"God will be cut"

Rating: 9/10 (28 April 2012)

Over the last twenty years cinema, and culture in general, has had a thing for retro chic. In particular, we have developed an appreciation for the charm that lies in things that, even in their day, were considered cheap and shabby. Hence Quentin Tarantino can make a living through the renovation and glorification of the exploitation movie. And also hence he can find some pretty amazing things to make out of it. Having been bolstered by the successes of his first few movies, he was now able to indulge himself in this pure homage.
Much can be made of the scintillating gore and graceful violence in Kill Bill, but Tarantino's direction is marked by both its simplicity and humanity. Unusually, given its subject matter, the visual style here has a lot less emphasis confrontation between two characters (as was the case in the continuous stand-offs of previous Tarantino movies) and more upon individuals and quiet detail, as when Uma Thurman inspects her hands after awakening from a coma or catches her reflection in a Hattori Hanzo blade. And this is all very much to the purpose of the story. Whereas there are no clear-cut heroes or villains in Pulp Fiction, in Kill Bill Thurman's is a character we are really supposed route for.
Strong characters are brought to life by a strong cast. Thurman is able to portray the cool and collected killer, but on top of that she displays both a feminine softness and likable humanity, exemplified in brief moments like that cheeky twitch in her face as she talks about getting the other little piggies wiggling. The best supporting part is that of Sonny Chiba, humorously charming at first, then displaying a calm dignity. Quite impressive for someone who was for the best part of his career a Japanese Steven Seagal. David Carradine, a favourite actor of mine even before cameras had rolled on Kill Bill, is only seen here as a glimpse of gnarled hands, but he packs enough character into those digits to make his presence felt throughout the movie.
Mention must be made of the music in this picture. Tarantino has always picked and chosen diverse pre-existing tunes for his soundtracks, but for Kill Bill the magpie is at his most manic and eclectic. Most of the selections don't make much cultural sense (for example "The Lonely Shepherd", which underscores the sword presentation on Okinawa, was performed by Romanian Gheorghe Zamfir) but each fits the mood of the moment, which is what's important. In terms of timing and choreography, he's moulded the scenes around the music and not the other way round, which is a legitimate way of doing things. He's good at it too, selecting images that complement both rhythm and tone. He should make a musical one day.
But above all it is a sense of playfulness that make Kill Bill what it is. All the time Tarantino seems to be giving sly winks to the audience, and such self-reference is made acceptable by the exaggerated comic-book nature of it all. The line "So you understand how serious I am, I'm going to say this in English" makes no logical sense, but it does mean that Lucy Liu's coolest speech can be delivered without subtitles. Appropriate meanings abound, like the phone ringtone that plays "Auld Lang Syne" (old acquaintance, indeed!). Tarantino has utmost respect for those old exploitation movies, but he recognises their limitations when it came to logic and credibility, magnified here as he tries to cram in one B-movie trope after another. In light of this, he simply has fun with the format, and allows the audience to have fun with it too.