Kill Bill

Kill Bill is the fourth film by writer-director Quentin Tarantino. Originally conceived as one film, it was released in two separate volumes (in late 2003 and early 2004) due to its running time of approximately four hours. The movie is an epic-length revenge drama, with homages to earlier film genres, such as Hong Kong martial arts movies, Japanese samurai movies and Italian spaghetti westerns; an extensive use of popular music and pop culture references; and aestheticization of violence. Filming took place in California, Texas, Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and parts of Mexico.^[2][3]

Plot

Kill Bill is one story, divided into two volumes with five "chapters" each, presented in a nonlinear style (as is common among Tarantino's films).

Volume 1

The Bride (Thurman) is introduced to the audience in a blood-spattered wedding gown immediately after a violent massacre at an El Paso wedding chapel. She attempts to tell her would-be killer, Bill (Carradine), that she is pregnant with his baby, but he shoots her in the side of her head. The Bride is left for dead.

Chapter 1: 2

Four years and six months later, The Bride arrives at the house of Jeannie Bell, aka Vernita Green (Fox), code-named "Copperhead" of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. Green opens the door with a smile, only to have The Bride engage her in a vicious fight, destroying her living room. Vernita's four-year-old daughter, Nikki, arrives home from school, abruptly pausing the fight until she is sent to her room. In the kitchen over coffee, Vernita appeals to The Bride, apologizing for betraying her and asking for mercy on behalf of her family. The Bride coldly refuses, and the two agree to a knife fight later that evening. Green suddenly attempts to shoot The Bride with a gun concealed in a cereal box; she misses, and The Bride kills her by throwing a knife into her chest. Nikki witnesses the fight, and The Bride tells her that she is sorry for killing her mother in front of her, that her mother "had it coming" and that if the young girl wishes to avenge her death when she grows up, The Bride will be waiting. The Bride then leaves in a customized yellow pick-up truck, emblazoned with the words "Pussy Wagon".

Chapter 2: Blood Splattered Bride

A flashback to the events after the wedding reveals that the comatose Bride is the only survivor of the wedding chapel massacre. Deadly Viper Elle Driver (Hannah), code-named "California Mountain Snake", the one-eyed assassin who has replaced The Bride as Bill's lover, slips into the hospital ward intending to inject poison into The Bride's intravenous line. She is stopped at the last second by a phone call from Bill, who believes The Bride deserves a more honorable death.

The Bride wakes up from her coma four years later and is horrified to discover she is no longer pregnant. She escapes from the hospital after killing a sleazy orderly named Buck who has been selling sexual access to her body as she lay comatose, and one of Buck's customers. She steals Buck's customized truck, (the aforementioned "Pussy Wagon"), and hides in the back seat as she slowly works her legs out of atrophy.

Chapter 3: Origin of O-ren

The Bride narrates an anime short depicting the back story to another Deadly Viper, O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu), code-named Cottonmouth. After witnessing her parents' sadistic murder at the hands of a paedophiliac Japanese crime lord, O-Ren earns her revenge, becomes an assassin and eventually rises to the top of the Yakuza. The segment introduces her personal bodyguard Gogo Yubari (Kuriyama), her friend and lawyer Sofie Fatale (another protege of Bill, played by Julie Dreyfus), and Johnny Mo (Gordon Liu), leader of O-Ren's personal army, the Crazy 88.

Chapter 4: Man From Okinawa

The Bride travels to Okinawa to obtain a katana from Hattori Hanzō (Sonny Chiba), a renowned swordsmith, who has retired to the life of a sushi chef. Though Hanzo has taken a blood oath to never make another sword, The Bride is able to convince him of the merit of her mission after she alludes to Bill, and he forges for her the best sword he has ever created.

Chapter 5: Showdown at the House of Blue Leaves

The Bride tracks O-Ren to a hangout called the "House of Blue Leaves", where a band (The 5,6,7,8's) is performing. The Bride arrives wearing a yellow motorcycle jump suit (a homage to Bruce Lee movies), taking Fatale hostage and cutting off Fatale's arm in public to lure O-Ren from her dinner. O-Ren sends Yubari and dozens of the Crazy 88 to deal with The Bride. She dispatches them all in a bloody sword fight, then turns her attention to O-Ren, climaxing in a dramatic duel in a snowy garden (which borrows from the Japanese sexploitation film Sex & Fury). After crossing swords several times, O-Ren is scalped by The Bride with her Hanzō sword, a wound that kills her.

The film ends with The Bride telling a dismembered Fatale to tell Bill she is looking for him, before dumping Fatale at a hospital. Bill is heard talking with Fatale at the hospital, revealing that The Bride's daughter is, unbeknownst to her, still alive.

Volume 2

Chapter 6: Massacre at Two Pines

Volume 2 opens with "The Massacre at Two Pines", taking place a few minutes before the events that open the first volume. Bill tracks down The Bride and her friends as they are gathered for her wedding rehearsal. He is polite and mild-mannered, and even consents to The Bride introducing him as her father to the groom. The Bride begs Bill in private to be able to move on past her assassin life, and again Bill seemingly consents. She takes her place at the altar as the other four Deadly Vipers arrive at the chapel, weapons in tow, and kill everyone at the rehearsal.

In the present, Bill ventures to the California desert to talk to his brother Budd, code-named "Sidewinder" (Michael Madsen), another former Deadly Viper. Bill warns him that The Bride will come for him next. Budd, now an overweight alcoholic, has put his assassin days behind him; he lives in a trailer and works as a bouncer at a local strip club, abused by the management.

Chapter 7: Lonely Grave of Paula Schulz

The Bride arrives at Budd's trailer that night seeking revenge. Anticipating her entry, Budd shoots her in the chest with rock salt the moment she opens his door, then injects her with a sedative. Budd calls Elle Driver and offers to sell her The Bride's Hanzō sword for $1,000,000. Budd then gives The Bride a "Texas funeral", burying her alive with a flashlight in someone else's grave.

Chapter 8: Cruel Tutelage of Pai Mei

As she lies in her grave, The Bride remembers her early training in China, when Bill took her to the temple of legendary martial arts master Pai Mei (Gordon Liu), an example of the elderly martial arts master stock character, who used cruelty as a tool for discipline and obedience. Pai Mei could perform a fatal attack called the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique,^[5][6][7] which is so secret that he has not even taught it to Bill. Although, according to Bill, he "hates Caucasians, despises Americans, and has nothing but contempt for women", he takes The Bride in, and molds her into a formidable fighter. He brutally trains her and she eventually gains his silent respect. In the present, The Bride calls on Pai Mei's training to break out of the coffin and claw her way up to freedom.

Chapter 9: Elle and I

The Bride arrives back at Budd's trailer to see Elle Driver arriving. Elle hands Budd a suitcase containing his money for the sword; the suitcase also contains a hidden black mamba, the deadly snake that shares The Bride's code name. The snake bites Budd in the face, and while he lies paralyzed and dying, Elle explains she regretted The Bride's demise at Budd's hands, and that The Bride deserved a better end. After Budd succumbs to the venom, Elle calls Bill and tells him that The Bride killed Budd, that she then killed The Bride and the location of the final resting place of Beatrix Kiddo — revealing The Bride's real name for the first time (several characters previously called her "Kiddo", a common pet name in America; previous utterances of her first name, Beatrix, by Bill, Vernita, and O-Ren were bleeped out). As Elle leaves Budd's trailer, Beatrix, who was watching them from a nearby ridge, attacks her with a flying kick. Elle uses Beatrix's own sword against her, but Beatrix finds Budd's Hattori Hanzō sword in his closet, which Budd had told Bill he had pawned. As they stand off against each for their final combat, Beatrix asks Elle why Pai Mei (who also taught Elle) snatched out her eye. Elle tells her that she called Pai Mei a "miserable old fool" and he plucked out her eye. In revenge, she poisoned and killed the elderly master. The two charge each other, clash, and Beatrix plucks out Elle's remaining eye, crushes it underfoot and departs, leaving the blinded Elle to writhe in the trailer with the same black mamba that killed Budd. Elle's fate is left unknown; in the credits, while all the other members of The Bride's "Death List Five" are listed as dead, her status is marked merely as "?".

Last Chapter: Face to Face

Beatrix travels to Mexico and visits Esteban Vihaio (Michael Parks), an old pimp who raised Bill from childhood. He forthrightly tells her Bill's whereabouts, explaining to a puzzled Beatrix that Bill would have wanted him to. When she finally finds Bill, she is shocked to find that B.B., her four-year-old daughter, is alive and apparently expecting her mother's return. The family spends the evening together peacefully, and B.B. falls asleep watching the chambara film Shogun Assassin in her mother's arms.

With B.B. safely in bed, Beatrix confronts Bill. Bill shoots her with a dart filled with truth serum; Beatrix is forced to reveal that, when she discovered her pregnancy and decided not to abort, she thereafter had to put her unborn daughter's future above Bill.

The estranged couple sit down at a table outside, and when Beatrix insists that she complete her unfinished business, Bill draws his sword to attack her. Beatrix dodges his attack and draws her own sword, but Bill succeeds in disarming her. He thrusts to stab her with his sword, but she catches it in her Hanzo sheath and disables Bill with the "Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique", taught to her without Bill's or the audience's knowledge. Bill, defeated, says a tender goodbye and takes five silent steps to his death. Beatrix sheds a few tears at the death of her former lover, and returns to the house to collect her daughter.

Later, B.B. is watching cartoons in a motel while Beatrix sobs on the bathroom floor. As she collects herself and returns to watch cartoons with B.B., both of them smile as the film ends. The exit quote on the screen is: "The lioness has rejoined her cub. All is right in the jungle".

Cast

See also: List of Kill Bill characters

Influences

The overall storyline of Kill Bill—a woman seeks revenge on a group of people, crossing them off a list one by one as she kills them—is adapted from Lady Snowblood, a 1973 Japanese film in which a woman kills off the gang who murdered her family. The Guardian commented that Lady Snowblood was "practically a template for the whole of Kill Bill Vol. 1".^[8]

The plot is quite similar to François Truffaut's The Bride Wore Black (1968) in which five men make a young bride a widow on her wedding day. She takes her revenge, methodically killing each of the five men using various methods. However, Tarantino has stated that he has never seen The Bride Wore Black.^[9]

Kill Bill pays tribute to film genres including the spaghetti western, blaxploitation, Chinese "wuxia" and Japanese martial arts films, and kung fu movies of the 1960s and 1970s. This last genre, which was largely produced by the Shaw Brothers, is given an obvious nod by the inclusion of the Shaw Scope logo at the beginning of Kill Bill Vol. 1.

One influential exploitation film that Tarantino has mentioned in interviews is the Swedish Thriller - en grym film, released in the U.S. as They Call Her One Eye. Tarantino recommended that actress Daryl Hannah watch the movie to prepare for her role as the one-eyed killer Elle Driver.^[10]

The Japanese Lone Wolf and Cub series of Manga and films are echoed in the characters of The Bride and her daughter. The Americanized compilation version of this series, Shogun Assassin, is actually viewed by the two characters.

The films also contain a number of references to specific American and European films, such as "Pussy Wagon" (taken from lyrics in the film Grease).^[11][12]

The closing credits to both films included a short list of deceased directors, writers and actors, under the title "R.I.P.", including Cody Gilson, Sergio Corbucci, Charles Bronson, Lee Van Cleef, and several martial arts directors.

Acclaim and criticism

Much anticipated by fans and critics (it appeared after a six-year hiatus of Tarantino movies), Kill Bill generated a tremendous amount of discussion. Reaction by film critics was largely positive.^[13][14] Both volumes did very well at the box office.^[15][16] Kill Bill Vol. 1 grossed $180,949,045 worldwide, and later Kill Bill Vol. 2 grossed $152,159,461 worldwide.

A movie in two volumes

Though released as two movies, the film differs from multi-part "franchise" series like Star Wars. The short duration between the releases of the two volumes, the film's internal structure, and the history of its development all strongly imply that Kill Bill be regarded as one movie (for example, the cast of Vol. 1 are credited at the end of Vol. 2). The dual-release strategy, ostensibly due to the film's length, has been criticized as an attempt by Miramax to sell two tickets to one movie.^[17]

The two-volume format also amplified what some saw as a structural problem with the film: most of the action occurs in the first half, while most of the dialogue and plot are conveyed in the second. Thus, the two volumes are noticeably different in style and tone, leaving some viewers enamored of one volume but disappointed by the other. Of Volume 2, Sean O’Connell of Filmcritic.com writes, "The drop-off in energy, style, and coherence from Volume 1 to its bloated, disinteresting counterpart is so drastic and extreme that you can hardly believe they come from the same director, let alone conclude the same storyline."^[17] Jeffery M. Anderson of Combustible Celluloid, like some other critics, preferred Volume 2, writing "…Characters actually talk to one another here rather than the stilted samurai movie-speak of the first film."^[18]

Violence

Much criticism concerned the amount and presentation of bloodshed and general mayhem, especially in the first volume. One critic referred to Volume 1 as a "cocktail party in an abattoir".^[19]

Style and substance

Much of the controversy over the film reflects the differing expectations of those who look primarily at a movie for its style and craftsmanship against those who look at story and substance; as a tribute film and revenge saga, the movie is at a disadvantage with the latter group. "You never forget that Kill Bill is an exercise in genre-sampling," writes the Chicago Tribune’s Mark Caro.^[20] However, the opinion that the movie appeals mainly to film buffs looking to spot obscure pop culture references is a minority view.^[19][21] Most critics found it well-constructed, with tightly edited action scenes, strong performances, often-clever dialogue, and an effectively exciting soundtrack which draws on an astonishing selection of (mostly post-1960) music.^[18]

Awards

Each film was nominated at the Golden Globe Awards. Uma Thurman received a Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama nomination in 2004 and 2005 for her work in Volume 1 and Volume 2. David Carradine received a Best Supporting Actor nomination in 2005 for his work in Kill Bill: Volume 2. The film was very popular at the MTV Movie Awards. At the 2004 MTV Movie Awards Uma Thurman won Best Female performance for Volume 1, Lucy Liu won for Best Villain in Volume 1, and the fight between The Bride and Gogo Yubari won Best Fight. She also thanked Chiaki Kuriyama during her acceptance speech. At the 2005 MTV Movie Awards, Kill Bill Volume 2 was nominated for best movie, Thurman was nominated for best female performance, and the fight between The Bride and Elle Driver in Kill Bill Volume 2 also won Best Fight. Uma Thurman also received a Saturn Award for Best Actress in 2003 for her work in Volume 1.

Music

Main articles: Kill Bill Volume 1 (soundtrack) and Kill Bill Volume 2 (soundtrack)

As with Tarantino's previous films, Kill Bill features an eclectic soundtrack comprising many musical genres. On the two soundtracks, music ranges from country music to selections from the Spaghetti Western film scores of Ennio Morricone. Bernard Herrmann's theme from the film Twisted Nerve is whistled by the menacing Elle Driver in the hospital scene. Instrumental tracks from Japanese guitarist Tomoyasu Hotei figure prominently, and after the success of Kill Bill they were frequently used in American TV commercials and at sporting events. As the Bride enters "The House of Blue Leaves", go-go group The 5,6,7,8's perform "I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield", "I'm Blue" and "Woo Hoo." The connection to Lady Snowblood is further established by the use of "The Flower of Carnage" the closing theme from that film.

Releases

DVD release

In the United States Kill Bill: Volume 1 was released as a DVD on April 13, 2004 while Volume 2 was released August 10, 2004. As of October 2008, only the basic DVDs have been released, with almost no special features.

In a December 2005 interview, Tarantino addressed the lack of a special edition DVD for Kill Bill by stating "I've been holding off because I've been working on it for so long that I just wanted a year off from Kill Bill and then I'll do the big supplementary DVD package."^[22]

The United States does not have a DVD boxed set of Kill Bill, though box sets of the two separate volumes are available in other countries, such as France, Japan and the United Kingdom. Upon the DVD release of Volume 2 in the US, however, Best Buy did offer an exclusive box set slipcase to house the two individual releases together.^[23]

High Definition release

Both Kill Bill movies were released in High Definition on Blu-Ray on September 9, 2008 in the United States.

Differences in Japanese cut

While the American cut of the movie shows part of the violent battle at the "House of Blue Leaves" in black-and-white, the Japanese cut shows all of it in color. In addition, the Japanese cut includes many extra bits of violence distributed throughout the film, most notably during the anime sequence and the showdown at the "House of Blue Leaves". Furthermore, the Japanese cut shows The Bride cutting off Sophie's other arm during her interrogation. This causes a continuity error because Sophie's arm is still attached when she is rolling down the hill. These cuts were made to the U.S. version in order to avoid an NC-17 rating.

In Kill Bill Volume 2, the only extra footage in the Japanese cut is an extra 45 seconds added into the Mexican Brothel scene, basically showing extra footage of the setting.

The quotation "Revenge is a dish best served cold" (attributed as being "an old Klingon proverb," in reference to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) at the beginning of "Volume 1" was replaced by a tribute to Japanese filmmaker Kinji Fukasaku^[24]:

Possible sequel

Tarantino told Entertainment Weekly in April 2004 that he is planning a sequel:

According to Bloody-Disgusting.com, details have emerged about Kill Bill Volumes 3 and 4. According to the article, "Bennett Walsh said at the Shanghai International Film Festival the third film involves the revenge of two killers whose arms and eyes were hacked by Uma Thurman in the first stories," which suggest Sofie and Elle, respectively. The article adds that the "fourth installment of the popular kung fu action films concerns a cycle of reprisals and daughters who avenge their mother's deaths".^[25]

Possible prequels

Quentin Tarantino said at the 2006 Comic Con that, after the completion of Grindhouse, he wants to make two anime Kill Bill films. One will be an origin story about Bill and his mentors, and the other will be an origin story starring The Bride. The latter is most likely to be a prequel, but could also follow the rumored (sequel) plot reported in Entertainment Weekly in April 2004.^[26][27]

See also

• List of women warriors in folklore, literature, and popular culture

References

External links

• Vol. 1 at the Internet Movie Database
• Vol. 2 at the Internet Movie Database
• Kill Bill: Vol. 1 Vol. 2 at Rotten Tomatoes
• Production I.G on the Kill Bill Anime Sequences Article from CGSociety.org
• Kill Bill References Guide at tarantino.info
• Detailed Comparison between the International Version and Japanese Version (Vol. 1)