Kill Bill Volume 1
will always have a special place in my heart for two reasons. Firstly it was
the first 18 Certificate film I ever saw at the cinema and as a result it was
the first Tarantino film I saw at the cinema too. Thinking back, it might have
been the first Tarantino film I saw at all although I can’t quite remember if I
bought my VHS copy of Pulp Fiction a
little earlier. As a seventeen year old who at the time had little interest in
movies beyond the latest American Pie
I was awe struck by Kill Bill and
I’ve seen it several times since. The movie, as it makes clear during the
opening credits was the forth film from Quentin Tarantino and followed a six
year break since Directing his third film, Jackie Brown. Although originally intended as one feature the movie was split into
two separate films due to a four hour run time and Kill Bill Volume 2 followed six months after Volume 1 in 2004.
This is perhaps Tarantino’s most highly stylised film to
date and takes in an assortment of styles, genres and techniques. The Director
and story weave from genre to genre, picking up pieces of revenge, Hong Kong martial arts, exploitation and Japanese samurai
movies as it progresses in a non linear manner through its plot. The film is
separated into chapters which themselves often feel like short films. Each
chapter takes from a different style, genre or era and occasionally the style
will change mid chapter. The plot focuses on the character of The Bride (Uma
Thurman), a former member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad who is beaten
and shot in the head by her former colleagues. She wakes up four years later to
discover her fiancé and unborn daughter are dead and sets about reaping her
revenge on those who attacked her and killed her family. Each chapter tells a
portion of her revenge tale.
