KILL BILL: VOLUME ONE
Forty year old American auteur Quentin Tarantino shoots back in this
ultra-violent, super-cool martial arts cinematic circus.
Blood abounds as he moves through genres and eras, homage after
homage, which even includes a Japanese animation tribute. Originally
envisioned as one film, the final cut ran over three hours so the good
people at Miramax bisected it.
The (as she proves here) extremely versatile Uma Thurman is The Bride.
After being gunned down at a Texan wedding by a group of assassins,
she was comatose for a few years and now that she's herself again, she
wants revenge. She draws up a list of names (five in total) that must
be exterminated, including the Big Boss, Bill.
Told in non-linear fashion (it is Tarantino), with lots of gorgeous
imagery, this film achieves that most treasured of all goals: to be
cinematic. That is, to both immerse the viewer into its own world but
to also remind him or her that it is a work of art whose composition
can be broken down and examined. A good illustration of this is the
much-maligned issue of excessive violence. Yes, there are limbs, heads
and scalps flying in any given direction for almost half of the screen
time: but you know that it's fake.
In the hands of someone like the director of "Pulp Fiction", you can
enjoy the comedy as well. The brilliant cinematography and
choreography coalesce to sweep us up, up and away with the rhythm. I
also loved the funky soundtrack. It ranges from spiritual new age to
porn funk. In my opinion it should never have been broken up, but I'm
sure that once you see Volume One, you too will eagerly await the
finale.
Andrew Staker
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