(no subject)

[oyceter]

Watched Kill Bill Vol. 1 two days ago.

Errr... let's just say I won't be lining up to see Kill Bill Vol. 2 any time in the near future.

I'm also probably not the target audience for the movie, given that I am incredibly squemish about violence and even more incredibly squemish about violence that is supposed to be cool. Or funny. Or something. So I probably missed watching about half the movie (all the fight scenes) because I had my eyes squinched shut for all of them.

I don't know. I think Quentin Tarantino is a fanboy of anime (obviously), but unfortunately of all the anime tropes and genres that I intensely dislike. (Akira, hello!). And I didn't really get the point of the movie, but that is probably because I had my eyes squinched shut through all of the fight scenes. I also think Tarantino's an interesting director who does some very cool things visually (I particularly liked the split screen in the beginning when Darryl Hannah is in the nurse costume and how it slides out of the split screen), but to no purpose. I was also sort of touch and go with the entire "homage" to Asian martial arts movies and how it almost felt to me like he was making fun of them. I guess I was also disappointed because there seemed to be no point in referencing that entire genre of movie, as opposed to that Julianne Moore Douglas Sirk-style movie that came out a while ago (Far from Heaven? Something something Heaven?).

Also not big fan of giant gushing founts of blood. I read in some other reviews that later on the violence gets so over-the-top that it gets funny, which is also not to my taste, considering that the violence is really fairly serious in the beginning -- I think we are supposed to feel some sort of emotional impact during the wedding massacre, at the fact that The Bride loses her baby, etc. And I was really offput by the first fight sequence and the rather disturbing turn that the violence there took.

I guess I am just not one for violence that seems rather gratuitous for me. It bugs me when there are movies and this type of thing is sort of filmed in a "Whoa, look how cool this is" way.

Comments

Kill Bill

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

The second movie isn't as violent. It has violence in it and some of it will make you squirm (it did me) but it's not the same. In fact in the second movie - only 10 people die and we only see two killed.
It's more Sergio Leone/Kung Fu and less slaughter-house anime.

I had somewhat the same reaction you did to some of the violence
in Kill Bill Vol. 1 - it felt over-done and made me squirm. The sequel, in my opinion is the better of the two films, more dialogue, more character development, less violence. And best of all? You can watch it, figure out what is going on - without ever seeing the first film.

Re: Kill Bill

[angeyja.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that. I've been wanting to see it, and very unsure.

Re: Kill Bill

[oyceter]

*nods* That actually sounds a lot better.

I think maybe I will wait for it to come out on DVD...

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

(I particularly liked the split screen in the beginning when Darryl Hannah is in the nurse costume and how it slides out of the split screen), but to no purpose.

Actually, QT's doing something interesting there, with Elle Driver and The Bride. He in fact has a similar split screen scene with the two of them in the second film. They are actually set up as shadow selves to each other, which becomes particularly apparent in a very short but very meaningful flashback in the second film.

Not going to spend too much time making a post now on how much I loved the movie, because if it isn't your thing, it isn't your thing. But I will add that, as s'kat said, liking the second one is not contingent on liking the first one. They're very different films. The second is for the most part a Western, rather than a kung-fu/anime homage, meaning less over-the-top blood and more in-depth portraits of the characters. The Bride and Bill, in fact, become two extremely fascinating characters by the end of the film. There are a few squeamish moments, but for the most part, character and dialogue trumps action in the second film. I personally didn't prefer one part over the other, and am greatly looking forward to being able to watch them both together, as a single piece, the way they were intended. But the second volume is a very different animal than the first.

[oyceter]

Hrm, the Elle/Bride thing sounds interesting -- I think I will wait until the second one comes out on DVD and rent it or something, just in case I manage to close my eyes through half of it as well ;).