Thriller - Kill Bill Vol. 1

Kill Bill Volume 1
Quentin Tarantino, (2003)

The film Kill Bill is about a pregnant assassin who gets put into a coma after she has been shot by Bill. She then plans her revenge on Bill and the assassins who were once her friends.

Camera: The camera shows a high angle, close-up of the bloodied woman at the start, when actors are shown. We see a tracking shot of shoes belonging to a man. We never see this man, later revealed to be Bill, face. Most of the opening sequence is titles. The next shot we see is a close-up of her again but this time she is lying down and not moving.

Editing: The scenes with any actors are done in black and white, which gives the effect that the scene we are seeing is in the past and is a past event. We see the woman shot and then the next image we see is an outline of a woman's face lying down. It is unclear whether she is dead or alive, adding suspense.

Mise-en-scene: Within the shots seen within the opening sequence, the lighting is natural. The woman's make-up at the start is very bloodied, with her hair messed up and her face and chest, and all of the body that we can see is covered in blood and sweat.

This provokes questions in the audience as to how did she get into this state and why. We also see within the shots, cowboy boots come into the scene, showing the presence of Bill. His face is never shown, much like at the start of SE7EN and The Usual Suspects.

Sound: The first sound that we hear is the panting of the woman. By doing this, the audience are asking questions on why she is panting and why she is in that state that she is in. We then go into dialogue of the woman panting and an unknown man but from his handkerchief that he is holding that says 'Bill' on it we can assume that he is Bill. The woman later confirms his name as Bill later on in the dialogue. When the woman is shot we hear a loud and sudden gunshot and the screen blackens for the rest of the titles. We then hear the song 'Bang Bang' by Nancy Sinatra. The song plays for the rest of the opening titles.

Titles: The titles are done in san serif font. The titles open with the phrase or proverb "Revenge is a dish best served cold." Another title then fades in close to saying that it is 'Old Klingon Proverb'. This is most likely intended as a light-hearted joke and not to be taken seriously. Perhaps to confuse or make the audience laugh in some way. The titles then appear, showing Miramax Films Present. Another title in the same font then appears saying 'A Band Apart'. It then cuts to the black and white scene, showing a woman bloodied and on the floor, panting. When the woman is shot it then goes to more titles, in serif font.



“Revenge is a dish best served cold.” – Old Klingon Proverb

Miramax Films Presents

A Band Apart

The 4^th film by Quentin Tarantino

Main Actors:

Uma Thurman

KILL BILL

Vol. 1

Co-Starring:

Julie Dreyfus

Michael Bowen

Jun Kunimura

Kenji Oba

Yuki Kazamatsuri

James Parks

Akaji Maro

Kazuki Kitamura

Goro Daimon

Shun Sugata

And the 5,6,7,8’s

As the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad

1. Lucy Liu as O-Ren Ishii
2. Vivica A. Fox as Vernita Green
3. Michael Madsen as Budd
4. Daryl Hannah as Elle Driver
5. David Carradine as Bill

Guest-Starring:

Sonny Chiba

Chiaki Kuriyama as Gogo

Gordon Liu

Michael Parks

Editor: Sally Menke

Martial Arts Advisor: Yuen Wo-Ping

Casting:

Johanna Ray, C.S.A

Koko Maeda

Special Makeup Effects: K.N.B EFX Group, Inc.

Associate Producers:

Dede Nickerson

Koko Maeda

Costume Designers:

Catherine Thomas

Kumiko Ogawa

Original Music: The RZA

Production Designers:

Yohei Taneda

David Wasco

Director of Photography: Robert Richardson, A.S.C.

Executive Producers:

Harvey Weinstein

Bob Winstein

Erica Steinberg

E. Bennett Walsh

Produced by: Lawrence Bender

The Opening Sequence