+++ Opinion +++
After the bloodlust of “Kill Bill Vol.1” in 2004, the air was suddenly out of breath. “Kill Bill Vol. 2” received positive to strong reviews and performed satisfactorily at the box office. However, it went for the grand finals of Quentin Tarantinos and Uma Thurmans Vendetta-Saga economically down and the passion of many film nerds burned on a smaller flame.
Not that the film is an unrecognized masterstroke. As the distance from theatrical release grows, it matters less and less that Tarantino’s change of pace once disappointed many expectations. Nonetheless: It’s hard to imagine how strongly this revenge epic is resolvedand that it deserves at least the same respect that its first half enjoys.
Today there is another opportunity to do so. Then ProSieben is showing “Kill Bill Vol. 2” on September 9, 2022 from 10:55 p.m. – uncut. Film fans who, inspired by the TV broadcast, feel like watching both parts in one go can of course simply grab the DVD or Blu-ray and thus avoid the advertising.
» “Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2” on Amazon*
The bride’s (Uma Thurman) vendetta is far from over. Though she’s slaughtered her way through numerous humans, she’s still missing three important goals. There’s her bilious ex-colleague Elle Driver (Darryl Hannah), the alcoholic Budd (Michael Madsen) and of course Bill (David Carradine) – her unscrupulous ex-lover. Exactly he reveals completely unexpected aspects when the bride gets closer to him…
Anyone who hopes after the restless, rousing Kill Bill Vol. 1 that Tarantino will carry on exactly the same way in Kill Bill Vol. 2 is in for a medium-sized film culture shock. The high-energy FSK-18 violence, in which the fake blood splashes as if the injured figures were fountains, gives way to a heavily throttled narrative pace. The outbreaks of violence are more sporadic, are no longer so exalted and “only” at FSK-16 level. But they hurt more.
The choreographed, unreal sword fights, which follow a code of honor, ripple out. In return, the bride gets a load of rock salt shot into her chest by a listless man. And not only the more mendacious attacks leave harsher traces: Tarantino’s colorful violent save is punctuated with more stirring emotions. For example, we see how the bride acquired her martial prowess and emotionally deadened shell through a long, arduous training full of humiliation.
After part one celebrated movie violence, Kill Bill Vol. 2 disenchants them. In the course of this, Tarantino congenially turns up the proportion of references to spaghetti westerns, a genre he celebrates, whose strongest entries also question moral concepts. Tension arises here and there from waiting, weighing up and rearing up. At the same time, Tarantino’s captivating dialogues return to the fore. For example, by means of an unexpectedly tender flashback to the last meeting between the bride and Bill, before he lashed out in the sudden, abnormal turn of violence that started this epic.
The highlight of “Kill Bill Vol. 2” is the detailed reunion of these unscrupulous ex-lovers that subverts all expectations. It gives David Carradine an opportunity to pull himself together as an actor, pulling off amazing, thoughtful monologues about the bride, his crimes and pop culture as Bill. Scraps of topics that Carradine sews together with extremely natural wit and yet also with gravitas into a patchwork quilt of deceptive security.
For Thurman, who continues to play as great as in the first part, this means that she can now show the bride’s vulnerability more openly. A development that can have a lasting effect on the audience. Insidious doubts arise about the bride’s revenge mission and complex feelings for these close-knit, brutally divided people. Suddenly you laugh with the characters at encouraging jokes, feverishly looking forward to reconciliation.
Their humanity is exposed, their status as Tarantino superhumans devoid of impulse control reduced to dust. That’s what makes the end of the Kill Bill saga so satisfying. Tarantino gives his audience what they want, but not in the way they want it. After laughing and being lulled by the prime target of revenge, while “the bride” has become a person of fears, hopes, and regrets, this can Vendetta-Epic doesn’t end with a bang. What follows instead is more dignified, comforting and quiet – and yet has a longer echo than the compact bang effect could ever have had.
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