Kill Bill
Film 05/10/2004 |Prairie and I watched Kill Bill this weekend — the whole thing, renting Volume One Saturday night and going out to see Volume Two on Sunday. I’d seen the first half already when it was in the theaters, but Prairie hadn’t, and it was quite fun to watch them both back-to-back. I’ve got to say that I think that Kill Bill is easily the best work I’ve seen from Quentin Tarantino.
Violent? Well, of course — it’s Tarrantino. After watching Kill Bill, I don’t think Tarantino could film someone getting a paper cut without attaching a spurting jet of blood to it (which, to me at least, is a fairly amusing mental image). It was all extremely over-the-top, though, to the point where it’s extremely difficult to take seriously (I joked at one point that the Kill Bill movies could be subtitled “Quentin Tarantino goes balls-out nuts”).
Watching Vol. 1 the second time, I was struck by how perfect of a decision it was to flesh out O-Ren Ishi-i’s backstory with anime, as it allowed Tarantino to present what is really one of the most disturbing storylines in a manner that’s in some ways actually more intense than he would have been able to do it had he tried to make it a live-action sequence.
Elle Driver is easily one of my favorite characters in the film, I think. Of the five members of the DiVAS, much of the time she struck me as the most snake-like: cold, unfeeling, and vicious — which made the few moments when she broke that mold (her moment of pouting after Bill tells her to leave the bride alive in the hospital towards the beginning of Vol. 1) that much more amusing.
The fight with Elle in Budd’s camper was wonderfully done, too, with Elle constantly unable to draw her sword out of its sheath due to the cramped quarters. I’m quite curious if that’s an intentional movie reference by Tarantino that’s been missed on the Kill Bill References Guide, specifically to the trailer fight in the Coen Brothers’ Raising Arizona. Not to mention that the bride’s final blow to Elle really caught me off guard — a perfect way to end the fight, but entirely unexpected (and cringe-inducing).
What really surprised me about Vol. 2 was the end, which was far more touching and tender than I ever would have expected from Tarantino. After around three and a half hours of violent, bloody revenge, to wrap it all up with sequences that manage to tug at the heartstrings without being schmaltzy was a surprising and perfect way to end the film.
iTunes: “Steamroller” by Pigface from the album Preaching to the Perverted (1994, 2:10).
[See also: Kill Bill, Vol. 1 | Kill Bill - Part Three | Movie scenes that need to be made | Troy | Beastie Boys: In a World Gone Mad ]
5 Responses to “Kill Bill”
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Cheryl
Bertamum
Michael Hanscom
Snail_5
Bob
May 10th, 2004 at 7:19 pm
If you are looking for great quotes, try Pulp Fiction. I agree, the Kill Bill volumes were done quite well. What I found perfectly done in both of them was music. In kill bill 1 the bride’s shot to the head makes me want to throw up, but then he adds “Bang, bang, my baby shot me down” and it becomes all consuming in what just happened. That one scene, sticks out over the rest of the movie, simply because of the music. In Kill Bill 2, Tarantino brings out “About her” at a point that makes you focus on the bride’s feelings. I feel hard-pressed to agree with it being the top of the Tarantino crop because of the dialogue not reaching the same as “Pulp Fiction” but, the movies were made for action and remained true to being a simple revenge tale. (sorry for the long post, glad you liked it)
-Skinned Mink
May 11th, 2004 at 8:57 am
That song that Elle whistles while walking down the hospital hallway just HAUNTS me…
May 27th, 2004 at 1:12 pm
What is that song? I even bought the soundtrack in the hopes that the song was on it. I haven’t listened to this whole thing yet, but it seems like the song isn’t……
June 15th, 2004 at 11:23 pm
That song that Elle whistles is from a 1969 movie, “Twisted Nerve” and was composed by Bernard Herrmann.
And yes, it’s on the Vol 1 soundtrack, track 4.
enjoy!
June 25th, 2004 at 11:33 am
I don’t believe you are mistaken to think that the trailer fight scene was a reference to Raising Arizona. In fact if you notice when the fight scene gets to the bathroom, there is not just one, but in fact THREE references to Coen Brothers movies! The first is the fight itself and the throw through the wall (Raising Arizona) the part where the shower curtain is pulled down (Fargo) and the part where Elle ends up with her head in the toilet (Big Lebowski). I’m just speculating on this because I haven’t read that this was intentional or not, but I doubt that he would coincidently put those three elements in to the span of just a few minutes. And I have a feeling Tarantino is a Coen Bros. fan (I mean who isn’t!) considering their style of filmmaking is similar.