logic or reason, we see no money being exchanged for the tools and weapons at The Bride's disposal... but we do see people on aeroplanes with samurai swords tucked between the seats. It's a really refreshing twist on what could have been a very ordinary story. We're all going with the plot because the plot is making the rules... and in that way, the film is fantastic. The corny assassin monikers and brief detour into manga sequences give the movie the feel of a kids' or teens' action adventure flick.
The plot also skips backwards and forwards from year to year, with Chapters opening and closing throughout, to rein in the action. This is just one of the many features that made this movie very un-Hollywood and much more Asian-influenced.
--> VISUALS
The greatest influence on the movie is Japanese and Asian cinema, from the 70s to the present day. In the whole 129 minutes we see two or three guns, but hundreds and hundreds of swords and knives, and plenty of kung fu. Much of the film is conducted in mixed English/ subtitled Japanese, and I was amazed to see Japanese garage girls The 5,6,7,8s had a pretty major part as an in-house band.
You may think this sounds quite Matrix-influenced, and you'd be right, to a point. But rather than Tarantino lifting sections of one movie to fit his own, he has completely rebuilt Matrix-style fight scenes from the ground up. In the Matrix we see fancy moves in slow motion, and enormous fight scenes recreated in CGI. In Kill Bill, the acrobatics and agility are part of the action, and every single movement is entirely real. In one scene, The Bride takes on hundreds of Yakuza agents, flooding into the room from every direction, and every single moment of that extended fight was recorded and 'real'. That shows a lot more technical flair than a CGI sequence, and it was actually refreshing to watch a scene like that and know that it was real.
--> CHARACTERS AND CASTING
Uma Thurman is really the main character in the movie and her presence is the main reason you stay with every scene to the end. Even though Lucy Liu surprised me by doing a brilliant job as the master of the Tokyo underground, chopping a few heads off in the process, Uma's understated rage and amazing screen presence is captivating. She and Tarantino came up with the idea for The Bride together, and her obvious conviction and pride in the character shines through every scene.
Of course, Chiaki Kuriyama's bodyguard character is just as great as I hoped it would be... she has a true haunting presence, and a talent for Japanese psycopath parts! Hopefully she'll get more recognition as a result of her fantastic performance.
--> THE BAD STUFF
I couldn't really fault the movie technically; I also couldn't fault the script or the performances. Kill Bill is a fantastic fantasy-bloodshed movie and - even better - absolutely hangs on to the storyline at all costs. No detours to blossoming relationships or guys that step in to help the one-woman slash-and-grab samurai fight. Uma Thurman is the ultimate female heroine in a world, perhaps appropriately, completely removed from the world we know.
However, I was disappointed that Tarantino and Weinstein deceided to split Kill Bill into two halves. Having watched the first half, it felt like it had a forced climax... OK, so there's a twist in the ending that REALLY leaves you wanting more... but to be honest, the split seems to be more for financial reasons than the 'Oh, people would probably get bored' explanation Tarantino offers. Kill Bill could really have been an exhausting, non-stop, epic work... instead, in its' first half, it's not quite satisfying enough. It will be interesting to see if the movie comes on one DVD or two... or even in a knitted-together 3 hour version on one disc.
--> RECOMMENDED VIEWING?
Kill Bill surpasses most of the movies I have seen this year... including The Matrix Reloaded. In fact, the trailer for the final Matrix movie looks gothic and dingy in contrast to the all-action technicolour of Kill Bill. I would recommend it to anyone; Tarantino fans will love it, and non-Tarantino fans will find a place in their heart for his best movie yet.
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Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
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half of it (if you include his chunk ofFour Roomsit's really the fourth and a quarterth). IfJackie Brownachieved a certain maturity beyond callous cool, then this i...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Proudly billed as "the fourth film by Quentin Tarantino",Kill Bill, Volume 1is actually ... more
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Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
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clarebartlett1974 12.07.2004 (12.07.2004)
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Review of Kill Bill Vol.1 (DVD)
Advantages: A Quentin Tarantino film with a great plot, and amusing blood Disadvantages: Some people find it boring, but I don't understand it myself...
![Kill Bill, Volume 1 [DVD] [2003]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78528686.jpg "Kill Bill, Volume 1 [DVD] [2003]")
Oct 26th, 2003
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