(no subject)
I got to see both "Kill Bill" Vol. 1 and 2 in the same weekend. Both were pretty good. A lot of critics complained about the too much blood, but the blood was more hyperrealistic/unrealistic/surrealistic than anything, so although it couldn't be taken literally/seriously, it presented thematic/more iconic images/translations of the story's ideas. I also found the first volume to be rather fun, with all the action sequences, hyperrealism/more laissez-faire take-it-as-you-will-and-enjoy-the-action limb-flying, bright colors, scattered jokes, synergistic music, and heroine archetype. I was so amazed by the 2-minute Steadicam shot right before the "88" ninja fight sequence...I don't think anyone else appreciated that.
The beginning sequences were also very good, with very classic shots and liberal editing; for example, the symmetry of the house in the middle of the frame and 2 trees assymetrically placed on its side. Soon thereafter, an extreme closeup of a finger is seen - we've gone from a wide setup shot all the way to approximately 4 inches of view in an instant. As another example of classic shots, I liked the overhead shot of the living room to the kitchen, with a wall between, 2 doors roughly symmetrical on the x-axis, and Uma and Vivica symmetric with respect to the origin. Also, I really loved the red sponge-dabbed painting in the right of the frame as Uma talks to Vivica; the red spatters foreshadow more fighting and bloodshed. Then Vivica is seen in the frame, right in front of the painting, showing that she's going to be the one with the spattered blood. Soon after, there was a nice shot of them looking at each other and a knife rack subtly glinting in the background but between them in the frame.
The Hattori Hanzo sequence was absolutely awesome. The way each actor/actress put in nuances in their speech and body language was a superb example of what can only be shown in tv/film and what literature/ordinary thinking about just the storyline lacks. The music for the katana showcase scene was UNBELIEVABLE. I absolutely loved it. It's not on the soundtrack.
Specific visuals interested me: Gogo's bloody eyes; the snowy background against Uma's orange suit; water pouring out of a bamboo section, then blood flooding off of Ms. Liu's white foot; slow, tranquil snow against a sword fight; the simple, purple cloth partitioning Hanzo's restaurant from the outside.
I got to say that Tarantino can translate visuals and sound almost directly into emotion. The first shot of the movie forces the viewer to take the situation very seriously. When Uma wakes up and discovers she lost her baby, the audience literally feels what she's feeling. It's not, "she loses her baby and cries," as seen on paper, it's the feeling, the importance, the distress, the love of her life gone, the utter disappointment, and the violation that the audience directly connects with. When another woman's body is disfigured, Tarantino forces suspense upon every person watching; they don't want to see the woman's disfiguration because they are identifying too closely with her on an emotional level. At the same time, they expect to see more, and more, and more, in line with Tarantino's sometimes blatantly gory style. Instead, he holds it back, more and more, and never reveals more of her body. Yet the tension is still there. In the second volume, when she is given the choice of having mace sprayed in her eyes or being buried alive, despite an overwhelming emotion to stay alive, we feel exactly as she feels, fearing the mace and its instant effects. I think an extremely close shot of the mace near her eye does that for us. The sequence of darkness also worked well enough, when we in fact become the ones buried alive and only hear a few sounds and a whole lot of doom.
I really liked the "bang, bang" idea and the idea of perception. As far as "bang, bang," Tarantino uses the classic same-beginning-same-end theme to tie everything together; the first scene of the first volume begins with "bang, bang," and we know Uma's going to get it. In the second volume, the whole Bill-pretending-to-be-the-assassins/the-daughter-pretending-to-be-Uma/Uma-pretending-to-be-Bill imaginative childplay seemed unworkable on paper but played out wonderfully and foreshadowed Bill's death. Tarantino's translation of emotions is superb, and we feel tranquil even though we know Bill's inevitable death. As far as perception, Bill and Uma had totally different perceptions of the same event, causing totally different reactions. What can I say, this is real life.
The story was pretty classic as far as structure. We know Bill's dying but not how. We have a heroine who encounters different situations which any normal person would not be able to overcome (such as being buried alive), then we flashback to something seriously random yet much less stressful. This leads to something that's actually useful, and then she escapes. Also, the story was a basic tragedy; Bill tries to kill Uma, yet unknowingly causes his own death. It's also a tragedy for her, since although she loves Bill, she must kill him. It's also tragic in that she went on a revenge streak partially because she thought her child was killed, which is not the case; in fact, Bill brings her up, and not too badly. Yet, despite all these good things, she must kill him because of her ethics. Now that I see all this, the first volume's scoring music actually seems a lot sadder. (Btw, a lot of the scoring is actually precomposed songs rearranged this time without lyrics.)
As far as the second volume in general, it was much slower-paced and more story/dialogue/background-oriented. I liked the first volume better, but I cannot really say "the first Kill Bill is better than the second," since they are part of the same movie. Instead, I liked the first half better. I liked the end area of volume 2 with an underlying softness surrounding Bill's/Uma's exchanges up until their clash. I thought there should have been more about Pai Mei because he was kind of cool despite being stern. Otherwise, both were fun movies. And I liked them much more than "Reservoir Dogs."
The beginning sequences were also very good, with very classic shots and liberal editing; for example, the symmetry of the house in the middle of the frame and 2 trees assymetrically placed on its side. Soon thereafter, an extreme closeup of a finger is seen - we've gone from a wide setup shot all the way to approximately 4 inches of view in an instant. As another example of classic shots, I liked the overhead shot of the living room to the kitchen, with a wall between, 2 doors roughly symmetrical on the x-axis, and Uma and Vivica symmetric with respect to the origin. Also, I really loved the red sponge-dabbed painting in the right of the frame as Uma talks to Vivica; the red spatters foreshadow more fighting and bloodshed. Then Vivica is seen in the frame, right in front of the painting, showing that she's going to be the one with the spattered blood. Soon after, there was a nice shot of them looking at each other and a knife rack subtly glinting in the background but between them in the frame.
The Hattori Hanzo sequence was absolutely awesome. The way each actor/actress put in nuances in their speech and body language was a superb example of what can only be shown in tv/film and what literature/ordinary thinking about just the storyline lacks. The music for the katana showcase scene was UNBELIEVABLE. I absolutely loved it. It's not on the soundtrack.
Specific visuals interested me: Gogo's bloody eyes; the snowy background against Uma's orange suit; water pouring out of a bamboo section, then blood flooding off of Ms. Liu's white foot; slow, tranquil snow against a sword fight; the simple, purple cloth partitioning Hanzo's restaurant from the outside.
I got to say that Tarantino can translate visuals and sound almost directly into emotion. The first shot of the movie forces the viewer to take the situation very seriously. When Uma wakes up and discovers she lost her baby, the audience literally feels what she's feeling. It's not, "she loses her baby and cries," as seen on paper, it's the feeling, the importance, the distress, the love of her life gone, the utter disappointment, and the violation that the audience directly connects with. When another woman's body is disfigured, Tarantino forces suspense upon every person watching; they don't want to see the woman's disfiguration because they are identifying too closely with her on an emotional level. At the same time, they expect to see more, and more, and more, in line with Tarantino's sometimes blatantly gory style. Instead, he holds it back, more and more, and never reveals more of her body. Yet the tension is still there. In the second volume, when she is given the choice of having mace sprayed in her eyes or being buried alive, despite an overwhelming emotion to stay alive, we feel exactly as she feels, fearing the mace and its instant effects. I think an extremely close shot of the mace near her eye does that for us. The sequence of darkness also worked well enough, when we in fact become the ones buried alive and only hear a few sounds and a whole lot of doom.
I really liked the "bang, bang" idea and the idea of perception. As far as "bang, bang," Tarantino uses the classic same-beginning-same-end theme to tie everything together; the first scene of the first volume begins with "bang, bang," and we know Uma's going to get it. In the second volume, the whole Bill-pretending-to-be-the-assassins/the-daughter-pretending-to-be-Uma/Uma-pretending-to-be-Bill imaginative childplay seemed unworkable on paper but played out wonderfully and foreshadowed Bill's death. Tarantino's translation of emotions is superb, and we feel tranquil even though we know Bill's inevitable death. As far as perception, Bill and Uma had totally different perceptions of the same event, causing totally different reactions. What can I say, this is real life.
The story was pretty classic as far as structure. We know Bill's dying but not how. We have a heroine who encounters different situations which any normal person would not be able to overcome (such as being buried alive), then we flashback to something seriously random yet much less stressful. This leads to something that's actually useful, and then she escapes. Also, the story was a basic tragedy; Bill tries to kill Uma, yet unknowingly causes his own death. It's also a tragedy for her, since although she loves Bill, she must kill him. It's also tragic in that she went on a revenge streak partially because she thought her child was killed, which is not the case; in fact, Bill brings her up, and not too badly. Yet, despite all these good things, she must kill him because of her ethics. Now that I see all this, the first volume's scoring music actually seems a lot sadder. (Btw, a lot of the scoring is actually precomposed songs rearranged this time without lyrics.)
As far as the second volume in general, it was much slower-paced and more story/dialogue/background-oriented. I liked the first volume better, but I cannot really say "the first Kill Bill is better than the second," since they are part of the same movie. Instead, I liked the first half better. I liked the end area of volume 2 with an underlying softness surrounding Bill's/Uma's exchanges up until their clash. I thought there should have been more about Pai Mei because he was kind of cool despite being stern. Otherwise, both were fun movies. And I liked them much more than "Reservoir Dogs."