Quentin Tarantino at the height of his career

Rating: 10/10 (11 October 2003)

After absolutely taking Hollywood by surprise with in your face cult films like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino hasn't showed any signs of slowing down- with the knew and long-awaited Kill Bill Volume 1, he kicks ass once again.
Being a huge QT fan, and an admirer of the martial arts genre, this has got to be the best (and bloodiest) film I've seen this year. The story is simple, a vengeful mother & wife wanting her revenge against her former husband and his crew for attempting to kill her... However, the film is anything but short and simple, and QT displays it with nothing less than brilliance.
The opening scene is a prime outline of what to expect for the rest of this one part series, and is an immediate attention getter-- Uma Thurman, as the lead character, just known as 'The Bride' or Black Mumba (her actual name is bleeped out when characters refer to her) steals the show with her emotionally and physically packed performance. Other characters, such as her much hated husband Bill (who you never actually see in this volume) stays a main plot driven character, but is mostly just mentioned-- staying an outsider, giving the audience more curiosity as to what he's capable of.
The entire film is full of the general B martial arts action flick clichés, with a Tarantino twist full of humorous and ironic dialogue (see: Pulp Fiction) His love of the martial arts genre bleeds onto the screen so apparently, but doesn't change the films impact a bit-- His influences are obvious, and incorporated them in the movie, for example Thurman's Yellow Suit used for the majority of the film was obviously taken from Bruce Lee's costume in the film 'Game of Death' Many elements of the film sort of (tastefully) rip-off other kung fu martial arts films... (It is an original script, influenced greatly by other films...) such as his (over)use of blood and the manner in which it 'sprays' when characters are killed or injured.

However greatly influenced, the film stays true to Tarantino's style. It even has some simple and short homage's to his earlier films: such as a brief advertisement of 'Red Apple Cigarettes' (the cigarettes that Bruce Willis smokes in Pulp Fiction.) Also, the films soundtrack is the perfect classic Tarantino (see: Pulp Fiction/Jackie Brown) who tends to use (and mix) western guitar/contemporary rock, in this case influenced by a simple Chinese sword fighting tune... as well as the main theme song-- a hard core 'rock & sock em' single used in fast battle sequences etc...

As most of you may have seen or heard, a section of the film is done in anime, which I thought was artistic and creatively achieved... as well as risky and dangerous, but he pulled it off.
The fight sequences were long and brutal-- need I say bloody, and beautifully choreographed and edited. The cinematography was outstanding, beautifully shot and colorfully tainted (even the, yes, black & white scenes) Robert Richardson (who is also a DP used by such directors as Martin Scorsese & Oliver Stone) also seems to improve in his work, giving Kill Bill a sort of glowing and interesting feel (see also: Casino/Bringing Out the Dead). The fight sequences are greatly interweaved throughout the film-- shown in the beginning, and then more towards the end of the film. Tarantino loves to mess around with structure, and not surprisingly mixes it around in this film, making the anticipation for the battle scenes grow, and the characters more interesting and dynamic.
The film, as most of you may or may not know, was cut in half due to length issues, and Tarantino- in my opinion- ended Volume One at the perfect spot, giving the audience just enough information to anticipate whats going to happen next, but at the same time leaving us hanging and hungry for more.
Personally, the film was so entertaining and well done, that I did not notice the time go by and wouldn't have cared to have sit through 3 1/2 hours of Kill Bill... but splitting it into two films may have been the best business deal I've heard of considering it was a last minute decision.
This film will undoubtedly make loads of money internationally- and will possibly (or most likely) influence a second coming of the martial arts genre in the U.S.
--Basically Quentin Tarantino is at the point in his career where he can do whatever he wants. And as Stanley Kubrick once said: "The movie studio is a director's playground" -Tarantino is living proof, that with the right approach, connections, script, and talent- you can do whatever you want. I wouldn't expect anything less from QT-- 10/10