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From: Marker
Category: Films
Date: 22 July 2004
My questions: Do male directors showing women involved in violence, and violent sex always express a sexist and boring view of women? Is rape and violence as entertainment acceptable to me? Does a film which is hermetically sealed from outside meaning, meaning relating to direct experience, (and not just referencing other movies and art) ever gonna stir my soul? Do I have a soul?
I don't have answers to these questions. Kill Bill is stylish, which is something people say to dismiss things, but it is a great strength in a movie if it is visually stimulating, and every shot in Kill Bill seems thought about and designed. I felt nothing. I liked the head and limbs spurting their fountains of blood. I felt uncomfortable in the rape and torture scenes. The self-consciously stilted dialogue still works and the fights are sometimes thrilling. It seemed less stereotyping of Japanese culture than the awful "Lost in Translation". A strange comparison.
Maybe Tarantino is working with some big metaphors about violence, revenge, women, mothers, and blood. But it wasn;t apparent in the first part. I didn't care and it wasn;t beautiful enough. He needs to pull more strings.
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