"A general and wide-ranging term which is applied to literature, art, philosophy, architecture, fiction, and cultural and literary criticism, among others. Postmodernism is largely a reaction to the assumed certainty of scientific, or objective, efforts to explain reality. In essence, it stems from a recognition that reality is not simply mirrored in human understanding of it, but rather, is constructed as the mind tries to understand its own particular and personal reality. For this reason, postmodernism is highly skeptical of explanations which claim to be valid for all groups, cultures, traditions, or races, and instead focuses on the relative truths of each person. In the postmodern understanding, interpretation is everything; reality only comes into being through our interpretations of what the world means to us individually. Postmodernism relies on concrete experience over abstract principles, knowing always that the outcome of one's own experience will necessarily be fallible and relative, rather than certain and universal."
(Quotation from: http://www.pbs.org/faithandreason/gengloss/postm-body.html, Accessed on 24/09/2017)) |
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Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) is an action and thriller movie about a bride who was a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, led by her lover, Bill. After getting pregnant, she decides to escape the group and start a new and safer life. Angering her now past lover, who with the help of the remaining members assassinate everyone at the bride's wedding rehearsal, seemingly killing her too. 4 years later she awakes from a coma, realising that her unborn baby is gone and she decides to kill the 5 people who destroyed her life.
Reason 1: The narrative is non-linear, it often skips from the past with flashbacks, then back to the present. But despise the narrative jumping from past to present, the story is still understandable, clear and easy to follow. Throughout the film, when there is a change in the time, it is usually shown by a cut of the sceene and text saying what 'chapter' it is and gives it a title.
Reason 2: Tarantino mixed various genres in this film, such as Japanese cinema, horror, thriller and action. The violence and gore is overpowering in the film, but the director still attempts to add humour to it, often by what the characters say. Genres are commonly mixed, but what is more noticeable and unusual is the mix of styles included. The majority of the film is live-action, but when O-Ren Ishii is introduced the scene turns into animated, heavily influenced by Japanese anime.
Reason 3: There are scenes and events that are hyper-real and the audience knows that it either would not be possible or just plainly over the top. One scene that is really hyper-real, is when the bride is clearly should be overpowered by O-Ren Ishii's bodyguards and people, but she is able to defeat all of them (killing only a few of them at a time, while the others wait for their turn) and still has energy to kill the super assassin O-Ren. Often, the blood the enemies loose is too much and the deaths/injuries are violent, ridiculous or over the top.
Reason 4: The purpose of music in films is often, to enhance the intensity of a scene, this means that the music fits perfectly to the emotions and action seen on the screen. However in Kill Bill the music often is not what you would expect to play. An example is when the bride and O-Ren are finally face to face and the final battle takes place. What we would expect is an intense (possibly) Japanese style melody, fit to a sword fight, but instead we hear an upbeat Spanish style music.
Reason 5: There are numerous references in the film, in fact it is filled with them. On of Tarantino's main influences and inspiration was Lady Snowblood (1973) a Japanese film about an assassin who sets out on a mission to kill a criminal who murdered her family. Not only the story seems similar but there are some shots that were copied. Also, there are lots of western film references including, The Searchers - 1956; Death Rides a Horse - 1969 (eye close-ups and red/orange flashbacks); City Of The Living Dead - 1980 (blood tears); Game of Death - 1978 (yellow track-suit); Black Sunday - 1977 (nurse disguise). Lastly he included lots of references to his own movies, such as Pulp Fiction - 1994 or Jackie Brown - 1997.
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