20 - The Michigan Daily - Orientation Edition 2004
ARTS
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6
Guns, swords - Freudian much?
Second Bill takes it slow
April 16, 2004
By Alex Woisky
Daily Arts Writer
K LL BLL: VOL. 2 *
First things first: "Kill Bill: Vol. 2" isn't a perfect
film - neither was "Vol. 1." The final piece of
Quentin Tarantino's pulp puzzle comes together in
full force as The Bride (Uma Thur-
man) inflicts final punishment on II
those who wronged her. Under- Kill Bill:
neath all the shogun violence and Vol. 2
blood lies a film so dense in both Miramax
history and culture, one can't help
to be amazedby Tarantino's ambition.
With a dense network of references in the sec-
ond installment, Tarantino is on one hand playing a
game with his audience, while on the other mak-
ing a point - demonstrating how East and West
have influenced each other over the past few years.
Just as Japanese director Akira Kurosawa openly
brought the American Western to his 1954 epic,
"The Seven Samurai," Italian director Sergio
Leone brought Kurosawa's influence to the Euro-
pean market with "A Fistful of Dollars." Finally,
Tarantino has connected all three points with "Kill
Bill" He melds the Eastern, European and Ameri-
can points-of-view into a raucous meta-film.
"Vol. 2" draws most heavily on the American
Western. Where the first film was a transition from
East to West, the second film is solely focused on
The Bride's journey through the barren, cavernous
Texas landscape in search of her final enemies -
Budd (Michael Madsen), Elle Driver (Darryl Han-
nah) and, of course, Bill (David Carradine).
Because "Kill Bill" has such a thin plot, the per-
formance of the characters comes to the forefront.
And, as The Bride drives the story, the secondary
characters become the most important feature of
the film. Their peculiarities and nuances make the
characters memorable and more fleshed out than
they were in "Vol. 1"
Darryl Hannah, who had a fairly limited role in
"Vol. 1," returns as the manipulative Elle Driver.
Elle plaintively acts as a foil - her character, by
contrast, enhances the distinctive characteristics of
The Bride. Hannah marvelously plays "The Bride
Gone Bad," carefully alluded to in her dialogue
from "Vol. 1." Hannah's flawless execution of the
role transcends the film's self-referential nature, as
she becomes a unique entity.
Michael Madsen portrays Bill's brother Budd, an
ironic, absurdist role as a once-deadly assassin
turned bouncer at a lonely, Barstow, Cal. topless
bar. Madsen brings the disillusioned swordfighter
to life. He's a man who has turned to Barstow for a
solitary life, only to be brought out of retirementby
The Bride's quest for revenge.
And, then there's The Bride and Bill's unfinished
business. Carradine - who plays the masterful
Bill, all but non-existent in the first film -
becomes all-too-human in the second. Tarantino's
conscious move to not reflect the character in a
negative manner works effectively, and by the final
battle royale, the audience empathizes with Bill.
Interwoven in between tense, well-crafted scenes of
Bill and The Bride are flashbacks into the life of
The Bride including a hilarious homage to '70s
kung fu detailing her training with the white-
browed Pai Mei (Chia Hui Liu).
The nefarious Bill - known onlyby the tenor of
his voice in the first film - proves to be a master
of not just martial arts, but long-winded bullshit.
The anti-climactic third act of "Vol. 2" acts as a
microcosm for the entire film, slanted toward dia-
logue as opposed to combat. It will upset those who
enjoyed the first volume's violence. Unlike "Vol.
1," which felt like a visceral dagger to the jugular,
the second installment is an exploration in charac-
ter study and dialogue. Nearly every fight sequence
in "Vol. 2" is framed by long, drawn-out conversa-
tions which slow, but don't hinder the film.
The structure of "Kill Bill" seems off, however.
At times, scenes from "Vol. 1" seem like they
would fit better later in the film. Tarantino appears
to have reshuffled "Kill Bill" for the sake of
reshuffling the film, not because it emphasizes a
critical point or thematic issue as in his earlier
work, "Pulp Fiction." That being said, the films
work best together. In the way that "Vol. 1"
seemed rushed and aimless, "Vol. 2" seems slow
and cerebral.
With the release of "Kill Bill: Vol. 2," Taranti-
no's grand design becomes clear: The first part of
his epic took place under the sign of the East, the
second part is largely devoted to the West - that
is, American and European revenge flicks, particu-
larly the spaghetti Western. And it does so with a
panache and style unlike any other film this year.
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