skybridge

Rated Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair 9/10

This was, somehow, my first experience with Kill Bill, and it both was and was not what I expected. I understood it would have different modes and tones, referencing all kinds of martial arts cinema, but it went even further than I expected. The scenes with Budd in particular were a drastically different tone. Most things were not spoiled for me, too, which is a miracle in itself. Amazingly, I found out that BB survived the same moment that The Bride did, which was really powerful. I read later that Vol 1 has a cliffhanger/teaser showing that she survived, which feels less impactful. I'm not sure how I feel about what the film is saying (intentionally or not) about parenthood, and motherhood in particular. Uma Thurman absolutely sells her scenes, especially the quiet moment of her watching the video with BB, but something is missing. I'm not sure what. Seeing this in the theater, on 70mm film, with a good crowd (and my siblings) was a fantastic experience. The Bride being buried alive in near total darkness with booming sound was particularly memorable. I also got a surprising amount of joy seeing the reel change markers, now that I know what they are for and how they are used. I couldn't help but snicker at the sheer number of shots of bare feet. I knew it was a Thing with Tarantino, but man, there were so many shots.