I maintain that Kill Bill is Tarantino's opus. It's the most consistent of his work: it's thrilling; it's stylish; his dialogue pops; his world building is second to none. Tarantino may well have been working at his creative peak, here.
These were the first Tarantino films I saw in the theaters, and the wait between them, while only a few months, was interminable. I remember almost skipping out of the theater after seeing Vol. 1. I hadn't seen anything like it. Not even Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs, which I had already seen multiple times. This might have been the first movie that I began to appreciate as a film, as a piece of art.
And yes, I consider these ONE movie: they were shot as one film and only edited into two because the prospect of a three-and-a-half-hour movie was more than the studio would commit to. And there was more money to be made releasing two movies. But. Still. This is one big movie that just so happened to be cut in half. Which is why I'm doing this write up for both.
Let's talk Kill Bill.
I. What Is It?
This is the story of The Bride (she has a name, but the film keeps that a secret for some time, so I'll honor it, here). The Bride is brutally injured, thought dead, on her wedding day. The rest of the wedding party lies in pools of blood in the chapel. When she comes to in the hospital, four years later, she embarks on a twisted trail of blood, guts, and vengeance. You see, The Bride was an ex assassin, and her former teammates were the ones who shot her down. So she sets out to cross their names off her list, one by one. And the name at the top of that list? Her former boss and lover, Bill.II. Tarantino at the Top of His Powers
Tarantino is working at the top of his game, here. His dialogue is snappy, quotable, and iconic. The world the film inhabits is a pulpy, insane version of our own, but layered with thought and style. This is a world where people drive gigantic, multicolored Pussywagons and carry their own samurai swords on planes with them. This is a world with a thousands-years-old kung fu master abides on a lonely mountain top. This is a world where blood sprays with abandon, bodies fly backward with gun blasts, and where we even get a little anime break in the middle of the film to tell a key character's backstory.
The characters are all compelling and bad ass in their own way. QT's picked a bright stable of actors to bring these characters to life, too, and everyone makes the most of their delicious morsels of screen time. There is a sense of history at play, and you feel like you've entered the middle film of a grand epic. I want to see these people again. I want to know about their adventures.
QT's filmmaking it also sterling: the switches to black and white might feel random at first, but serve the story being told. The action movie sound effects and fight choreography are lovingly deployed. QT reaches into his bag and pulls out homages and callbacks to almost all of the things he loves, and they all work, here. It feels like watching a living comic book. Splashes of bright color; whip-snap camera movements; beautiful framing and imagery. Tarantino has invited us into his world, and it's a wonderful place.
The sets and costumes are lush, too. I remember very badly wanting a pair of the Onitsuka Tigers Thurman wears in the final battle. O-Ren Ishii's costume is stunning. The restaurant where The Bride battles the Crazy 88 is a wonderful thing, too: it's spacious, to allow for exploration and wowiw-zowie fight choreography, while looking like a place I'd really like to go eat and hang out. Especially if the 5,6,7,8's are playing. Bill is resplendent in cowboy shirts and a trusty pair of boots. Elle Driver is sleek and sexy in a power suit. Budd is mired in his own filth in old jeans and a dirty wife beater. Every character is dressed appropriately and iconically. The Pussy Wagon is a garish nightmare. This film's art direction is just damned incredible. There's always something interesting to look at, and it's the kind of film that rewards multiple viewings.
And the soundtrack: oh lord, the soundtrack! It informs character, it enhances tone and mood, and it keeps the movie rocking along. QT has always had a knack for making his soundtracks and needle drops essential elements, but he knocks this one out of the park. One of the unsung heroes of this movie is its sound design. You hear everything: blood splattering on walls and gurgling in throats; the ways a samurai sword sings when its drawn; the swoosh of a fist flying through the air in Eagle Claw technique; the clunk clunk of boots on old floorboards. You almost never notice a great sound design, because the sounds assimilate so seamlessly into the film. The design here is stylish, but crisp.
- Kill Bill is an auteur director operating at his peak. QT wears his influences on his sleeve, and lovingly crafts an epic action movie masterpiece. Action movies can be art, too, you know.The characters are all compelling and bad ass in their own way. QT's picked a bright stable of actors to bring these characters to life, too, and everyone makes the most of their delicious morsels of screen time. There is a sense of history at play, and you feel like you've entered the middle film of a grand epic. I want to see these people again. I want to know about their adventures.
QT's filmmaking it also sterling: the switches to black and white might feel random at first, but serve the story being told. The action movie sound effects and fight choreography are lovingly deployed. QT reaches into his bag and pulls out homages and callbacks to almost all of the things he loves, and they all work, here. It feels like watching a living comic book. Splashes of bright color; whip-snap camera movements; beautiful framing and imagery. Tarantino has invited us into his world, and it's a wonderful place.
The sets and costumes are lush, too. I remember very badly wanting a pair of the Onitsuka Tigers Thurman wears in the final battle. O-Ren Ishii's costume is stunning. The restaurant where The Bride battles the Crazy 88 is a wonderful thing, too: it's spacious, to allow for exploration and wowiw-zowie fight choreography, while looking like a place I'd really like to go eat and hang out. Especially if the 5,6,7,8's are playing. Bill is resplendent in cowboy shirts and a trusty pair of boots. Elle Driver is sleek and sexy in a power suit. Budd is mired in his own filth in old jeans and a dirty wife beater. Every character is dressed appropriately and iconically. The Pussy Wagon is a garish nightmare. This film's art direction is just damned incredible. There's always something interesting to look at, and it's the kind of film that rewards multiple viewings.
And the soundtrack: oh lord, the soundtrack! It informs character, it enhances tone and mood, and it keeps the movie rocking along. QT has always had a knack for making his soundtracks and needle drops essential elements, but he knocks this one out of the park. One of the unsung heroes of this movie is its sound design. You hear everything: blood splattering on walls and gurgling in throats; the ways a samurai sword sings when its drawn; the swoosh of a fist flying through the air in Eagle Claw technique; the clunk clunk of boots on old floorboards. You almost never notice a great sound design, because the sounds assimilate so seamlessly into the film. The design here is stylish, but crisp.
III. A Real Monster
Bill is, probably, Tarantino's most despicable, and best rendered, big bad. And David Carradine plays him with relish. Bill is a psychopath. He's a charming psychopath, but he's a psychopath. He'll promise you he world with one breath, and order your execution with the next. And you'll believe he loves you during both. Carradine captures this with incredible skill: his voice is always level, calm, and nearly sweet, even when he's describing murder. His grin is infectious. If the films didn't stand as ample evidence to the contrary, you might be forgiven for thinking Bill was a decent man. But he's a fucking monster.
IV. A Star Turn
Uma Thurman's performance is assured and a true anchor. She sells QT's absurd action-movie zingers, but also infuses The Bride with a wellspring of real emotion. The Bride is bad ass. She kicks ass, but has honor; she was the victim of terrible violence, but refuses to be a Victim, constantly fighting or using her wit to escape a cascade of conundrums: she fights off a yakuza army; she gets buried alive; she hunts down the most dangerous people in the world and wreaks her vengeance on them.
And while Tarantino provides the emotional core for this mama bear, he refuses to treat her like a standard Hollywood lady. She doesn't get a shoe-horned romance, she doesn't ask for help she doesn't need, and she doesn't blink when it comes to doing her duty. And the biggest plus of all? She isn't over-sexed. Or sexed at all, really. Thurman never fights in a bikini, she doesn't show an inch of skin for titillation. There are NO sex scenes. It was so nice to see a strong, capable woman who doesn't need a man and doesn't have to subject herself to the male gaze.
And while Tarantino provides the emotional core for this mama bear, he refuses to treat her like a standard Hollywood lady. She doesn't get a shoe-horned romance, she doesn't ask for help she doesn't need, and she doesn't blink when it comes to doing her duty. And the biggest plus of all? She isn't over-sexed. Or sexed at all, really. Thurman never fights in a bikini, she doesn't show an inch of skin for titillation. There are NO sex scenes. It was so nice to see a strong, capable woman who doesn't need a man and doesn't have to subject herself to the male gaze.
V. Two Halves, Two Feels
The first half, Vol. 1, is very clearly a live-action anime. It features bonkers fight scenes, over-the-top violence and everyone has something cool to say at JUST the right moment. It feels epic and world-shaking. The scene were The Bride visits Hattori Hanzo (payed wonderfully by Sonny Chiba) is one of my favorites: they never say Bill's name, but Hanzo writes it in the dust on a window, and there's pain, and love, in it. And it's... beautiful.
The second film, Vol. 2, is a wuxia/western hybrid. It's about lonely warriors reflecting on their evil, and fighting anyway. We get to see The Bride's training by the legendary Pei Mei in what can only be a giant homage to the old kung fu movies of The Shaw Brothers. But when we visit Bill's brother, Budd, the film morphs into a western, replete with Ennio Morricone twang.
In these movies, you are given a tour of Quentin Tarantino's brain. You explore the movies and influences that have come to define him. And he makes it all work, somehow.
The second film, Vol. 2, is a wuxia/western hybrid. It's about lonely warriors reflecting on their evil, and fighting anyway. We get to see The Bride's training by the legendary Pei Mei in what can only be a giant homage to the old kung fu movies of The Shaw Brothers. But when we visit Bill's brother, Budd, the film morphs into a western, replete with Ennio Morricone twang.
In these movies, you are given a tour of Quentin Tarantino's brain. You explore the movies and influences that have come to define him. And he makes it all work, somehow.
Why You Should See It
- The soundtrack is iconic. There's a song for every occasion.
- The performances are excellent and committed across the board. The actors wear their parts like finely tailored suits.
- It impacted action movie filmmaking indelibly, and still sits on its pedestal, in a class all its own.
Why You Shouldn't See It
In Conclusion
Miscellany
- Quentin Tarantino and Uma Thurman developed The Bride, and the idea for this film, jointly on the set of Pulp Fiction.- Quentin Tarantino owns the Pussy Wagon and drove it around as his main vehicle to help promote the films.
- Over 450 gallons of fake blood were used during the filming of these movies.
- It took Tarantino six years to write the script, which turned out to be 220 pages long.
- The final fight was filmed over 8 weeks.
- Jackie drives the same car that Butch used to drive down Marsellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction. Not the same make and model: the same car.
- This is the only film Tarantino has adapted from another source.
- Ordell's ridiculous long hair and chin braid were Samuel L. Jackson's idea. Jackson has said that Jackie Brown is his favorite Tarantino flick. Ordell says the words "mother fucker" 37 times in this movie.
- The gas canister from Reservoir Dogs can be seen in Budd's trailer.
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