Kill Bill (Volumes 1 & 2) - Quentin Tarantino

With the one-two punch of the Kill Bill films Quentin Tarantino presents an exquisite blend of genres and styles in an epic and violent tale of revenge. With a cast headed by Uma Thurman and including David Carradine, Lucy Liu, Vivica Fox and Michael Madsen, amongst many others, the films amount to more than just a bloody spectacle – together they’re a brilliant, bloody masterpiece.

The films unfold in non-chronological order so that, in effect, they go forward and then double back and then go forward again and so on. Thurman stars as The Bride (one of her many aliases), a former member of The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad who has retreated to the supposed safety of domesticity, planning to get married, give birth to her daughter, and live a quiet, peaceful life. Her disappearance, however, does not sit well with her former boss and lover, Bill (Carradine), who sends her former compatriots – Vernita Green (Fox), O-Ren Ishii (Liu), Budd (Madsen) and Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) – to massacre the people in the chapel and kill her. The Bride lives, having been badly beaten and shot in the head, and lies in a coma for four years. When she wakes up she goes immediately into revenge mode, cutting down her enemies one by one until she finally reaches the man responsible for it all: Bill.

The ordering of the various sequences of the films has much to do with their success, particularly when it comes to the fight sequences. In Volume 1, for example, showing the battle between The Bride and Vernita Green before The Bride’s battle with O-Ren and her gang, when in fact the former actually occurs afterwards (as evidenced by the fact that O-Ren’s name has already been crossed off The Bride’s list), Tarantino removes the pretence of suspense from the fight scenes. In an action film the hero will of course survive no matter what the odds, but the vast majority of films play with the idea that those odds are insurmountable. By removing the suspense, Tarantino shifts the focus from the hero and whether she will win, to the technical skill that has gone into the choreography, which is indeed outstanding.

The showdown at the House of Leaves is a great set piece with regards to fight choreography and probably the best example in the two films of the truly magnificent cinematography by Robert Richardson and the great work by the art direction team. When The Bride finishes disposing of The Crazy 88s and goes to meet O-Ren herself on the rooftop garden, the blood drenched interior of the restaurant opening out onto the beautiful winter landscape, it kicks off what is arguably the absolute best scene of the two films from a purely aesthetic standpoint. The scene that plays out on the rooftop looks absolutely stunning, its beauty matched only by the brutality of the confrontation which will take place there.

All of Tarantino’s considerable strengths as both writer and director are on display in these films. His ear for dialogue and incorporating pop culture references and his ability to pick the exact right music to underscore a scene create a nice balance of content and style. Further, for all the violence and foul language peppered throughout the story, the films are directed with a surprising measure of grace. There are several wonderful tracking shots, including the long trek through the House of Leaves and back again in Volume 1, and the shot at the beginning of Volume 2 where the camera pulls out of the chapel to reveal the four assassins waiting outside. As a director Tarantino leaves a distinctive mark on the film without ever making it feel intrusive or allowing it to be a distraction.

The positive things about these films are numerous, but there is one troubling aspect to the story having to do with the racial politics at play. There are five people on The Bride’s kill list, three of whom are white while two – Vernita and O-Ren - are women of color. Vernita and O-Ren are killed in Volume 1 by The Bride’s hands, but in Volume 2 Bud is killed by Elle, Elle is left alive, and it can be argued that Bill kills himself as he dies as a result of taking the five steps necessary to explode his heart. There are also about 80, or so, members of O-Ren’s gang who are killed while her right-hand woman, Sophie Fatale – who is half white, half Japanese - is left alive. While it’s refreshing that the films feature a diverse cast, it does give one pause to consider the ways in which the minority characters are incorporated into and, more importantly, out of the story.

The Kill Bill saga is a thrilling ride from beginning to end with production values that are impressive by any standard. Compared to the rest of Tarantino’s oeuvre, the two films probably fall in the middle – though whether Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown or Reservoir Dogs and Death Proof (or any combination thereof) rate higher is in the eye of the beholder. Similarly, whether Volume 1 or Volume 2 is the superior half is up for debate, with the former being the faster, more action filled half and the later being the more meditative, more “serious” half. Taken together the films offer something for everyone and are well worth a look.

Watch a trailer for the movie here: