Kill Bill: Volume 1

Quentin Tarantino is not for everyone. He does stuff with spouting blood that can be...umm...slightly disturbing. For instance, in this film you see torrents coming from people's bowels (I sure hope that's implausible) and severed heads. The way to handle that is to understand that to Tarantino this is all about style and homage, and little to do with anything else. Several times during the film you sit back and realize that you're watching the creation of a geeky former video-store clerk who rivals Peter Bogdanovich and Glenn Kenny in terms of film knowledge. There is an awful lot of "look what I just did!" Fortunately, that isn't all there is. Tarantino has crafted a film that bends gender, slips into parody (but not quite) of Japanese film, and reveals fresh ways of looking at film language. One of the final fight scenes in a snowy garden is nigh on perfect and captures every Samurai and western film every made. But with girls, not boys. Since this is only the first part of the film, I hesitate to judge its plot. The film is split into episodes that are not watched linearly, so the gaps won't be filled in until Volume 2. We get the gist, however -- a pregnant woman assassin gunned down at her wedding, out to get revenge on those who perpetrated the massacre. I admit I'm looking forward to the final installment next year, if only to see more bravura filmmaking.

year: 2003
length: 111 min.
rating: 3.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266697/combined