Quentin
Tarantino's fourth film (as we are
told in the opening credits???) is a
joyless mixed bag: sick and
inspired. Kill Bill contains some
scenes I never want to see in any
movie. Having seen my share of
martial arts movies and exploitation
pictures, I want to know which
movies Tarantino is emulating?
Please don't email me with the
actual titles. I have no doubt that
exploitation films going back to the
1960's (which the film's soundtrack
emulates at least one point) are
just as gory, but none of the films
I've seen from this era make me feel
like a POW at the Hanoi
Hilton. Tarantino has an underling
viciousness (a will to disturb us)
that I don't find present in most
action films of today or
exploitation films going back to the
1960's.
Scenes I
never want to see in a movie:
1. I
never want to see a movie with an
extended close-up of a
blood-splattered woman's face as a
cretin gives her a lecture about
sadism versus masochism when we know
damn well he's going to blow her
brains out. I also don't want to
see her brains blown out. The sound
of the gun being fired is enough.
2. I
never want to see a knife fight
between a protagonist, a villain,
and a villain's daughter ever, ever
again. And, should this happen
again in the future history of
cinema, I don't want a scene where
the protagonist has to explain to
the child why the child's mother is
dead. And failing all of that, I
don't want the payoff of the scene
to be a lame joke about how the
protagonist will be around just in
case the child grows up wanting
revenge. I also don't want the
protagonist and villain to refer to
each other as "bitch" more than a
few times because we get the
ever-loving point already.
3. I
never want to see a "humorous" rape
scene. The rape scene wasn't funny
in Pulp Fiction, neither is the
(sort of) necrophilia rape scene
here. Tarantino's reference to his
own previous film by using a
character much like Zed (down to the
distinctive set of keys) makes me
wonder how many ideas "Q" really
has.
4. I
never want to see a live action
scene with a pre-pubescent girl
straddling an adult male (engaged in
sex, before, after or during???). I
don't want to see said girl drive a
sword entirely through the males
body, twisting the blade so blood
can splatter all over everything.
Thankfully, this scene never exists
"live action" because it occurs in
animation. If the scene were live
action, it never would have made an
"R" rating. In fact, the scene
would never have existed at
all outside of the illegal branch of
the porno industry. Think about
it. Have you ever seen
a live-action, commercial movie with
a young girl straddling an
adult male? I think the anime
sequence exists because it is the
only way Q could film the scene in
the first place. I'll grant Q the
style. It doesn't mean I have to
like the content.
5. I
never want to see endless scenes
that make me unsure whether the
director is paying homage to martial
arts movies or Monty Python's The
Holy Grail, the second Addams Family
movie or Dan Akroyd Saturday Night
Live skits. Blood splaying can be
funny for a few seconds (perhaps
minutes). Fifteen or twenty minutes
gets old. Let's move on clever Q.
All this being said, there are
the inspired bits. Kill Bill
will thrill.
With the
negatives out of the way, I liked a
lot of the art direction in Kill
Bill. Just as Pulp Fiction is
ultimately a tale of redemption, I
love how Q can follow up a 15-20
minute blood-letting with a gorgeous
snow-filled courtyard where the
stakes between combatants are just
as high, but, ever more elegant.
Also, Kill Bill has a magnificent
soundtrack. Unlike Pulp Fiction,
where you could buy the "motion
picture cd" and listen to it over
and over, in Kill Bill, the music is
designed to accent the action
on-screen with what can only be
called brilliance. Every kind of
music is fair game including a TV
theme I couldn't quite put my finger
on: "Police Woman" starring Angie
Dickinson perhaps. Or was it
Ironsides with Raymond Burr. I
dunno, but it works great.
None of
the scenes in Kill Bill equal the
showdown between Uma Thurman (our
heroine) and Lucy Liu (a villain).
Q has given us a soap opera in the
truest sense. Characters in
Kill Bill are like George Lucas CGI
wannabes: no development
whatsoever. All we have is a weak
story about revenge. Kill Bill has
a lot of "bitches" (his term not
mine). In fact, the only male
threat (Bill) is never seen on
camera. No, wait a minute, there
are a few men who can mix it up with
the ladies, but they all wear
masks. Their identity is
deliberately unimportant. Q
deserves credit for turning the
tables on male dominated
exploitation pictures where women
are merely objects (more thoroughly
here than in Jackie Brown).
Ultimately, Kill Bill's greatest sin
is that it fails to deliver laughs
when comedy seems to be the ultimate
goal. No, I take that back. Kill
Bill's ultimate goal is to be cool.
Most of the scenes don't work
because Q has ditched wit and
feeling for style and posturing.
Stars