KILL BILL VOLUME 1.

 

 

 

The 36^th chamber of Shaolin was one of the first martial arts  movies I saw. It depicted a monk fighting for revenge, and defeating his enemies.  Kill  Bill  volume 1, depicts a pregnant bride, left for dead on her wedding day. She rises to avenge the  deaths of her prospective husband and her unborn child and to kill Bill.

Quentin Taranrtino’s influences are the Chinese martial arts movies, the Japanese “manga “ style of anime, and the films of Sergio Leone . He takes  them all and creates a stylish, female oriented film. The use of music is very original and like his other films, it is unconventional. Here, music played by the Mariachis, is used as background score .

Uma Thurman plays the bride. She is numero uno amongst the killers in Bill’s stable. After  her attempted killing, she is comatose, and in a hospital. Four years later, she wakes up enraged and willing to wreck havoc. But first , she has to move her big toe…

Thus , begins her killing spree. The Bride kills Black Mamba( Vivica Fox), and Oren Iishii ( Lucy Liu). The killings are stylish, and filled with a sense of fatalism. The background  score is Spanish guitars, palmeros and has  the feel of a desert, while the scene may feature a snowy landscape. This kind of contrast make Kill Bill 1 a very avant garde martial arts movie. At the same time, it lacks the slightly camp nature that most movies of the genre have.

At the heart of Kill Bill are issues of innocence killed, lives mutilated and the feeling of revenge  which seems the only way to forget. The old saying“ he who lives by the sword, can never escape it” is a recurring motif.

There is no lead actor in the movie, another unique feature. All the characters are treated with a sense of history, and impartiality. They are in a particular story due to their circumstances, and their choices. That their choices have brought them into contact with the Bride is a matter of coincidence. But their actions when they  meet the Bride are deliberate, and premeditated.

Stereotypes are broken. The Bride  wants revenge for the death of her child, but ends up depriving a child of her mother. The lackeys, such as the Go Go girl, have a more charishmatic appearance than the main leads. Darryl Hannah, is a bad ass character, a major digression from her usual choice of roles. Her voice sounds tougher, whereas in her other roles she has a whisper soft voice.  The man behind it all, Bill, is never seen. That  there is a lot of unfinished business is clear. Yet, Kill Bill 1 by itself is a complete movie .