The Tarantino Effect
GMD is not due back until Friday and my week so far has been spent drinking, playing golf, catching up on my DVD’s. The Plan surrounding my golf has started to show some benefits and my game is improving, but I can’t say more because it is tempting the Gods of Golf to intervene in a negative way.
So on Monday night I finally managed to sit down and watch a film from my (thus far) favourite film maker, Quentin Tarantino. Regular readers will know that I consider Reservoir Dogs the single best debut film from anybody, ever. They will also know that I consider Pulp Fiction to be the single greatest movie ever made in the history of the world. So good do I think Pulp Fiction is that I do not believe any other film that is made in my lifetime will ever surpass it in terms of screenplay, scripting, story, acting and staying power. It is a modern day masterpiece.
He followed this up with a role in From Dusk Till Dawn which he produced and acted in but didn’t direct. It still had his touches though and was a surprisingly enjoyable film exposing a hitherto unforeseen acting ability in George Clooney. He then followed this up with Jackie Brown, his own homage to the blaxploitation movies of the 70’s. This was a good film but not as ground breaking as the previous stuff, concentrating on characters in favour of the plot. It still had its classic moments though.
The film(s) I watched were of course, Kill Bill, Volumes 1 and 2). In fact I watched the first on Monday and the second on Tuesday. What can I say? If Jackie Brown was the equivalent of the difficult “third album” syndrome suffered by so many recording artists, then this was the triumphant return to form. Both films were fantastic in every way. Both were stylish, well plotted, with great acting, wonderful dialogue, screenplay and photography. Tarantino takes the Martial Arts (volume 1) and Spaghetti Western (volume 2) genres to new heights with these films. Uma Thurman is simply stunning, both visually (in her own understated beauty) and in her physical prowess and her acting ability. But to be fair there isn’t a bad acting job in the film. David Carradine (yes, Grasshopper from Kung Fu) must be undergoing the same kind of career revival as Travolta got from Pulp Fiction. He is both genuinely menacing and calming in equal amounts.
Both films are a credit to Tarantino who is close to being a god of film in my view. Even the interviews with him are interesting and although he is an uber-geek of the highest order, he is also childlike in his excitiable enthusiasm for his films and the whole art form in general. Mr Star Wars George Lucas should take a look at Tarantino to see what it means to someone to make films with heart and soul in spades. But as he sold his soul to the devil of special effects in a trade for plot and characterization I guess he couldn't give a shit (obviously not if Attack of the Clones is anything to go by).
In all the films run to about 4 hours in total, but they are 4 hours well spent in my view. Do yourself a favour and spend a night watching them.
Top moments from each film – from Volume 1 through to Volume 2
2.) The Origin of O-Ren Ishii anime sequence
3.) The death of Buck the Fuck and the hospital porter, both indulging in decidedly shady sexual practices whilst the hero(ine) is in a coma.
4.) Nancy Sinatra’s hauntingly brilliant rendition of “Bang Bang”
5.) Wu Tan Clan score for the House of Blue Leaves fight.
6.) The degrading living conditions of Budd, a former colleague of Thurman when she was also in the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. Michael Madsen showing just what a wonderful actor he is. The man oozes sleaze, vulgarity and menace.
6a) The lonely grave of Paula Schultz scene - not for the claustrophobic.
7.) The fight with and demise of Elle Driver in a completely different role for “Mermaid” Darryl Hannah.
8.) The Cruel Tutelage of Pai Mei chapter
9.) The pain of Thurman seeing a daughter she assumed dead actually alive
10.)The final showdown with Bill, including the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart technique.
Later, DeadlyViperJack
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