Kill Bill Vol. 1

I've hit a rough spot in the movie collection. As it stands right now I have skipped Hardball until I can watch that one with my wife (why should I suffer alone), I've completed 2 Potter films and have 4 to go and when the Potter films are done I have The Holiday and Hope Floats waiting for me. So, in order to survive I am going to jump around a bit and watch some films that I have purchased since starting this. I think it's for the best.
Which leads me to Kill Bill Vol. 1. There's not a whole lot that I can say about this film that isn't conveyed in the title. It's an ultra violent revenge film that ultimately does not see anyone (knowingly) named Bill get killed since it is only Vol. 1.
What I love about this film though is that Quentin Tarantino is such a master of this medium that the film rarely ever feels like it's being ultra violent. Instead, it flows at such a brisk pace that the audience becomes engulfed in Tarantino's homage to Japanese samurai revenge films and immune to the carnage.
The story itself centers around 'the bride' a survivor of a horrific assassination attempt in which eight others were killed and the then pregenant bride is left in a 4 and a half year coma. The bride eventually awakens and is filled with a singular purpose of hunting down the people who destroyed her life. To this end, she will allow no one to stand in her way.
Told in a typical Tarantino disjointed fashion, Vol. 1 covers 5 chapters of the Brides story as we see her take revenge on Vernita Green and O-Ren Ishii. Along with paying tribute to those who have made this genre great in Japan, Tarantino brings his typical punch-out power to the films dialogue. It's hard to put into words how effective Tarantino's dialogue is because it is so much better than everyone else's out there and as director he knows how to get his characters to deliver it to perfection. The best I could offer for a comparrison is something that stands as the direct opposite to Tarantino and that would be remembering George Costanza frustration with not being able to have a snappy come back. Hours later after he felt like a store clerk had been rude to him he comes up with "YEAH, well the JERK store called and their running out of YOU!" That's funny and pathetic all at once and fits the character of George perfectly. With Tarantino his character's are able to deliver lines like "Silly rabbit, tricks are for kids" with more power and punch than this page can ever adequately describe.
While the dialogue softens the ultra violent acts taking place on screen the film also succeeds by creating amazing set pieces. In particular the showdown at the house of blue leaves is breath taking in all of it's gruesome wonder. Ultimately, I feel I still feel like Vol.2 is more of the masterpiece and Vol.1 is Tarantino paying homage to a style of filmmaking that is unique to Japan and is typically done poorly in American films. Still, don't let it sound like I am selling this film short as it's the kind of film that you watch without blinking the enter time and by the end you just find yourself saying "WOW." At least, that was my experience.