Movie Title: Kill Bill R(A)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu

"Kill Bill" : An overkill?
If an excess of anything good makes everything bad, it is not too far off in faulting "Kill Bill". The much anticipated fourth movie of director Quentin Tarantino has elevated violence to such an insane and hilarious proportion that even the actual footage from any Accident and Emergency room pales in comparison to barrage of images of severed limbs and heads flying, spurting fountains of blood from maimed, twitching bodies in this ultimate blood-splattering orgy. This is one movie that revels in racking up body count for the sake of racking up body count.

To make this blood orgy even more revulsive, the "overkill" of senseless killings is not compensated or balanced by a credible or an ingenious plot. The movie tells of the protagonist, Uma Thurman, seeking vengeance on the assassins who massacred her family during her wedding day. Like all good old vengeance stories, the protagonist, miraculously or purposefully, is kept alive to exact her pay back. That's all about it. The rest is a contrived and draggy continuation of the same scene: "with binding speed, the samurai swords hissed through the air in silver arcs; heads and limbs were lopped off with Japanese manga-style geysers of blood effects, while their bodies were still wriggling". Seen it once, you have seen them all.

Moreover, much to Tarantino's credit is his choice of the avenging instrument: the samurai sword. If the instrument is anything modern like guns, the show could have had ended one-and-a-half hour earlier, leaving the audience 10 minutes which is enough to read the introduction and end credits of the people behind the production. Food for thought: perhaps the instrument should be bare fists; in this case, a three-and-a-half hours show is not inconceivable.

Strange as it may seem that Tarantino who had the critically acclaimed "Pulp Fiction" and "Jackie Brown" under his belt is the same person who produced "Kill Bill". However, Tarantino is indeed a talented director who is never strait-jacketed by the dominant Hollywood trends of the day. His unique movies either attract or repulse audience; ambivalence is never an option. His brilliance is evident in this movie when he interjected humour into the most unexpected scenes, leaving the audience both squirming and beaming almost at once, a delicate balance which Tarantino had juggled extremely well. However, the humour did little to prevent the censorship board from rating it R(A).

The cinematography is brilliant in its dizzyingly combination of disparate elements from Hong Kong's kung-fu flicks, Japanese animations, to American cowboy shootout, into one setting. The fight choregraphy scenes, though hilarious, is a piece of art work - ballet if you insist - and the beautiful soundtrack accompanying each move makes them almost flawless.

Moreover, I may be too quick in my judgement at its harebrained plot for this movie tells only volume one of the supposedly two-part movie. Even then, this "Kill Bill" has left me nothing but bewilderment; i have little enticement to bother about the outcome of part two.

My verdict? If you need to kill time, "Kill Bill" is one respectable movie to splurge on. And my advice to you: don't go in with a full stomach; have some respect for the audience around you. And for those fainthearted, bring along a blanket to cover yourself.

Leo Kee Chye

Tuesday, November 25, 2003

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Reader Mailbag

Re: "Kill Bill": An overkill?
By Louis Chua

The much anticipated Tarantino movie is a show shot for those "in the know". Sad to say, this leaves a bad taste in most viewers' mouths though many will not dare to say so. A case of Emperor's new clothes perhaps? To some, it is the brilliance of Tarantino to link so many different genres of movies, from Hong Kong flicks to Japanese bloody battle royale-ist flicks. But to others, it is a sign that Tarantino has reached the end of his artistic line and had to spoof on established works.

For the foolhardy and diehard Tarantino fans who are hell-bent on enjoying their idol's work, before and after watching the show, the viewers would benefit greatly from a commentator's explanation to gain greater insights into their idol's "fading" mind. It might even be worth paying money for the commentary to know snippets of info that can be showed off to other fans during after movie dinner. "Did you know that Uma's jumpsuit was a tribute to Bruce Lee? And did you know that the actor acting as the nemesis Bill, won the leading role from Bruce Lee in an ang moh shaolin movie written by Bruce? And let me tell you, even before Part 2 is out, I know Bill will lose to Uma because Tarantino is a Hong Kong movie fan. And did you know... ..." You get what I mean.

But as a parting shot, in terms of violence, Kill Bill pales in comparison with the gory Japanese slash flicks. For a really out there show, refer to Audition. If Kill Bill makes you cringe, Audition will turn your stomach inside out and made you stop dating pretty, long hair girls for the rest of your life. But for the initiated who survive Audition intact, you can try out Ichi. If that still doesn't have an effect on you, well, you will probably have to start on real snuff flicks to get your kicks soon.

Louis Chua describes himself as
an administrator without a network to administrate,
a programmer without a program, and
a lover without a love.

Wednesday, November 26, 2003