Figure 1: Film Poster
Kill Bill Vol 1 (2003) is an American action/thriller film
directed by Quentin Tarantino. It’s the first of the two films that were made
several months apart. Both movies are referred to collectively as “Kill
Bill”. The film starts with Uma Thurman known as “The Bride”. She
is a former member of an assassination group. She wants to take revenge and
kill her ex-colleagues because they tried to kill her and massacred everyone on
her wedding.
Figure 2: Uma Thurman starring as "The Bride".
The narrative of the film is nonlinear. The movie starts by
showing us Uma Thurman known as Black Mamba in her ex assassination group lying
down badly wounded telling Bill who hasn’t appeared in the movie that she
carries his baby. Right after that he shoots her in her head. The movie
features flash back scenes in black and white. Also the movie contains references from other movies. The whole movie features a comic
style concept with a lot of martial arts.
Figure 3: Film scene in black and white.
Uma Thurman assassinates each person that tried to kill her
in her wedding. Basically she is fighting and trying to kill her ex-colleagues.
The film contains many blood scenes which gives you the idea that you are
watching a manga. Words and dialogues aren’t that important as the visual
fights and the concept of the film. “Words aren't the thing this time around.
Visual cleverness is what matters, and stylistically, this really is a gruesome
martial arts ballet, with blood substituting for dialogue.” (Plath, 2008)
Figure 4: Fighting scene featuring a lot of blood.
The film features a mixture of genre elements. Tarantino has successfully mixed up different
elements in the movie categorizing it as a postmodern film. “This
is a film in which Tarantino gathers together all the pulpy action film genres
of East and West and makes a Spag-Noodle Western with blood red sauce. But the
meat is missing. Tarantino parlays the icons of the genres into a post-modern
dance macabre.” (L. Urban, 2012) The film is highly theatrical by containing scenes that
seem fictional to the audience making the film unique. The film contains little
schoolgirls as assassins and little girls watching their mother die during a
fight. Tarantino delivers the action of the fights in a very comic and hyper
real way. “The film's opening knife fight between Thurman and Vivica Fox (as an
assassin named "Copperhead") is a signature Q.T. sequence of
kitchen-bound violence wherein the presence of a child, and a box of exploding
cereal, expand the subtext of the super action onscreen.” (Smithey, 2005)
Figure 5: The first fight scene in the kitchen.
The movie’s plot is being depicted in chapters. The film
has many references from other movies in different genres. “Unfolding as a book, Kill Bill
is conceived in chapters, each boasting the characteristic look and pulse of a
specific movie genre. As in each and
every Tarantino film, the chapters are interwoven with references to music,
literature, and above all pop culture.” (Levy, 2006) Tarantino has
successfully mixed up all these elements to create a postmodern film with great
action and unique style.
Illustration List:
Figure 1: Kill Bill Vol 1 (2003), Film Poster.
(Accessed: 12/10/2012)
Figure 2: Kill Bill Vol 1 (2003), Uma Thurman starring as “The Bride”.
(Accessed: 12/10/2012)
Figure 3: Kill Bill Vol 1 (2003), Film scene in black and white.
(Accessed: 12/10/2012)
Figure 4: Kill Bill Vol 1 (2003), Fighting scene featuring a lot of blood.
(Accessed: 12/10/2012)
Figure 5: Kill Bill Vol 1 (2003), The first fight scene in the kitchen.
(Accessed: 12/10/2012)
Bibliography:
Plath, James (2008), Kill Bill Vol 1, Film Review.
(Accessed: 12/10/2012)
L. Urban, Andrew (2012) Kill Bill Vol 1, Film Review.
(Accessed: 12/10/2012)
Smithey, Cole (2008) Kill Bill Vol 1, Film Review.
(Accessed: 12/10/2012)
Levy, Emmanuel (2006) Kill Bill Vol 1, Film Review.
(Accessed: 12/10/2012)
