(Fig 1 Film Poster)
Tarantino is most definitely not your everyday film director. The film maker thrives off of good film and constantly strives for anything new to reinvigorate the film industry. His work certainly shows it, especially his 2003 film ‘Kill Bill Vol. 1’. In this action-packed blood-fest, Tarantino pays tribute to every single western, samurai and martial art movie, even going as far as to include animated Japanese anime segments.
(Fig 2 DIVAS)
Volume 1, as the film’s suffix suggests, is the first installment of an epic two-part series, each one taking plenty of inspiration from each genre.
The plot revolves around a woman known only as ‘Black Mamba’ and later ‘The Bride’, played by Uma Thurman, a former member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, or DIVAS, all of which had codenames. Black Mamba is out for revenge after an ominous man known only by the name ‘Bill’, played by David Carradine, after having been shot in the head by him at her wedding and left for dead.
(Fig 3 Bill)
The main motivation for Black Mamba’s revenge is that she was once Bill’s love interest, but after becoming pregnant she attempted to run away from her like of killing and assassination only to get married in a quaint little Church just off the border of Mexico. Bill storms into the ceremony with the rest of his DIVAS and shoots her and the rest of the party there.
Slipping into a deep coma that lasted for years after having been shot in the head, she ‘comes back from the dead’ and wakes up in a hospital bed just as a less than savory man attempts to have her way with her unconscious body after paying the resident doctor.
She barely escapes the endeavor and escapes in the doctor’s car and has revenge in her sights and the heads of the rest of the DIVAS and Bill. Bill himself is very rarely seed in the film, albeit a stray hand examining a sword or a mouth and a chin or a suit. Bill makes his appearance in volume 2. For now, however, Black Mamba engages in a glorious blood-fest with the DIVAS.
Uma Thurman had a breakthrough in her career in this movie when it surpassed her acting in ‘Pulp Fiction’ became highly recognized as her best work. Lucy Liu and the rest of the DIVAS also had great successes with this film.
The gore and blood is extremely stylized and over the top to the point of cheesiness, but it is widely considered a fine cheese. The animated segments are very visually appealing and the gore depicted in them is a foreshadowing of what is to come later in the movie.
“Blood spurting stumps are a prevalent image system in "Kill Bill," and their introduction into the movie by way of a gory Japanese Anime cartoon sequence sets a properly cheerful tone for the torrents of blood that rain down in the latter half of the film. "Kill Bill's" violence has a capitol "I" for irony. It draws significantly on meticulously appointed sets that preserve a deliciously visual splendor to the fast-twitch sword play that sends heads and limbs flying.” (Cole Smithey, 2005)
dialogue in the film is to the point and very sharp. Tarantino’s skilled editing is something to behold and not to be taken for granted. Even though the film plot is split up in many intervals, it is still easy to understand.
Overall, the easily squeamish should not be recommended to see this film, but for those that love cheese, action and the unique style of Tarantino, this film is a must.
Bibliography:
Imagery:
Fig 1. Film Poster http://commentaramafilms.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/guest-review-kill-bill-2003.html (Accessed 07/10/12)Fig 2. DIVAS http://commentaramafilms.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/guest-review-kill-bill-2003.html (Accessed 07/10/12)
Fig 3. Bill http://commentaramafilms.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/guest-review-kill-bill-2003.html (Accessed 07/10/12)
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