Kill Bill Opening Sequence Analysis

Kill Bill Volume 1 Opening Scene

The film opens to a black screen, with a sound bridge of heavy breathing and footsteps rhythmically walking across a room on wooden floorboards.

Cut to a high angle close up shot of a beaten up woman's face. She is lying on the floor after most probably having been involved in a violent fight or attack.

The purpose of a a close up in this shot is to add emphasis on the bride's terrified facial expression, bringing the audience straight into the situation and making them sympathise with her emotions. The high angle camera shot looking down to her shows her in a vulnerable position making the audience instantly have pity for her and see her as the 'goodie'.

Quentin Tarantino decided to show this scene in black and white as a tribute to the old 1950s film noir of which he is a big fan. It also adds a sense of authenticity to the scene, also indicating that it is possibly a flashback.

The high contrast black and white colouring turns the red blood on the bride's face into black blood, foreshadowing the darkness and hate, bitterness of the bride's character in this film.

This is also backed up later on in the film when she says “It's mercy, compassion and forgiveness I lack!” as a reply to Bill thinking she is irrational.

An important thriller convention is the use of many shadows in the lighting.

Opening the film with such a dramatic unexplained situation adds suspense and tension to the audience, who are immediately taken and sucked into the film, questioning what has happened to bring the bride into her dramatic situation.

Diegetic sound of her hyperventilating mirrors the tension in her panicking look.

She feels threatened.

The suspense and sensation of threat is augmented while the sound of the footsteps become increasingly loud as they are walking towards the bride.

Cut to slightly low angle tracking shot of the feet in black cowboy-style shoes.

Diegetic sound of the cracking floorboards and strong sound of heavy footsteps connoting the importance and strong character of the enigmatic figure.

Cut back to high angle close up of woman.

Cutting from the tracking low angle shot of feet to high angle close up of woman shows the difference in power between the bride and the anonymous figure.

The terror in the bride's eyes grow as they fixate the feet walking towards her.

The sound of the footstep comes to a heavy halt. The words “Do you find me sadistic?” come from a deep male voice, who's american accent serves as a cultural signifier, building a cliché and the audience instantly suspect the character is a villain.

The enigmatic figure's hand enters the frame as he wipes the blood off to reveal the bride's beautiful face, but he cannot wipe away the deep hate mixed with terror in her look as tears dramatically flow from her eyes.

The tension in the scene is strongly intensified when the name 'Bill', embroidered in the corner of the handkerchief the enigmatic character uses to wipe her face, becomes recognisable. This immediately reveals the importance of his character, validating the audience's initial suspicion that he is a villain, as this name is obviously a reference to the the title 'Kill Bill'.

Based on the wrinkles on his hand and the deepness, roughness of his voice, one would imagine Bill is around 50- 60 years old.

Bill talks to the bride quite patronisingly, calling her 'kiddo' with a tone like a father would talk to his child, teaching him the lessons of life. This makes it clear to the audience that the two characters are not strangers and their relationship has a history.

Surprise is added to the scene when, while Bill continues talking in a casual manner, diegetic sound is to be heard of him taking a gun out of his jacket and preparing to shoot. The terror in the bride's face drastically grows while she sees the gun and quickly slips the word “Bill, it's your baby” in before he shoot the gun and her blood is splattered all over the floorboards.

Immediately cutting to a black screen with white writing “The 4^th film by QUENTIN TARANTINO”.

Analysing this opening one and a half minutes of this film, a clear situation is already established.

Bill seems a patronising , ruthless character.

The big silver/gold bracelet he is wearing around his wrist and the silk handkerchief suggest he is quite pretentious, caring a lot about appearance and money, and manipulative, wanting to be in charge/ have the power all the time, which is also shown through the fact that he has impregnated a beautiful bride who is much younger than him, therefore expected to be obedient.

Bill is an enigma which is kept up throughout the whole film as Tarantino does not show the audience Bill's face.