Quentin Tarantino closed out his month of movie programming at New Beverly Cinema with “Kill Bill.” The movie was of course split into two volumes as it turned out to be much longer than anyone expected, but the print shown at the theater he saved from being turned into another Supercuts was the one shown at the Cannes Film Festival. This version puts the two volumes together for a movie that resembles the closest thing you may ever see to a cinematic novel.
Keep in mind, this version of “Kill Bill” has never before been seen in America . There’s a few scenes added to the whole Japanese anime sequence that explains the back story of O-Ren Ishii, and certain characters lose a few more limbs than we originally thought. That had me thinking of “Robocop” when Kurtwood Smith who played that movie’s chief villain Clarence, after blowing away Peter Weller’s hand with a shotgun, said out loud:
“Well give the man a hand!”
This version also has French subtitles for the benefit of the audience at Cannes , and it is a great way to learn a new language if you ask me!
The two volumes of “Kill Bill” came out in 2003 and 2004, so many of you already know the story. Uma Thurman’s character of The Bride (as she is known in Vol. 1) has been lying in a four year long coma after being viciously attacked by her comrades on the Deadly Vipers Assassination Squad. She awakens and seeks revenge on them for the damage they have done, and we know going into this that it is going to be one hell of a bloody revenge. When Uma says that she and her opponent have “unfinished business,” she ain’t kidding!
The influences on “Kill Bill” are easy to spot as the whole deal is a hodgepodge of Japanese Samurai stories, spaghetti westerns, and some blaxploitation thrown in for good measure. Before the movie began at the New Beverly, we were treated to a few trailers of films that Tarantino drew from for this fourth film of his. Among them were the Swedish exploitation film “They Call Her One Eye,” and “Coffy” where Pam Grier plays a black female vigilante.
Now many will say that this is just Quentin plagiarizing from other filmmakers, but that would be wrong. Look, everyone steals from others, but there is a difference between that and plagiarizing; the latter involves stealing another person’s work and claiming it as your own. But Tarantino is not guilty of that in the slightest. What he has done is taken elements from some of his favorite movies and made them all his own. It’s not just his dialogue that is so good, but how beautifully complex and realized he makes each and every single character seen here.
This may look like Tarantino’s Samurai version of “Death Wish,” but each character is drawn out to where we respect them even if we don’t always like them. Watching “Kill Bill” in this particular version made me see that even more than I did before. For example, in the climatic fight between The Bride and O-Ren Ishii, we come to see that these two have respect for each other even though they despise one another. O-Ren insults The Bride, but then she is wounded by her when she least expected to be, and she pauses to apologize for what she said earlier. Now how many other American movies have scenes like that? Usually it’s the good versus the bad, but each character gets an in depth back story that succeeds in blurring the line between the two.
Quentin wrote the part of The Bride with Uma Thurman in mind, and it’s hard to think of another actress who could have played it. Seriously, it takes a great actress to make you believe that an assassin like her could take out dozens upon dozens of warriors all by her lonesome. Uma imbues her character with determination, a strong sense of honor, and you have to admire her for all that she puts up with throughout “Kill Bill.” She gets shot in the head, taken advantage of, gets beaten up very badly, and even gets buried alive. Throughout the entire thing, she gives the role her all and never waivers for a second. Watching her here is exhilarating as it is emotionally draining as she draws us deeply into her plight, and we cheer her on throughout.
Then there’s the late great David Carradine who plays the main target of The Bride’s wrath, Bill. We don’t even see his face for the first half of this epically long adventure, but we don’t really need to. With his powerful voice, he creates an infinitely fearful antagonist whose existence inspires trembling even when he is not in the same room with you. When we do get to see him in the later half of “Kill Bill,” we are already quaking in fear at his presence. It’s a brilliant performance by David that should have snagged him an Oscar nomination, and it still feels criminal that he didn’t get one.
Lucy Liu was riding high on her work in “Ally McBeal” around the time she appeared in “Kill Bill.” Her performance as the deadly O-Ren Ishii is very memorable in that we get to see how her character followed a very tragic path that led her to become a top notch assassin. Lucy uses that intensely sexy vibe of hers to great effect here as she has one of the movie’s best speeches on why no one should ever question her mixed heritage. She is such a kick to watch whenever she is onscreen, and while The Bride’s revenge upon her is justified, we have to admit how cool O-Ren is under pressure.
When I first saw “Kill Bill,” I tried to remember the last time I saw Daryl Hannah in anything. Daryl made a memorable impression on us all in Ron Howard’s “Splash,” but she seemed to descend into the direct to video market after that. The last thing I remember seeing her in before Tarantino’s epic was in John Carpenter’s studio-interrupted “Memoirs Of An Invisible Man,” and that was released at least ten years before this one. But as the one-eyed Elle Driver, she creates one of the most infuriatingly contemptible villains the world of movies has ever seen. She makes us despise Elle fully, and her Snake Plissken act doesn’t fool anybody.
Michael Madsen is perfect as Bill’s brother Bud, the most laid back member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. Bud knows what’s in store for him and everyone else, and he is as prepared for his fate as he is for The Bride to attack him swiftly. Seeing him ever so coolly consign Uma’s character to a horrifying death (think “The Vanishing”) shows that he isn’t as ruthless as he is wounded over what she did to his brother. Michael is one of those dependable character actors who always delivers the goods, and his work in “Kill Bill” is no exception.
There are many other great performances to be found throughout the whole “Kill Bill” experience. Michael Parks ends up giving two great performances; one as Earl McGraw, the same character he played in both “From Dusk Till Dawn” and “Grindhouse,” and the other as Esteban Vihaio, a retired pimp and one of Bill’s many father figures. Gordon Liu also does terrific double duty as Johnny Mo, the head general of the Crazy 88, and even more so as Pai Mei, the incredibly powerful and abusive martial arts master. Vivica A. Fox may have the briefest screen time of all the Deadly Assassination Squad members, but as Vernita Green, she makes her onscreen moments count for a hell of a lot. And let’s not forget Chiaki Kuriyama who plays the gleefully sadistic Gogo Yubari, O-Ren’s personal bodyguard.
I also have to bring up Quentin Tarantino’s musical selections as he is second only to Martin Scorsese in perfectly scoring his movies. Throughout the whole shebang, he uses many pieces of music by the great Ennio Morricone which brilliantly capture the sheer emotion Quentin is aiming for. Then there’s the use of individual songs which you will never ever listen to again without thinking of “Kill Bill:”
Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” lets you know that this is not going to be just some average action movie. It’s going to have characters that have far more dimensions than the average Jason Statham or Steven Seagal feature (doesn’t matter if we’re talking theatrical or straight to video). The lyrics make you see that it will be about character as much as it will be about action, and that each character will have a lot of depth.
Tomoyasu Hotei’s “Battle Without Honor or Humanity” made itself known just from the trailer to “Kill Bill,” and it has since been ripped off by many a commercial since (darn it). It’s a thrilling piece of music that illustrates just how powerful and fearful O-Ren Ishii and her band of followers are. Even if this movie was from someone other than Quentin Tarantino, I still would have jumped out to see it just from listening to the song in the trailer.
Santa Esmeralda’s “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” makes a perfect fit for the final battle between The Bride and O-Ren. It’s a lively song that keeps the adrenaline pumping even after Uma’s character has successfully eviscerated dozens upon dozens of opponents. Of course O-Ren is going to be her toughest opponent at this point, but heaven forbid they misunderstand one another even if they despise each other, you know?
And then you have Malcolm McLaren’s “About Her” which plays in the scene where Uma has a relaxing moment with the true love of her life. It’s a beautiful song that is perfect for falling asleep to, and I loved how successfully it sampled both The Zombies’ “She’s Not There” and Bessie Smith from the movie “St. Louis Blues.” It’s perhaps the last piece of music you would expect to hear as we get towards the final battle the movie’s title hints at, but it puts one in a rather sublime mood that few other songs can.
It should also be noted that “Kill Bill” has the closest thing to an original score that any of Quentin Tarantino’s movies have ever had. RZA adds some choice pieces of music throughout as does Robert Rodriguez’s band Chingon which wraps up the whole thing in rapturous detail.
In the end, it’s probably best that “Kill Bill” was split into two movies; one was a Samurai movie that forced you to look at Uma’s character as though she is nothing more than a killer, and the other resembles a western where we then look at her as a person who is justified in seeking her revenge. But as a whole, “Kill Bill” is a fully realized experience that enthralls you in a way most movies don’t these days. Like many of Quentin’s other films, it is a reminder of why it is so much fun to go to the movies. To have an experience that fully engages the audience to where we never look at our watch feels like a rarity these days as Hollywood keeps throwing stuff at us which they think we will like.
Thank you Quentin Tarantino for showing this particular version of “Kill Bill” at New Beverly Cinema . No other theatre in Los Angeles deserves to be this lucky!
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