Tarantino is an auteur!

Rating: Null/10 (19 May 2004)

Kill Bill Vol 1 is, like all Tarantino's flicks (deliberate use of the word flix), self-consciously postmodern and referential/reverential. He knows his trade and those who miss the inherent humour in this film miss the point entirely. It seems, on the surface, an uneasy marriage (!) between classical Greek tragedy and Japanese Kabuki - perhaps even Noh - theatre. And there's the rub. The violence is stylised (as usual with this director's genre) to the extent that it becomes a bloody ballet. When Uma Thurman drags her character's body into the "Pussy Wagon" her feet become the centre of attention - a dancer's fixation - and, at this point, I have to say they are UGLY feet! Regardless, they are a dancer's feet; at once well-travelled and well-used/abused. This particular scene also indicates the strength of character which will carry the protagonist through the rest of the dance, and dance it is. Revenge places Thurman's character squarely into the role of Nemesis. This nameless virago is, however, compassionate toward the innocent - telling the child of someone she has just killed that eventually she will understand and if necessary come after the killer - is, in a twisted sense, a very moral stance. In a reference to "revenger tragedies" only the bad are slaughtered. In the extended fight sequence they are even masked: a reference to non-entities (extras) in prior extravaganzas? THEY DON'T MATTER and here, I feel is a major point being made by Tarantino: faceless minions deserve an anonymous death. Those who kill to order deserve to die without acknowledgment. However, this film, like other Tarantino tributes to the aforementioned Greek and Japanese theatres should be enjoyed. After all, the jetting blood is very "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"-ish. But even Tarantino draws the line at a hopping torso threatening violence. Hmmm...