opening sequence analysis

Kill Bill Vol.1: Opening Sequence Analysis

The Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill Vol.1 is a violent film and that is obvious even from the title of the movie. The very first thing you see is a quote that says “Revenge is best served cold” – Old Klingon Proverb. This quote reinstates the idea of the movie being violent. Immediately after the quote disappears you hear the sound of a woman breathing quite heavily and you notice that her voice is shaking viciously. This causes confusion for the audience as the screen is black at this point so the only thing you can build ideas on is the sound of her breath. The first image you see is of Uma Thurman in a wedding dress, bleeding and crying on the floor. This image is in black and white and usually the use of black and white in a primarily colour movie is signify a time in the past, to show that it is a flashback of some sort. All of these aspects put together help the audience to come to the conclusion that this movie is on the thriller scale to some extent.

The second image you see is of Bill’s heeled boots walking across a wooden floor. This is when The Bride’s breathing becomes less noticeable and the main focus is on the sound of Bill’s boots moving slowly across the floor. This creates a sense of fear or menace for the audience which also helps add suspense to the scene. This moment is particularly important in order to show the vulnerability of The Bride in comparison to the confidence of Bill. There is a creek as Bill walks which also helps to make Bill seem rather sinister and threatening. The dark clothes Bill is wearing also helps the reader to put into perspective what kind of role Bill is going to have in this movie, especially when put into comparison with The Bride’s clothes- all white.

The image is then turned back to one much like the original image of The Bride, except now you can hear Bill’s steps coming up closer and closer to The Bride and the you notice Bill’s boot come up close to her face, which again shows how threatening and powerful Bill is. Bill then asks The Bride in a very calm, collected voice “Do you find me sadistic?” The Bride does not have a reply other than her uncontrollable panting. Bill then pulls out a handkerchief and wipes some of the blood from The Bride’s face. This handkerchief is engraved with his own name. This allows the audience to put a name to a voice and it also suggests that he is vain and a little arrogant,which helps the audience to create their own personal views on the character of Bill and be able to interpret him in their own ways. Another feature that adds to the image of him being vain is Bill’s bracelet which gives the impression he is narcissistic.

Bill then says,while wiping The Bride’s face with his handkerchief  “You know,  I bet I could fry an egg on your head right now, if I wanted to.” This is to show how calm Bill is in comparison to The Bride. The fact that she is in so much pain and is obviously very unstable right now doesn’t have any affect on Bill whatsoever. This also shows how much control he has over her in this situation, hence why he comes across so calm. He then goes on to say “You know, Kiddo. I’d like to believe you’re aware enough, even now, to know that there is nothing sadistic in my actions. Well, maybe to those other jokers. But not you.” At this point the sound of Bill’s voice overpowers the sound of The Bride’s weeping which also displays a level of control and the fact that The Bride does not say anything gives the impression she does not want to provoke Bill as she is afraid of what he might do to her. Bill then removes the handkerchief and appears to stand up while saying “No, Kiddo. At this moment…” This is when Bill pauses and you can hear the faint noise of bullets rattling in the background. The Bride’s face changes as she realises what is about to happen and a certain terror enters her eyes. This guides the audience in the right direction when predicting what is going to happen next. While Bill seems to be setting up a gun of some sort, he says “This is me.. At my most masochistic.” 

This is when the rattling of the bullets stops and The Bride finally replies as she realises this is her last time to speak and she has nothing left to lose. The Bride says “Bill… It’s your baby.”Just as she finishes her sentence the gunshot goes off and it goes to the title sequence. 

This is a very dramatic ending as it tells the audience that The Bride and Bill have a past together and that she is in fact pregnant. You watch The Bride get shot in the head and see the black blood splatter next to her head on the light side of the screen. It is relatively generic for a thriller movie to show an amount of blood and Tarantino stuck to this idea when showing this shocking image of the bride. The blood has connotations of death and pain which is a large part of thriller movies.

In conclusion, this opening sequence is very dramatic and does not fail to intrigue the audience in order for them to keep watching the movie. It leaves mystery behind the character of Bill, and behind the character of The Bride whose name we still don’t know. After this shocking image it cuts to the title sequence while still having the bang of the gunshot fading in the background as the song “Bang Bang” by Nancy Sinatra plays. This lyrics of the song fit well with the previous scene as it says “my baby shot me down” referring to when Bill shot The Bride. It then says “He wore black and I wore white” reffering to Bill wearing black and The Bride in all white (from what the audience can see).