Kill Bill Vol.2

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Country made: USA

Year made: 2004

Awards: Won 8 awards, Nominated for 18

Copy of review: Morally the film is as infantile as its rigid code of honour — and there’s not much of that between hired assassins, or directors and critics. The Midas touch is Tarantino’s ability to switch mood and genre — and take his audience with him — in the blink of an eye.

User rating: 8.1/10

My opinion:10/10 I loved every minute of this film uncluding Uma therman (the bride) as the femme fatale and the part where she manages to escape from being buried alive.

Kill Bill 2 opens with an intertextual reference to Alfred Hitchcocks Psycho showing this film as a tribute to the classic thrillers, this is due to it being shot in black and white showing the independent femme fatale. A femme fatal is french for 'deadly woman' who uses their sexuality to charm their lovers and seek their desire this often leads to their fate . However there is a contrast in femme fatals of Marion Crane and the Bride. The Bride in Kill Bill is shown as a strong independent female whereas Marion Crane is a victim who is trying to buy her lover. For example Marion Crane is running away after stealing money to buy her lover, where as 'The Bride' is running towards the danger after being used and violated by a previous lover of hers 'Bill' who doesn't want her to carry on with her life. Marion Crane deviance is of a more traditional femme fatal as due to her vulnerable attributes as a female her character turns out to be fatal where as the brides character gets rewarded for her independency and deviance by killing Bill.

It also references the soundtrack in the opening sequence which helps create suspense within the events as it's the same music which is used in time of Marion Crance being stabbed in the famous shower scene. Therefore implys the danger involved for "The Bride".

There is a specific scene used in this film which is seen as generic. We see "The Bride" in her vulnerable state as she's just been captured and buried alive.

It shows her stuck in the coffin with no where to go. The coffin is a powerful utilisation of the genre to heighten her sense of doom and claustriphobia, she's also seen tied up showing her imprisonment and heighten the suspense and drama of her fate we're about to witness.

The lighting used is noir with chiaroscuro to give the impression of the her impending doom and nightmare showing a low angle close up of her face in fear to make the audience feel like we're with her experiencing her fear. This is also represented in her dirty costume and sweat building on her face.

When she's going in to the coffin there is an emphasis on diagetic sound of the nails going into the coffin this adds to the claustriphobia and how she's no longer within control . It also represents the dominant male role and how they should be the ones with the power, therefore with each nail going into the coffin it signifies the males superior ability over the now vulnerable female. There is also non-diagetic sound of western music which is an intertextual reference and tribute to Sergio Leoni's choice of music for the thriller the Good the Bad and the Ugly, as we see at the end the music used for the impending fate of the character as it's used to build up suspense.