Kill Bill I and IIThere are few people who watch movies who haven’t heard of Quentin Tarantino. And most of those folks have seen Kill Bill, at least one of the volumes, probably both. On IMDB and other official sites, the two volumes are considered separate films and this makes sense because they were released some time apart and they each have a different feel and one can say that they attract a different audience. The first is full of action, and the second is much more dialogue oriented. However, since I often find movies attractive because of plot, character and theme, it is difficult for me to separate the two films. These are two volumes of one story, not a complete story with a sequel. The first movie leaves us in the middle, and the second completes the themes hinted at in the first film. The two films complete each other, and one should really not be seen without the other. So, while I understand the need to separate them, I find it almost impossible to do so. If I was forced to, then I would choose the second one, because it fulfills the promise of the first.
Technical—5/5—The former video store employee is a master filmmaker. He has taken his interest in B movies and re-created them to their full potential. Not only is each scene perfectly stylized and choreographed, but the dialogue adds what no B movie does—create full characters that have an arc. Bill as we see him in flashbacks is not the Bill we are presented with at the end of the film. The vengeful Bride at the beginning of the film is not the same Bride at the end. And their motivations aren’t clear until the very end. Although QT borrows much from martial arts films and action thrillers of all sorts, he creates a world full of real people that surpasses almost all of them.
Interest—5/5—QT works really hard to keep us focused on this film. Rather than giving us long stretches of dialogue about the relative quality of fast food burgers, he keeps us focused on the story—the revenge of the Bride. It is so full of action and tension that one could barely turn aside from the screen.
Tension—5/5—This isn’t just an action film where we go from one fight to another, knowing who will win and half bored through the process. The stakes increase for the Bride in each fight, and we are given the motivations and strengths of each character as we go on. Every scene has its own power, and we don’t know how it will end. Even when watching it the second time, I am stunned with watching the Bride get buried alive, or fight off an army of bodyguards.
Emotional 4/5—Throughout most of this epic, I am unmoved. Sure, the Bride deserves her revenge, but I don’t really care who wins, who is harmed or what happens. Each scene is fascinating and tense in the own ways, but emotionally they leave me cold. Until the final showdown between Bill and The Bride. I cry each time I see The Bride see the one she didn’t know existed. And it is as tense and emotional as any couple discussing a divorce, yet the stakes are much higher. Rarely have I seen a movie come to a more fitting, more fulfilling climax.
Characters—5/5—I struggle with this. So much work is done on character development, but in the end, do we have even one person that we relate to? Probably not. The world of Bill is so far removed from our world, and their motivation is so different from the day to day life of non-assassins. But, as removed as they are, the characters of Bill, of the Bride and of Bill’s brother, Budd, become, by the end of the film, very human and their motivations can be comprehended. Again, I am impressed by the slow burn of the film, how it all makes sense by the final scene.
Theme—5/5—I spend a lot more time exploring this in my article in The Reelists.
Read it here. To summarize, the ultimate theme of Kill Bill is the confrontation of patriarchy by matriarchy. On the surface, it seems like a revenge film, but in the end it is a conflict on how to raise children. I’m glad most parental conflicts don’t need to be resolved so violently.
Ethics—3/5—The two ethical systems are powerfully presented, but in the end both systems rely on violence to fulfill their obligations. The use of violence is never questioned, the way it subtly is in Pulp Fiction. Perhaps this is a personal concern, but it is the one thing that separated me from the context of the film. There are good ethical questions brought up, though. The place of loyalty in different contexts. The response to just revenge. Good stuff, but not emphasized, and the questions are usually given pat answers.
Personal—2/5—The one problem I saw with the film is that it is so far removed from my context and there was nothing done, such as in The Godfather, to allow a “normal” person to be brought into the world, to understand why they think the way they do. Thus, while I have my own conflict between patriarchy and matriarchy within myself, I can easily dismiss the versions of both philosophies as presented in this film. The choice between the father with a gun protecting his family’s honor and the mother bear defending her cubs isn’t really a choice at all, it seems.
Despite my reservations, Kill Bill is a masterful film, and one I am proud to put in my Top 100.