| KILL BILL: VOLUME 1 |
 2003 - USADirector: Quentin Tarantino - Reviewed by Rachel
I thought this movie was fantastic and I'll tell you why: because despite the visually overwhelming package, the story itself was intense as all hell. I must ask again, were you self-medicating? Did you really not feel:
...and the general horror of it all?? Did you not ask yourself:
All this took me in and I can't understand how you can be so blasé about it! Your readers deserve to know that you are prejudice against Uma Thurman, for one thing. Folks, Linda outright admitted to me that she would like to slap Uma's face for resembling a nasty person she once knew in real life. (So maybe Linda was sympathizing with the Deadly Vipers and *that's* why she didn't get in to it? Hmmm....) But I guess I can understand. If it had been Juliette Lewis in the starring role, I'd be right there with you, grimacing and making slapping gestures at the screen. I understood your other complaints to be the excessive reference to other film genres and the unnecessary grossness of Buck, the evil hospital orderly. On the Buck issue, I can certainly see your point. The film could have done without that disgusting tidbit. I can only argue that perhaps they felt it was needed to cement in our minds the great injustice that had been done to her. As for the referencing, well, I would argue that this film crosses the line between referencing and actually becoming. "Referencing" sounds to me like putting off-hand remarks in the dialogue or throwing in kitschy props or scenes that are otherwise out of place. There is some of that, but most of it is so subtle and obscure that no one will EVER get it. Linda's right: You have to read the 42-page press notes to even know such references are there. These things only serve to amuse Tarantino himself, and so what? He made the movie. Let him enjoy it. No skin off my back. But overall, I say this film did not reference, but actually WAS. I propose that it is the utterly modern fulfillment of the American Western, with all the contemporary Asian influence that has been there from the beginning. As we discussed, many classic western movies took their storylines from Japanese samurai films. And why not? Both genres rely on the themes of violence, betrayal, vengeance, justice, and honor. One against many. Good against evil. They go together like a wink and a smile. Somewhere in a parallel universe, Clint Eastwood and Toshiro Mifune are walking hand in hand into the sunset. You asked why someone who wanted to see kung fu action wouldn't just go see a real kung fu movie? Well, because a real kung fu or samurai movie isn't ours. It isn't American/Western. It won't have the style and the hodge-podge complexity of influences that we expect from our artists. What is all contemporary art but the aping, remixing, and reinterpreting of what came before? Kill Bill is The Bride Wore Black meets Kung Fu meets Crouching Tiger meets Ghost in the Shell meets... well, a lot of things. But I bought in to Tarantino's remix. I thought he did an ok job of it. In the end, I definitely saw something original. Not all references and influences, I say! More than the sum of it's parts! Two things I especially admired: the soundtrack and the writing. As you mentioned, the dialogue is not like other Tarantino works. I don't think it can be compared to Pulp Fiction or any of his other films. It was an altogether different style: sparse and poetic. Rather than throwing around angry slang and expletives each sentence is carefully constructed and (for the most part) softly spoken. And you have to admit the soundtrack was amazing. He put high-noon showdown music over the image of an unconscious body lying in a hospital bed! He put flamenco music over a swordfight in a Japanese garden! The tension was palpable. Anyway, I've gone on for too long and I probably sound like an idiot because I haven't read any professional reviews, nor have I fully absorbed the press notes. I'm going on gut instinct here and I thought it was great. Now if any of you sons of b*tches have anything else to say, now's the f**king time!!! [Read Linda's slightly less-enthusiastic opinion of Kill Bill: Vol.1.] |
| Home | Currently Playing | For Rent | Video Obsession
©2003 Moviepie e-mail us |
Well, Linda, we meet once again on the Moviepie pages. As you know, I have to take issue with 