Tarantino who, six years after 'Jackie Brown', returns to his roots, but this time without holding on to the reins, creating, in the end, an explosive catharsis. unparalleled

Rating: 8/10 (15 May 2020)

Quentin Tarantino was already considered one of the most prominent names in Hollywood, having been responsible for Dogs for Hire (1992), Pulp Fiction- Time of Violence (1994) and Jackie Brown (1997), three classics of the 1990s. When the new a project called 'Kill Bill' was announced, expectations were high for the fourth authorial film by the director, who had the idea for this film during the filming of 'Pulp Fiction', also starring the actress. In this project, the director planned to create a fictional revenge drama, which pays homage to ancient genres such as African-American Blaxploitation films of the Exploitation genre, Asian old kung fu films, Japanese samurai films, Italian western spaghetti, trash, anime, a great reference to popular music and pop culture; and high deliberate violence. We can say that Tarantino managed to mix all the references in a harmonious way in another contemporary classic full of striking scenes.
In this first part of the story, the Bride (Uma Thurman) is a dangerous assassin who worked in a group, led by Bill (David Carradine), composed mainly of women. Pregnant, she decides to escape this life of violence and decides to get married, but on the day of the ceremony her co-workers turn against her, almost killing her. After five years in a coma, she wakes up without a baby and with a desire for revenge. The Bride decides to search for, and kill, the five people who destroyed her future, starting with the dangerous killers Vernita Green (Vivica A. Fox) and O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu).
Originally conceived as a single film, it was released in two volumes (in the USA, volume 1 debuted in the fall of 2003 and volume 2 in the spring of 2004), due to its duration of approximately four hours. In this first part, the director wastes no time opening the production with the last moments of the Bride before the supposed death and minutes later we start to start the revenge. The out-of-order edition in which we are not yet in the situation and the reasons for it is occurring is another attraction that makes the public apprehensive and wanting to discover a little more about the past history of that group of murderers, since we all know that they are being hunted for participating in the Bride's assassination attempt.
In this first part, Tarantino manages to win over the audience in the first scenes, bringing us a strong scene, in which a pregnant woman receives a shot in the head in cold blood and theoretically dies. Soon after, we accelerated years in time to witness an apparent innocent visit to an American middle class home ending in a bloody beating festival, curiously interrupted by an unusual factor that generates perplexity in the viewer. It is precisely this contrast between the cruelty between the rivals and the maternal desire of both to want to spare a child from that bloody confrontation that further increases the tension in these sequences. Soon after we know how the Bride woke up from a coma after years, learned about the sexual violence covered up by the hospital nurse who committed against him while she was defenseless and how she already begins her revenge against those who have hurt her. There, we see visceral revenge, there was still no training and he had not even started hunting his real targets. There, we already knew what to expect from the two volumes of Tarantino.
The director reproduced the kung fu films of the 60s and 70s in the smallest detail. There is no lack of sound effects from series, leftovers from Godzilla films and tributes to the stars, aesthetics and situations. There is a pop reference for all tastes: Akira, Bruce Lee, Green Beetle, high school girls (one of the biggest freaks of the Japanese) and even Charlie Brown, from Snoopy, is referenced. In addition, the careful selection of the soundtrack, one of the filmmaker's trademarks, is impeccable
The director exercises his power by creating a work that mixes real and credible violence like the sequences between the Bride and Vernita Green, with the cartoon, present in most of the feature with the Japanese core, which is excellent. Firstly, it is necessary to emphasize the peculiar humor of the director and screenwriter in the scenes between Hattori Hanzo (Sonny Chiba), his restaurant assistant and the Bride in Okinawa, making allusions between Japanese and American cultures (You like samurai swords and me in baseball) . Already in possession of Hattori Hanzo's famous and deadly sword, the Bride then leaves for Japan after O-Ren Ishii, where the best sequences of this first part are concentrated. We know about the Japanese / American assassin's past through an excellent animation, which Tarantino made a point of directing. The scene, produced by the same studio as Ghost in the Shell, brings all the cartoon aesthetic of the Land of the Rising Sun, with the greatest possible load of drama and violence.
In this animation we know about the death of her parents by the Japanese mafia boss Matsumoto, her revenge as a child and how she became the Japanese mafia boss, being feared by everyone around her. There was not a single person capable of questioning his mestizo origin or his actions. We also know Sofie Fatale (Julie Dreyfus), Johnny Mo (Chia-Hui Liu) and young, beautiful and deadly Gogo Yubari (Chiaki Kuriyama). This decision is different and incredible, since it would be impossible to achieve a more brutal effect using flesh-and-blood actors, since the expressiveness of the animation is unparalleled.
When the Bride arrives at Casa das Folhas Azuis, a Japanese restaurant / club, we witness an endless stream of blood gushing, severed heads and limbs and mind-boggling choreographies. The work is cartoonish and exaggerated to the point of being funny, a great comedy. At one point, the Bride faces the gang of 88 Madmen, in a sequence to embarrass Neo and the numerous virtual Smith Agents of Matrix Reloaded (2003). Each severed arm, perforated abdomen or torn head generates rivers of blood, splashes that flood the clothes, in a reaction as intense as it is obviously false. While she slaughters, beats and kills dozens of members of the Japanese mafia, it is in the struggles with O-Ren's main helpers that the main sequences are. The fight between the Bride with her sword and Gogo, with her angelic face and dressed in a school uniform with a checkered skirt, pantsuit, shirt and tie carrying a spiked ball attached to a chain, is one of the best and most inventive. The sequences that mix the most realistic violence with mind-boggling acrobatics are exciting. The final fight against O-Ren is also tense and the scene chosen with a lot of white snow that contrasts well with the red blood. The way the loser ends is shocking.
The most interesting thing is how Robert Richardson's photography knows how to alternate black and white photography, with moments of contrast in blue and black and a warmer color palette in scenes in Texas or Pasadena and cooler in several sequences in Japan from harmoniously, creating various tones for each scenario. Together with Tarantino, they turn off the light, play with shadows, make everything black and white, turn the color, change the scenery, for everything to insert a remarkable moment. It is plenty of creativity that we see.
Since the story is not told in a linear order, we are still introduced to Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah), Budd (Michael Madsen) and Bill (David Carradine), from whom we only hear the voice and see parts of the body, without ever showing your face. An interesting suspense already preparing the audience for the final meeting between him and the Bride in the second part. All of these factors were carefully inserted to increase the audience's interest for the second part and leaving the audience to question what even more sadistic and cruel could be shown against the other targets of the protagonist. Certainly, at the end of the projection, the feeling is one of anxiety and excitement for the sequence. Even more so because the final sentence is a chilling revelation.
Without debuting the conclusion of 'Kill Bill', Tarantino knows how to use the few references he has at hand. The music whistled by Elle Driver, since the Bride's revenge music are already part of pop culture. The pieces may not combine at first sight, but the result is, oddly enough, harmonious and very well executed, which cannot be said of several other examples of films that highlight their shape and drown their substance. This volume 1 is, inescapably, a sensorial experience without major deep meanings hidden in subplots, with Tarantino really privileging aesthetics and letting it dictate its chapters that tell the aforementioned simple story of revenge. 'Kill Bill' is cartoonish and exaggerated, but never confused and monotonous. It is an ode to a type of cinema that no longer exists and a gift from Tarantino who, six years after 'Jackie Brown', returns to his roots, but this time without holding on to the reins, creating, in the end, an explosive catharsis. unparalleled.