Tarantino, the one-eyed...

Rating: 8/10 (15 August 2004)

Some critics say that Tarantino is nothing but a copycat. A guy with huge cinematographic knowledges that copies scenes and arguments from other movies that are completely unknown for most of the people (so nobody is gonna accuse him of copying something from a movie that no one's has seen). I agree with that up to a point, because he has "stolen" stuff from other movies since the very beginning. He's the kind of artist that "inspires" himself looking other's people work; but he's not the first, and won't be the last. Bowie did it, Warhol did it too, the Rolling Stones, even Picasso did. Hey, I'm not comparing Tarantino to that people, because for me Quentin Tarantino is not a genius (neither Warhol): for me is just a very smart guy, so talented, and so smart. He's just taking advantage of the fact that Hollywood only makes rubbish. So, as it's said here in Spain: in the land of the deaf, the one-eyed is the King. So, that's what Tarantino is: the one-eyed. He'd hardly stand out from 1930 to 1975. OK, let's talk about Kill Bill Vol.2:
There's this saying "after the storm the calm comes". Kill Bill Vol.1 was the storm, the explosion, the action; and Kill Bill Vol.2 is the calm, the drama, less dynamic, but much more intense (emotionally intense). In Vol.2 The kicks, the killings, etc. from the first volume make way to the life-story of The Bride. Her personality, her relationship with Bill, her doubts and her fears, her training... her past. There's only one fight scene in Kill Bill Vol.1, the one between Uma Thurman and Daryl Hannah. But this doesn't mean KB2 is sort of a boring movie. No way. For me is the best of the 5 Tarantino movies, and the more serious. He may have copied ideas from some other movies, but he has definitely makes a great movie out of those "inspirations" (and that's not easy to do). Maybe the final parts are too slow. The scenes with the Bride's daughter are not like Tarantino's... they're too sugary. But I guess the original story ends that way so there's nothing Tarantino could do about it. Uma Thurman makes the perform of his life, and so does David Carradine (though I think he's never been a great actor). Tarantino has the ability to resurrect the dead: he did it with Travolta, Keitel and Pam Grier in the past, and so he does with Hannah or Carradine in Kill Bill.
Kill Bill Vol.2, one of the best Hollywood movies from 2004.
PS: I assume the middle-American doesn't know a thing about Spanish or Mexican cultures. But Tarantino is a man of the world, so he should know how ridiculous is to put flamenco music in a scene that takes place in Mexico. In México they have rancheras, corridos, etc. but not Flamenco.