I hate bloodshed and screen violence, and I have no interest in martial arts, Samurai fighting or Japanese manga and anime traditions.
Yet – it was a night out with friends and I didn’t want to poop the party so I went with the flow and took my seat for the most anticipated movie of the year – Kill Bill Volume 1. Kill Bill is of course the fourth film to be written and directed by cinema’s one true maverick, Quentin Tarantino. I list Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown in my top ten films of all time, and although the violent aspects of the trailers had worried me, I was looking forward to enjoying those touches that only Tarantino has the balls to pull off.
The opening moments didn’t disappoint. Nancy Sinatra singing ‘Bang Bang (He Shot me Down)’ over the opening titles would have sent shivers down the spine of a skeleton. But when the film proper started, that’s where it all went wrong for me.
Uma Thurman, the star of Pulp Fiction, is our ‘heroine’, though I was never quite sure why I should like her. Her character in this film has no name, no ‘job’, no friends, and no apparent personality apart from a tendency toward extreme violence. Known in the titles simply as ‘The Bride’, her character is hell bent on avenging the mob who killed her husband, her unborn child, and the rest of her wedding party in a small church in the sticks. The Bride herself took a bullet in the head, but woke from a coma four years later – with perfect skin, hair and teeth! God bless Hollywood.
Tarantino has made no bones about the fact that this film has no basis in reality whatsoever, and you’ll soon get tired of saying ‘But wouldn’t she…?’,
and ‘But why doesn’t he…?’ as you realise that none of the plot, characters or situations are meant to be plausible or sympathetic.
Apparently this method of film making is in reference/ homage to many other genres – Samurai films, Bruce Lee films, Japanese animation, and more that I’m not familiar enough with to comment on. Whether or not the homage is accurate I’m not qualified to say, but as a paying member of the public I know I hated every minute of this crass, nasty, soulless piece of film making.
The violence is quick in arriving, and never lets up. In scenes where there is no violence, I couldn’t relax and enjoy the acting as I was cringeing behind my hands, waiting for the next piece of bloodshed to arrive. Thurman’s character takes no prisoners in her quest for revenge – death is the only option, and as bloody a death as possible. Guns have no place in this film. It’s all done with knives, swords, and balls on chains. Maximum bloodloss folks, and a nice slow death.
If there’s a plot than I’m sorry to report that I couldn’t sniff it out. ‘Woman gets shot, woman goes on rampage’ is all you really need to know. The Bride flies the world in her pursuit of the DIVAS (Deadly Viper Assasination Squad) and while the rest of us have to bin our tweezers in international airports, Thurman gets to breeze on board apparently empty flights with a three-foot Samurai sword as hand luggage.
There’s an animated section midway through which I am reliably informed is based on Japanese anime (or is it Manga?) animation. Suffice to say it’s far too long, and contains some of the bloodiest, squelchiest violence in the whole movie, with child abuse and paedophilia chucked in case you hadn’t begun to feel sick yet.
Aah – squelchiness. I mentioned I hid behind my hands, Doctor Who-style for much of this film, but I wasn’t able to escape the violence. The sound guys have had a field day here, and the sounds of exploding organs, sliced bones and sinew, and spurting blood will be with me for weeks now. Look away if you must, but in a loud cinema you’ll have to deal with the violence whether you like it or not.
As we’d expect in a Tarantino film, the story jumps about all over the place, though all this really meant in practice was that we saw people being brutally despatched in a different order. One nice touch was when we found out why The Bride drives an incongruous ‘Pussy Wagon’, but other than that I could see no point to the leaps in timeframe.
Lucy Liu plays the head of a gang of Japanese gangsters/ militia/ violent psychopaths (not sure which but they wore eye-masks in the style of the Lone Ranger) and she carries impressive screen presence. Assured and confident, she fills the shot every time she appears. I wouldn’t mess with her! But Thurman would, and the climactic scenes in which she takes on Liu, her henchmen, her teenaged schoolgirl bodyguard and a cast of thousands in an urban Japanese nightclub is the ‘highlight’ of the film.
In its favour, this scene features some awesome music - and Thurman finally dons the yellow jumpsuit we paid our ticket money for.
Against its favour, this scene is so long you’ll wish you’d brought your knitting with you. I haven’t seen The Matrix but apparently it contains a famously overlong fight scene. Move over Matrix, Kill Bill can drag violence out to lengths you can only dream of.
The fighting becomes increasingly frenzied and souped-up, with Thurman (recently recovered from a four year coma) clinging to the roof, flying through the air and performing myriad other incredible moves. This all reminded me of the kung-fu programmes we used to watch as kids, where the fighter takes on super powers, and beats everybody. But why! Sorry guys, I’m just too literal a person to enjoy this. If Thuman can have the benefit of special effects, then why can’t her adversaries?
As the nightclub fills up with twitching, limbless bodies we lurch towards the final showdown, in which Thurman takes a brutal slash to her back from the white kimono clad Liu – and recovers in the next shot!
The fact there’s going to be a Volume 2 of this film leaves us in little doubt that The Bride survives. And while the very final line of the movie made me gasp with shock – and momentarily want to see what happened next – the ending is otherwise pretty predictable.
I hated this film. There was no story, no characterisation and virtually no dialogue. We were invited to enjoy a smorgasbord or violence, without ever being given the slightest reason to care for the characters or their motives. It was a cold, depressing, impersonal experience that I would never care to repeat. If I hadn’t been with friends I would have left midway through, and saved myself the trauma of the second half.
I award two stars on this basis though: Kill Bill isn’t a ‘bad film’ in the way that, say, ‘Maid in Manhattan’ is a bad film. It is in fact startling, original and incredibly stylish. It just happens that my own personal taste doesn’t run to mass mutilation. Thurman’s performance is breathtaking, if you can keep your eyes open enough to actually see it.
I’ll leave you with this question to ponder:
Imagine you are a member of a highly trained horde of Samurai swordsmen, surrounding a single swordswoman on all sides with the intention of killing her. Do you…
A) Charge forward as one group, slicing her to shreds in seconds?
Or
B) Run forward one by one, to be sliced and diced yourself as if on a conveyor belt of death?
If like me you can’t help answering on the side of common sense, then Kill Bill wasn’t made for you.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 1977 - Action/Adventure - Director: Clint Eastwood - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring:Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney
I must agree this film is a but of a crazy slaughter fest but I think it is well constructed, very helpful review
kitty17 19.07.2004 15:58
I thought you wrote a good review but I'm of the opinion that Tarantino here has surpassed himself, I thought the film was excellent. But enjoyed reading your review. Ellie
the_evil_aku 08.06.2004 19:45
dude 83 comments on this review allready!. Well I thought it was a good review well detailed and manages to sum up the films plot without waffeling on. But is it only men who see the pure art of the violence in this film, its like one big manga really more japanese than american i think. good review well done
Proudly billed as "the fourth film by Quentin Tarantino",Kill Bill, Volume 1is actually ... more
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
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: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned! In part 1 of Quentin Tarantino's delirious ... more
revenge movie Uma Thurman plays 'The Bride' a woman seeking vengeance on those who massacred her wedding party... Inspired by countless Japanese swordplay actionfests...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
The acclaimed fourth film from groundbreaking writer and director Quentin Tarantino, KILL ... more
BILL VOLUME 1 stars Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu and Vivica A. Fox in an astonishing. action-packed thriller about brutal betrayal and an epic vendetta! Four years after...
Advantages: Fantastic gore drenched classic for fans of Samurai/Yakuza/Ganster/Kung Fu and Hong Kong Films. Disadvantages: Strictly for fans of Tarantino and Martial Arts films only. The rest of you just won't get it.
willgould 23.10.2003 (24.10.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Kill Bill Vol.1 (DVD)
clarebartlett1974 12.07.2004 (12.07.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
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 27th, 2003
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