Kill Bill 1

Kill Bill

(2003)

Quentin Tarantino

This is the opening shot of the film and it

proves impactive on several levels.

Colour can sometimes be a key factor of a shot with its different representations, however in this case the shot is in black and white. The fact that the shot is in black and white, and yet the blood is still the main attraction of the shot, highlights how extreme the injuries are and suggests to us the importance of what has happened in accordance with the whole film. The shot also proves a stimulant of interest for the rest of the film as it provides us with an enigma. The enigma is Bill. We are unable to see his face for the entire film which creates a general suspense throughout and keeps us extremely intrigued. Enigma allows us to relate to a character, in this case it is Beatrix Kiddo (Uma Thurman). We feel her agony in that she is powerless to stop this man, we cannot see his face and therefore can not do anything to stop him.

This shot, although not realistic as we are seeing two images at once, is very clever and displays a dramatic contrast. The cross dissolve in the edit of the film shows the brides eyes and her memory of O-Ren. The shot is extremely powerful and fits in well with the theme of memory that runs throughout this entire film. We see here, O-Ren looking down on us as if we are inferior to her which portrays her as somewhat evil. The fact that we are also seeing the brides eyes at the same moment could be seen to be telling us that this is the opinion of the bride herself, emphasising her passion and desire for revenge and allowing us to associate and sympathise with her character. The surrealistic  shot displays the disorientation that is occurring in Beatrix's mind; another shot that attempts to force us towards sympathy with the character.

This shot shows the bride standing victorious. The bright colours of her suit in contrast with the dark, dull ambient night scene behind her, mean that we as an audience concentrate solely on her and the low angle shot portrays the figure as superior and powerful, showing her victory that the whole film has been leading up to. With Tarantino regularly attempting to make us associate with this character throughout the film, this shot continues this technique. This final shot uses this technique also - there is no reason, because of the black visor on her helmet, why the bride cannot be looking directly at us. As well as this, Tarantino is perhaps displaying a shift in power as Beatrix's character is now essentially an enigma with her suit, helmet and visor hiding her features, meaning we are unaware of her emotions. A very powerful ending shot.