Kill Bill: Volume 1.

Kill Bill: Volume 1
By: Stacey Bolton and David Cobbins




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX8ezuavTG8
(Kill Bill: Volume 1 Trailer)


The purpose of this exploration into Kill Bill: Volume 1 is to provide a deeper historical context of the film and to also explore techniques that the filmmaker, Quentin Tarantino, used in order to make the film. We will begin with a general overview of the genre’s that can be seen within the film and how Tarantino uses them to create something modern and fresh out of them. Then, we will discuss how Kill Bill revolves completely around the notion of it being Tarantino-esque or having many of the same features as other Tarantino works. Last, we will connect Kill Bill: volume 1 to it’s major source of influence: Lady Snowblood, and go into an in-depth analysis of the two films.




It is no secret that Tarantino loves to use his influences in his work. Whether this is stealing or paying homage to them is arguable but Kill Bill definitely wears the influences on its sleeve. The genre’s within the film include: wuxia, exploitation, spaghetti western, giallo, and martial arts/kung fu. Wuxia is known as a sub-genre of Chinese martial arts and is very apparent through volume 1 of Kill Bill. The entire back-story of O-ren Ishi is told within the Kung Fu/martial arts genre. Tarantino makes a tribute to the martial arts movies made especially from the 1960’s and 1970’s by the Shaw Brothers. The Shaw Brothers Corporation is the largest movie production company of Hong Kong movies. Scenes of Kill Bill: Volume 1 were actually shot on the old Shaw Brothers lot. Also, Tarantino uses their “Shaw-Scope” widescreen logo in the opening credits of the film. Another nod Tarantino gives to the martial arts/Kung Fu genres is by dressing the lead character of Kill Bill played by Uma Thurman similar to Bree Lee in the film “Game of Death”.

The Spaghetti western genre within the film can be seen at the chapel when the bride is at the rehearsal. These are a nickname for a broad sub-genre of western film that emerged in the mid-1960’s. They are mostly produced by Italian studios, as their name implies. The music of the massacre scene as well as the imagery are key characteristics of a Spaghetti Western film. The last genre mentioned, Giallo, is characterized by extended murder sequences featuring excessive bloodletting, stylish camerawork and unusual musical arrangements. This genre alone, can really sum up the style in which Tarantino is working within in Kill Bill: volume 1. Tarantino and his sense of humor naturally slip through in the production of Kill Bill and one of the results was a popular line in the film. Tobe Hooper, the director of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, made a film in 1977 called “Eaten Alive” which was a B-movie and a huge disaster at the box office. The main character of the film played a character with the name of Buck who mutters the same popular one-liner as the hospital rapist in Kill Bill: “Im Buck and I’m here to fu*k”. Again, this is Tarantino perhaps giving a nod to the B-movie and once again, wearing his influences of the sleeve of Kill Bill. Through our research, we found a few films to be similar to Kill Bill: Volume 1, but we found one in particular that we believe to be Tarantino’s main source of inspiration to make the film. That film is “Lady Snowblood” .


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMlONL-BR2M

(Lady Snowblood Trailer)


Lady Snowblood is a 1973 Japanese film directed by Toshiya Fujita and starring Meiko Kaji. Tarantino seems to be directly quoting this film with Kill Bill Vol 1. Many similarities exist between the two films, including, but not limited to plot devices, scenery, and character traits. First, Both movies are action films which fall into the revenge genre and feature samurai themes. Lady Snowblood features a woman , Sayo, who's husband and son are attacked and killed. She's held down, beaten, and sexually assaulted. Kill Bill also features a woman, 'The Bride', who's held down, beaten, and later sexually assaulted while she's in the hospital. Sayo was attacked by a band of four criminals. The Bride and her wedding party were attacked by band of four people,that being D.A.V.S excluding their ring leader Bill. Each story features child birth as a plot device. Sayo gives birth to Yuki, who later becomes her avenges her family. The Bride is pregnant when she's attacked, and we later find out her daughter is still alive. Vernita Green's daughter witnesses her mother's death and The Bride comments she can later take revenge if she's still angry after she gets older. The essential element of each narrative is revenge. The Bride goes on to kill all members of the D.A.V.S accept Elle Driver who’s fate is unknown, but now has no eyes , and Budd who’s killed by Elle. Yuki goes on to kill all the members of the criminal band except Tokuichi who’s killed by Yuki’s mother prior to her birth. Lady Snowblood and Kill Bill both also have large 'showdown' styled battles. In Kill Bill the fight takes place in a large restaurant. O-Ren sends Yubari and dozens of the Crazy 88 to deal with The Bride. The final fight between O-ren and The Bride takes place in a snowy courtyard. (Homage to a scene from Lady Snowblood.) In Lady Snowblood the battle takes place in a large estate. Okono sends her men after Yuki, who in turn defeats them and continues on her path towards Okono. Afterwards she tries to kill Okano, but Okono commits suicide. Other similarities between the two are: Kill Bill Features an anime section, Lady Snowblood is based off of a magna, which are often turned into Anime. Both films are told in Non Linear fashion and feature chapter headings. The song Shura no Hana, which is translated to “The Flower of Carnage” for Kill Bill is also the theme from Lady Snowblood. Last but not least each movies has a 'part two'.

In the end Tarantino has his own style, end of story. Kill Bill fits into many genres, and he manages to blend them all together successfully. However, he is notorious for borrowing from other films, and through he takes from many films for Kill Bill the main culprit is Lady Snowblood. With this movie he wasn't bashful in his borrowing or better put, his homage to the classic Samurai film, and maybe there isn't a reason for him to be. Tarantino has developed a good formula and he's sticking to it.

Citations:



Gallafent, Edward. Quentin Tarantino. Harlow:Person Education Limited, 2006.

Woods, Paul. Quentin Tarantino: the film geek files. London:Plexus Publishing Limited, 2005.

Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. Lady Snowblood (film). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Snowblood_(film)