OT: Kill Bill Vol.1 Lessons 2B Learned?

XPUser2003 wrote on 1/29/2004, 6:26 PM
A friend of mine and his wife watched Kill Bill Vol.1. He felt strongly against it. He didn't like it and would have walked out in the midlle of the movie had his wife not prevailed. He said he didn't like all those cartoons used as flashback on O'Ren's life and the those gigantic texts and especially chapters. I asked some of my other friends and the result was practically even 50/50.

Personally I really liked Kill Bill for it's story and for the director's "daring" to present it like a book, literally with chapters. It had great moments, like The Bride battling Yakuza members, all of them sihoutted against the blue of the Japanese paper walls. Quentin Tarantino seem to dislike fancy titling. I mean, here we are on a never-ending quest for the perfect titling tool, and here's Tarantino making a movie with big, bold white text that's just fading in and out as titling. Kind of appropriate, really wasn't it?

Yahoo news reported a while back that Kill Bill topped the charts. So I think there are points to ponder here. I'd like to hear your opinions.

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 1/29/2004, 9:50 PM
It's the message, not the method...
That's my opinion.
Our film at Sundance this year had a lot of people commenting on the subtitling. It was too bright, it was white, it was too small, it was too big, it wasn't on screen long enough, it was onscreen too long, they'd have prefered voiceovers, they liked the subtitles....and in the end, it's just the message that they wanted to see. (it is a film entirely in Navaho, no english)
Not one negative comment on the show itself, which was surprising. I expected to be ripped apart.
XPUser2003 wrote on 1/29/2004, 10:28 PM
point well taken, Spot. Guess you just can't please everybody.
busterkeaton wrote on 1/30/2004, 7:15 AM
I thought the anime was the best part of Kill Bill. I liked how it done, its look and I think that type of total-revenge story is easier to take, when it's even further removed from reality.

The main story was a little too monotonous, but I loved the cinematography and thought the movie was beautiful.
Also I have a big crush on the French/Japanese lawyer.

Infin1ty wrote on 1/30/2004, 8:05 AM
The movie is absolutley brilliant and beautiful.
I'm a huge fan of Quentin Tarantino and I have to honostly say that this movie actually jumped right up to the number one spot of my favoruite movie list, and my list hasn't changed in the top5 for some years now.
Tarantino is a genious when it comes to movies and I love everything about this one, it seems appropriate to do a comeback together for Uma and Quentin too.
When I first saw the comercial for the film though I have to say that I thought it looked kind of cheesy, but it's a piece of art.
If you only look on the very top surface of this movie and judge it by the fonts used and so on, then you're either not a tarantino fan or a big movie freak, that's my opinion.
Ofcourse to the common viewer who only watches movies every once a month and doesn't have any favourite actor or director, this movie is going to be put out as silly, as you only watch the surface of it, to truly understand how brilliant it actually is I think you either have to be a tarantino fan or be a real movie freak.
dholt wrote on 1/30/2004, 9:28 AM
I learned a valuable lesson recently and thank God early on. I did a short with a bunch of special effects and gave it to about 25 people. Some loved it, some hated it and some didn't even watch it?
Lesson,
If you try to put something out to please everyone then you lose out on your creativity and the art involved in making the movie. I don't enjoy Brakhage or Matthew Barney but many people do. I think Quentin Taratino pushs the edge and really tries to get peoples attention and does an excellent job but is not so artsy that he goes over the edge and plays to a specialized audience.
Bottom Line - Not everyone will like what you do but some people will love it. Make things that satisfy your creativity and passion and not what may have mass appeal.
Just my 2 cents.
Infin1ty wrote on 1/30/2004, 9:47 AM
I agree with dholt, you quickly come to notice if the movie you are watching is made to please the director himself or everyone else.
Ofcourse to some point you have to think about the viewer aswell but without going over the edge, which I think dholt explained quite good.

Also, Tarantino has his own style when creating movies and the thing about him is that it really shows, so if you don't like his style then you're not gonna like this movie or the next one he makes.
riredale wrote on 1/30/2004, 11:18 AM
Yeah, but, for me at least, if I'm watching a movie and I keep getting distracted by thoughts about, "Well, he kinda held that shot a bit too long" or, "Why on earth did he throw in that flyaway transition?" then the moviemaker's technique pulls me out of the trance of just absorbing the storyline. In other words, I consider a movie to be very well-made if I don't notice ANYTHING about the movie except the story and the believability of the acting.
Infin1ty wrote on 1/30/2004, 12:03 PM
Then there aren't many well-made movies, if any at all, in my opinion.
I always at some point during the movie I am currently watching get thoughts like you mentioned, "why did she say that? really lame and it doesn't fit in at all" or "ookay, that slowmotion effect was so not necessary, just looked dumb".
So I guess that's really hard to live up to.
For example in Kill Bill when Uma guts a guy with her sword (during the black&white scene) and then starts dacing around with him in a circle at the same time as she gets back into the flock of yakuza members and while this is happening none of the yakuza's actually attack her, instead they walk backwards a little bit.
That seemed very akward to me, but then just seconds later it gets well compensated out by the amazingily awesome scene when she starts 'breakdancing' and just slashes them all to pieces.

By the way if anyone else but me got very impressed by Uma's stuntdouble her name is Satya Bellord and is a member of the Ninjai gang (www.ninjai.com).
And if you don't know what Ninjai is please do yourself the favor and go to that site and watch the currently 10 episdoes, it's an awesome story which keeps getting better for every episode you watch, especially better quality (drawing skils).
I actually knew she was the stuntdouble before I saw the movie and still I got so amazingly impressed by her work, I didn't know she was _that_ good.
busterkeaton wrote on 1/30/2004, 5:38 PM
"Well, he kinda held that shot a bit too long"

I think that thought applies to every single shot in a Matthew Barney movie, but then again he really doesn't make movies, he makes advertisements for the props in the movie.