Kill Bill Vol I (2003)

Elevator Pitch: This is the story of “The Bride” who, pregnant, has been shot in the head on her wedding day by the leader of the “Deadly Viper Assassination squad”. She survives and after four years is awakened by a mosquito bite. She finds that while unconscious she has been sold for sex by the hospital worker looking after her and that she is no longer pregnant. She is also an assassin and so she kills those in her way starting with the hospital auxiliary and his customer, and moving through other members of the squad, towards Bill the leader, and in this film getting as far as O-Ren Ishi, now the boss of a Yakuza gang.

Content: There is no sex or nudity, but inevitably some discussion about the activity. There is a lot of violence. The Bride skewers a member of the squad with a knife and later engages in a lot of sword fighting during which people have limbs severed and more. O-Ren Ishi beheads a gang boss at a meeting and there is a complete section of the film as a manga comic presentation showing her back story. As the film progresses there are subtitles shown for different sections.

A View:  Roger Ebert gave it four stars out of four, saying that “the movie is not about anything except the skill and humor of its making”.  It won a lot of awards and was nominated in five Oscar categories. It is Tarantino’s fourth film. It is the second time I have seen it and although I did not like it much the first time, maybe I have come to appreciate the technical brilliance of the presentation. So for film buffs essential viewing but it might not suit those who prefer a romantic comedy for their evening’s entertainment. 

Additional Info: Kill Bill Vol II follows. It was either present the film in two sections or make a lot of cuts, and Tanantino preferred the former approach.