Kill Bill, Vol. 1

[October 8th, 2003] It's been seven long years since Quentin Tarantino made a film. The wait is finally over, but a big word of warning: If you consider yourself a "fan" of the auteur, keep in mind he hasn't made this film for you. Quite the contrary, after the way so many of his "fans" took a dump on Jackie Brown--complaining it was no Pulp Fiction--the last thing Tarantino seems to care about are the people who claim to love his work. Instead, the filmmaker's latest, Kill Bill, Vol. 1, has been made for the fans of the same movies Tarantino loves: not the people who've memorized Reservoir Dogs, but the lovers of exploitation cinema and the geeks who slaved away as clerks at video stores in the 1980s.

The first installment of Kill Bill starts off with the brutal murder of a pregnant woman known only as the Bride (Uma Thurman). Despite taking a bullet to the head, the Bride manages to survive, languishing in a coma for four years. And once she wakes up, the only thing on her mind is exacting revenge on those who wronged her--members of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad (DiVAS for short). And that, in a nutshell, is the story.

More than anything, Kill Bill is an exercise in style. Its sole existence is to serve as an homage to the grindhouse exploitation films the director loved in his youth (not to mention television shows and comic books). And while his other films were dripping with the same sort of influences, they now seem like mere test runs for Kill Bill. Tapping into Shaw Brothers Studios kung fu, Japanese yakuza, anime, blaxploitation, Swedish rape-revenge, Star Trek and a whole bunch more, the film is so overflowing with influences you'll need a score card and an encyclopedic knowledge of B-movies just to keep up.

Kill Bill, Vol. 1 is likely to divide audiences. The bare-bones story and overwhelming number of in-jokes and obscure references are sure to leave some people unfulfilled and confused. And then there is the matter of violence--of which there is a ton. Forget about chopped-off ears. Kill Bill chops, slices and severs nearly every body part imaginable. But for all the reasons there are not to like the film, the most important thing to keep in mind is that it totally kicks ass. Kill Bill, Vol. 1 (Vol. 2 is due in February) is Tarantino at his very best, taking the pop-culture schlock he was weaned on and turning into stylish cinematic art. R