Rich And Meaty

Rating: 10/10 (22 July 2004)

Perhaps it was Quentin Tarentino's intention all along to present `Kill Bill' in two parts--how else can you explain the elaborate correction he performs on the first film's know-it-all attitude towards women? Where `Volume One' seemed to want to explain and ultimately dismiss women, `Volume Two' finds Tarentino in awe of them, especially his heroine `The Bride' (Uma Thurman), who, by the film's conclusion, has ascended to the throne that the director holds dearest: motherhood. It's an arduous path to that throne, going, as she does, from `natural-born killer' to loving parent but the respect that Tarentino gives the female mystique is as sincere and reverent as the respect he gives his cinematic and literary sources and it's part of what makes this film a masterpiece. The second volume is meatier than the first, with far more attention paid to the story and the richness of the relationship between `The Bride' and Bill (David Carradine, a perfect performance) which alternates between father-daughter, mentor-pupil and husband-wife. (Early scenes between them feature stunning close-ups bathed in warm sepia backlight and the chemistry is intuitive, palpable and instructive.). It's also somewhat less insistent on its revenge motif (though the battle between `The Bride' and Daryl Hannah's Elle Driver and its denouement is both films' high point). But the director turns up the psychological assault a notch and his ability to manipulate and terrify his audience is on a par with Hitchcock's. (Thurman's living burial is intense and agonizing.) As a filmmaker, Tarentino shows a remarkable mastery of his medium, employing, as he does, techniques that establish him as a scholar and not an imposter--the single-take reverse crane shot that frames the massacre in El Paso where the story has its' center is worthy of Ford and Peckinpah--and it confirms he's a true auteur who walks the walk: by culling from so many sources he's created a distinctive style that seems fresh and honest. He's also the only one who can execute it.