"I Put A Bullet In Her Head, But Her Heart Just Kept On Beating"

The One Where I Reacquaint Myself With Kill Bill

I remember going to see Kill Bill in Leicester Square. A guy who I worked with was equally as obsessed with Tarantino, and this was his first film in what seemed like an eternity. Uma Thurman panting over the opening credits, and that first gun shot... It blew me away. Shook me up. I'd spent my life trying to defend Tarantino movies, as not being glamorised violence, and he has the ghoul to open the film with a head shot - albeit in black and white. He makes his intentions clear from the get go. Then a jump forward, and then back, to how she got there. All in fifteen minutes. I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. 

I think looking back on True Romance recently, which QT wrote, the bit that interested him most was the Sonni Chiba triple bill - playing at the cinema where Clarence and Alabama work. He just apologetically loves films. Worked in a video store, then ended up making movies that got rented there. It's the dream.

Because of this being an ode to that sort of film, many are put off. The problem with that is they miss Uma Thurmans best ever performance. 

The scene where she wakes up and realises she's lost her child is heartbreaking. That scene then throws up more surprises. She looks at her hand and realises 4 years have passed, due to the time lines. There are several nods to Reservoir Dogs and other QT films, ("Are you absolutely positively clear on rule number one") - and the fact that the attempted rape starts and ends with the camera panning away, ala Dogs' notorious ear scene.  We get flashbacks. Musical nods to De Palma. Then... we end up with QT humour. An attempted escape is delayed as *beeps* legs don't work. She ends up in the Pussy wagon. The car we see her in, in the first scene proper. It's just brilliant story telling. *Beep* is trying to wiggle her toes.

Then... an anime section. Because? Well, apart from the obvious nod to the sort of film this is homaging, he just can. But it's not superfluous. She tells us about #1, who we should have noticed is already dead when the movie started (she is already scribbled off her list of five). Then... back to the car. Big toe wiggling. 

"Now... lets get these other piggies wiggling".

Now? Now I'm going to shut up, and carry on watching. You should too.

I'll leave you with some Kill Bill art. Stunning. 

I actually remember them doing ^ one. How cool???

Be a Fan