Each of the various ways in which artist can choose to tell a story have a different area in which they excell. Novels allow authors to spend time exploring the inner feelings and motivations of their characters while musicians can use song to evoke the audience's feelings and emotions. Films, meanwhile, (and to a similar extent, TV) struggle with complex character examination, but surpass anything else when it comes to depicting the outward expression of conflict and delivering visual impact. Todays' FSF selection is pretty much a case study in what film can provide that no other medium can. It delivers conflict, style and gorgeous visuals by the fistful, and that more than makes up for the relative lack of character depth and the fact the underlying premise is one of the oldest known to man: revenge.
Kill Bill, Vol. 1 (2003)
Director Quentin Tarentino certainly has his own way of doing things, and that originality can lead to cinematic brilliance. Unfortunately, it can also lead to disaster. The key for him seems to be pushing his films up to, but not across, the line that separates original takes on classic screen conventions (like in, say, Pulp Fiction or Resevoir Dogs) from films that end up simply being two-hour long inside jokes (like Grindhouse). In Kill Bill, Vol. 1, Tarentino dances on that line, but never quite traverses it.
What makes Kill Bill, Vol. 1 special is that it ends up being the movie equivalent of that game you played as a kid where you start a story and then friends each take turns adding onto it in unexpected ways. While Tarentino never really changes the tale of Uma Thurman's "Bride" seeking revenge on her former colleagues for attacking her wedding, he instead tells us each chapter of the story in a different way. In doing so he creates a slew of connected vignettes that alternately evoke Japanese anime, 70's Blaxploitation, kung-fu and even modern comedy films as he moves the story forward. In the hands of a less talented director, this could of ended up a colossal mess, but instead, Kill Bill, Vol. 1 is as entertaining as it is surprising.
Now at this point the same could be said about the "sequel," Kill Bill, Vol. 2, but I only give the second film four stars. So how does the first volume earn the extra nod? In truth, its the last 45 minutes or so of the film, from the moment Lucy Liu's O-Ren Ishii demonstrates the price of mentioning her mixed ancestry to the final, climactic battle between O-Ren and The Bride. Those 45 minutes are an example of Tarentino at the height of his power. They are violent, funny, intense, pay homage to any number of Japanese films and conventions (and I think we've established I'm a fan of Japanese cinema) and, on top of it,Tarentino provides a soundtrack that still rates as one of the best I've ever heard. (I know it's been over-played ever since the movie was released, but Tomoyasu Hotei's "Battle Without Honor Or Humanity" never fails to get my blood pumping.)
Style over substance? Yeah, that's Kill Bill, Vol. 1, but ooooohhhhhhhh what style.
Fine selection. The film also motivated me to get bangs for the first time since elementary school since Uma Thurman looked so badass in the movie. That, unfortunately, did not go well.
Posted by: Allison | February 28, 2010 at 01:10 PM