Kill Bill: Vols 1 & 2 – A formal analysis (2023)

Kill Bill: Vols 1 e 2(2003-2004)

Emil Langenbahn

Seconds before the film's opening scene, the screen reads: "'Revenge is a dish best served cold' - old Klingon proverb". While the exact origin of this quote is unclear, it does serve to suggest that the act of revenge is most satisfying when it is unforeseen or unexpected, and the more ruthless the way it is carried out, the better. Director Quentin Tarantino uses various cinematic techniques in his two-hour films (collectively referred to asfeeds Bill🇧🇷 After a brutal attack by her employer and previous lover, Beatrix Kiddo (aka "The Bride" throughout the first film) awakens from her coma four years later to discover that the child she was pregnant with was presumed dead at the time. She immediately seeks revenge on the child's father, Bill, and vows to destroy any of her fellow assassins who betrayed her as well.

While the premise alone provides ample reassurance that revenge killings will be a common feature of both films, Tarantino also uses several different methods to communicate this theme - more than a few scenes deviate from the bright, flashy colors that the film typically has. it presents. seen, and are shown instead in black and white; there's a non-linear plot that allows for a gradual build-up of emotion behind each brutal murder; There is a brief break in live-action sequences in general, which are replaced by animation and voice-over narration. non-diegetic sound is present throughout the film, bordering on overuse, but it's done with a purpose; there is even an interesting juxtaposition of traditional "western" cultures that ultimately serve as multiple symbols of revenge. Most of these detailed explanations includeKill Bill: Vol. 1, DespiteKill Bill: volume 2is also occasionally referenced.

Scenes filmed in black and white infeeds Bill

most moviesKill Bill: Vol. 1(2003) eKill Bill: Vol. 2(2004) were shown in color - possibly oversaturated with that, but there were some notable scenes shown only in black and white, with no color at all, even after the audience was already about to witness a bloody fight to the death. two examplesKill Bill: Vol. 1include the opening scene where the audience sees the bride (Uma Thurman) lying bloodied and beaten on the floor in her wedding dress, panting; The next one takes place much later in the movie, when The Bride takes on the entire yakuza clan in Japan and annihilates nearly every person in the building, starting her journey with the simple mission of killing O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu), who was previously a of his fellow assassins and currently the leader of the yakuza. These were clearly conscious decisions by director Quentin Tarantino, but were these decisions made to highlight the great bloodshed or to censor it?

Several less reputable sources (Wikipedia, personal blogs, etc.) suggest that this decision was made to avoid an NC-17 rating upon release for both films, which could be a significant reason behind Tarantino's decision to use Black-White during these movies. movie scenes. However, a more likely reason is the classic, theatrical, impactful effect of using black and white in a film. An article on the development of film noir in American cinema declares: “One of the greatest achievements of [film noir] . 🇧🇷 🇧🇷 it is intended to replace the melodramatic shootout between hero and villain with a richly elaborate "death ceremony". Death in these films usually takes the form of a professional execution or a sadistic ritual” (Naremore 19). The specific scenes chosen to be shot in black and white were of a particularly gruesome nature, depicting the violent slaughter of various characters, but at the heart of all the violence are always the heroic and villainous characters. While there were many other violent encounters in both films, the scenes shown in black and white were pivotal moments captured in the bride's characterization, and Tarantino likely wanted these scenes to stand out from the others in some way.

The functioning of a non-linear narrative infeeds Bill

Director Quentin Tarantino is known for bringing a non-linear plot to the screen and it has been generally well received, especially with the popularity ofPulp Fictionupon its release in 1994; Nearly a decade later, Tarantino continues to use this method in his films to convey themes. Immediately after The Bride's (Thurman) near-execution by her former lover, former boss and father of her child Bill (David Carradine), the scene jumps to a brief shot of The Bride waking up from her coma, only to find her herself recovered to jump to A Noiva's second target: Vernita Green (Vivica A. Fox). Having already racked up her first kill, The Bride is confident as she pulls up in front of Vernita Green's gorgeous pea-green home in Pasadena, California. The front lawn is littered with Vernita Green's little daughter's toys, but the bride is determined to complete her second assassination attempt. However, this is the first death the audience sees, and after this death is completed, the story is allowed to travel back in time - backwards this time - to explain the earlier events of the film.

The non-linear method of conveying the topics offeeds Billit's certainly questionable - it requires the audience's full attention and often requires visual cues to establish a timeline, as it gives the audience a clear indication of where the bride is on her journey and what events are to come. Interestingly, both films generally choose to move forward in time, pausing to rewind only when absolutely necessary for story progression. In fact, the first part of the violent encounter between the Bride and the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad is only explainedKill Bill: Vol. 2, when the audience has the opportunity to set the scene and understand the true brutality of the massacre. There is certainly room for an argument that this method of action is simply Quentin Tarantino's "style" in the way he writes and directs his films, but a formalist approach might recognize this particular structure of Tarantino's films as a force in conveying the theme of the search for a violent and defended revenge. The Scorned Woman motif is bolstered by strategically placed flashback sequences, and the cluttered narrative is chaotic but controlled, much like the emotions that surge through the bride as she traverses each member of the murder plot. and eventually to Bill (Carradine) himself.

Animation in a real movie:feeds BillOrigin story of O-Ren Ishii

Due to the Japanese influence offeeds BillMovies, the chosen animation styleKill Bill: Vol. 1it was anime. A long stretch of The Bride's story reveals the origins of young Japanese assassin O-Ren Ishii (Liu), and unsurprisingly he's just as disturbing and wild as the rest of the film, despite being an animated take on the fairy tale.

A crucial use for the presence of animation in a live-action film could be to reduce the appearance of realistic bloodshed and, again, toning down the film's overall violence. In the article by François Debrix, which analyzes bothfeeds Billmovies, she says: "feeds Billit has a cartoon feel. It plays with imagery, color, sound and text to (over)represent and exaggerate a reality of violence, war and revenge, designed in various ways to shield viewers from the reality of war, the mundanity of the American war machine and its terror. From that perspective, Kill Bill ups the ante. He takes the violence of the American War on Terror to its extreme but absurd limits, through cinematic or cartoon representations" (556). This is an accurate interpretation in the sense that it reveals some of the absurdity of the violence that is present in thefeeds BillMovies because many if not all of the major stunts performed in both movies are unrealistic depictions of violent encounters.

On the other hand, the decision to include an animated sequence for the O-Ren Ishii story could perhaps effectively convey the ridiculousness of that particular story, even to openly mock the whole concept of the bride's quest for cold revenge against a man she once loved. Before Debrix criticizes Tarantino's exaggeration of reality, she also points out, "Tarantino's handling of warlike violence appeals to the audience and thus also creates a distance between the viewer and the war. Despite the fact that some commentators have argued that Tarantino's films are significant because they allow a "harsh reality" about society to seep into cinematic fiction, Tarantino insists that making a film likefeeds Billit's not about being realistic, it's about being theatrical, operatic.feeds Billit is about play, theater and fantasy” (555). Again, this argument points to the theatrical elements that Tarantino privileges and emphasizes in his films, making them more memorable to audiences and creating a strong theme in the stories.

The exaggerated emphasis on non-diegetic sound infeeds Bill

During the first fight scene inKill Bill: Vol. 1, the use of non-diegetic tone is necessary to establish the level of violence and intensity that audiences should expect to see in the rest of the films. As the Bride approaches Vernita Green's (aka "Copperhead" as a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad) house, the scene is quiet and peaceful - that is, until Vernita Green opens the door. Frenetic and intense music is played, mimicking the howl of a siren, and the bride's determined expression can be seen in an extreme close-up of her eyes before attacking Vernita Green. The following sound effects add to the scale of the fight and show the improbability of the characters' strength and fighting prowess - the breaking of glass in various rooms of the house, the excessive force behind every punch thrown, and the voice-over narration performed by The Bride among the fight was voiced. The argument turns comical when Vernita Green's four-year-old daughter, Nikki (Ambrosia Kelley), returns home from school and relies on diegetic sound again; When the school bus stops, The Bride and Vernita Green stop their progress and hide their weapons as Vernita Green orders Nikki to go to her room.

In this particular scene, the target of revenge is easily identified, but the question remains how the added sound effects contribute to this theme - it further emphasizes the point or detracts from the realism of the situation the characters found themselves in. 🇧🇷 In an article reviewing the use of additional sound to enhance the film's overall appeal, critic Benjamin Wright states, "Several studies of the classic Hollywood soundtrack have suggested that the sound is more or less a representation of Reality, not an original event. Production considerations, including the advent of multitrack recording and re-recording with volume adjustment and filtering, have resulted in increasingly layered tracks that make any sense of "realism" difficult.6 This argument may indicate an adverse effect of using the non-diegetic tone in order to create a realistic situation, but in the case offeeds BillFilming it seems to bring out the bride's mission to exact revenge on the deadly Viper's assassination squad, and possibly even reinforce her firm resolve to kill Bill.

The Clash of Civilizations and Popular References infeeds Bill: use of stereotypes

Director Quentin Tarantino is known for many stylistic choices in his films, including messing up the stories and using overly colorful corn syrup in particularly gory scenes; But another stylistic choice, frequent and favored by Tarantino, is the influence of the heroic "outlaw" character against the villainous characters in a Western-style final showdown. Examples of these artistic choices can be found in many of Tarantino's films, includingDjango Unchained(2012),inglourious bastards(2009) ePulp Fiction(1994).

It is undeniable the use of elements of Japanese culture present both infeeds BillFilms, but especially inKill Bill: Volume 1, as the Bride travels first to Okinawa and then Tokyo to train and then complete her first kill since waking up from her coma. Why did Tarantino choose to use such a strong influence of Japanese culture in these two films? Certainly two different ideas about "Western" cultures clash on the theme of revenge, even if they seem to work together to better convey the theme of the films. The cohesion of these colliding cultures is not the only element infeeds BillFilms that create this effect; Both films are filled with other popular culture references, which reflects well on Tarantino's wealth of knowledge in the world of cinema. In an interesting comparative article by Michael Rennet, "Quentin Tarantino and the Director as a DJ", Rennet points to one of the most critical references in popular cultureKill Bill: Vol. 1, which states, “Much of the impact of a referral comes from its connection to its source. Bride's Use of Bruce Leedeath's gamesweater infeeds Billit would leave a poor impression on audiences if it were only a perfunctory homage. However, as the tracksuit embodies Lee's connection to the Western world as he defeats his opponents with various styles of kung fu, it has additional significance; The bride not only belongs to Western civilization in the East, but also must defeat her enemies using a variety of combat methods. With this extensive knowledge of film history, this group of directors can place a cue at almost any point in the film to heighten the film's impact' (397). There is no doubt that the bride's character's decision to wear the same outfit was intentional, and the clue will actually serve to reinforce the bride's intent to get revenge.

Rennet also discusses other characteristics traditionally seen in Tarantino's outlaw films, noting that Tarantino "attempts to push the boundaries of social taboos like violence, sexuality or drugs into a hyper-reality in [his] work. . . . law is based on the artistic standards of the independent film industry to which Tarantino and his colleagues belong" (399). Mention of this point supports Tarantino's methods of weaving cultural and social stereotypes to reinforce the theme of revenge in both.feeds BillMovie.

Symbols of Revengefeeds Bill

The "icons" in this section specifically refer to the colors and types of photos common to bothfeeds BillMovie.

The first, and arguably most notable, symbol of revenge is the over-saturation of bright reds and yellows throughout the films. As mentioned in the previous section, The Bride wears a bright yellow tracksuit for most of the movie, which isn't just a reference to the Bruce Lee movie.death's game, but also draw attention to the character of the bride. Ironically, the color yellow is often used to feel warm and inviting — much like the pale yellow walls in Vernita Green's home kitchen — but in reference to the Bride, it's used to draw attention to her. The bride is at the center of the revenge killing and this allows the audience to see her at all times, especially when she is in combat against hundreds of skilled swordsmen. Next is the color red in every scene, whether it's characters covered in blood after a fight or the red filter briefly flashing over an extreme close-up of the bride's eyes just before she attacks a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. Red is simply a symbol of the bloodshed the bride will need to sate her revenge against Bill.

Coincidentally, among the recurring shots, the most memorable are the extreme close-ups of the bride's eyes. These photos are always accompanied by flashing red filters and a frantic sounding siren, and these effects combined with the position of the photo convey the bride's hatred, pain, and thirst for revenge without a single line of spoken dialogue. This also brings the audience closer to the Bride as a character, allowing a clearer look at her suffering and thus creating a deeper connection with her. By creating this deeper connection between the audience and the Bride, Tarantino also instills a sense of confidence in the Bride's actions, and her character emerges as something of a heroic figure in the story - the audience rooting for her victory over the Squad's deadly viper. of death. , though her actions are generally seen as cold or cruel. The message that "revenge is a dish best served cold" comes through most brilliantly in these short scenes and serves as a more than appropriate symbol for the theme of revenge that runs through both.feeds BillMovie.

Works Cited

Debrix, Francois. "Kill Bill, Volumes I and II." Millennium - Journal of International Studies 34.2 (2006): 553-57. WorldCat@OSU. talk. July 30, 2014.http://mil.sagepub.com.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/content/34/2/553.full.pdf+html.

NAREMORE, James. "American Film Noir: The Story of an Idea." Quarterly film 12th episode. 49.2 (1996): 12-28. WorldCat@OSU. Network. July 30, 2014.http://www.jstor.org.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/stable/1213310?seq=11.

Rennett, Michael. "Quentin Tarantino and the DJing Director." Journal of Popular Culture 45.2 (2012): 391-409. WorldCat@OSU. Network. July 31, 2014.http://web.a.ebscohost.com.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=2b358d39-3787-4da4-a168-17058ee7d6f0%40sessionmgr4004&vid=1&hid=4104.

Wright, Benjamim. "Tonpartner." Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal for Film and Television Studies 38.1 (2008): 96-97. WorldCat@OSU. Rede. 31 de julho de 2014.http://osu.worldcat.org/title/sound-partner/oclc/362562426&referer=brief_results.

feeds Bill.Director Quentin Tarantino. Performance Uma Thurman and Vivica A. Fox.www.youtube.com. YouTube, 2011. Web. July 31, 2014