Time and again, some movie comes along, that confirms the theory that movie making is all about getting the attention of the viewer and taking them to a place that they cherish to be in. The sweet feeling when walking out of a theatre after a
good movie is just the tribute we pay to the film maker for transporting us a
different world for the few hours- a temporary suspension of our regular self, I
must say...
Kill bill- Volume 1 (of a series of 2 volumes), released in the US in Oct ’03, and directed by the famed Quentin Tarantino (
Pulp fiction, Reservoir dogs, etC) boasts of no serious storyline at all. It’s all
about a gangstress (Uma thurman, in the lead character as the ’Bride’) taking
revenge on her ex-gang members for attacking her on her wedding day, killing all
the guests and the groom, and rendering her into coma for 4 years.
It’s all about how her revenge sequences are executed, that makes the difference
from a lame loser to a chillingly entertaining movie...
Tarantino mixes violence and humor, diaglogue and action and the good and evil, in a concoction of deadly background music replete with macabre tunes as well as such
simple things as the sound of a water tap providing the backdrop for a deadly
samurai duel.
The bride starts out her revenge saga with her former Deadly Viper Assassination
Squad colleague, Vernita Green, a.k.a. Copperhead (Vivica A. Fox).
The sequence where she hesitates to kill her in the presence of her child, yet,
does so, when forced, and never repenting it, is well executed to show the forces of evil and good side by side...
She then goes to Japan to avenge O-Ren ’’Cottonmouth’’ Ishi (Lucy Liu), now the sadistic ringleader of a Japanese gang.
The sequence which tells about the horror filled childhoop of O-Ren Ishi, when her
parents were murdered by a deadly Japanese gang is rendered in a lengthy animation sequence.
This reminds me of the Indian Hindi movie Abhay (Aalanvandhan in Tamil) where
Kamal hassan used a similar route to show scenes of drastic violence and delve
deep into the mind of the maniac . The majority of the indian audience couldn’t
appreciate this much and the scene ended up getting laughs (more mocking than ribtickling).
O-Ren Ishi then goes on to take revenge and become the leader of the Japanese
underworld! The round-table scene where she answers any opposition by taking their heads off, is elevated from the normal ’Boss’ scenes in gangsters movies through the breathtaking background scores and the style of dialogue delivery.
Uma thurman goes to Japan to avenge 0-Ren Ishi. She gets a special sword made from a Japanese swordmaker. The swordmaker’s character is well etched. He had sworn never to make a sword(an instrument of death) again, but makes this one specially for Thurman.
The extended battle sequence where Uma Thurman swordfights with almost a hundred men of O-Ren’s gang, is quite similar to the Matrix-Reloaded stunt sequence, but is filled with much more gore.
There is a woman who comes with a different kind of weapon- a metal ball tied to a
chain, and swings it around her head.
[
A small diversion here:
It reminded me of the comic book villains who each have a special form of weapon!
There’s also this video game on Nintendo, called ’Mike Tyson’s Punch out’ where each boxer comes with a unique style, like for eg. Bald Bull comes charging like a
bull from the end of the ring, sometimes!
]
Back to the movie again...
There’s violence unabated. Blood gushing out of severed limbs and torsos...
Characters yelling out in pain...and what not.
The sequence of transition from the blood-bathed area to a serene winter
garden is poetry on celluloid.
There is soft snow falling from the serene sky. The background music sometimes reduces to still silence (sometimes silence can be the most deadly background
music!)...
And then there is the sound of the water tap, slowing blending itself into a
mystical composition.
The warriors battle it out for final honors, in a stylized swordfight sequence.
...And the movie ends as Thurman ticks off the people on her revenge list and prepares for her next target.
There’s BILL waiting to get his due in the second volume of this movie.
... And i’m waiting for that big event as eagerly as i’m expecting
The Matrix3-Revolutions(slated for Nov 5th)!