Wednesday 19 August 2009

Somebody talk to Tarantino

I recently watched Kill Bill: Vol.2, several years after watching the first one (I realise that there's a new Tarantino film out, I like to stay behind the times). The first Kill Bill wasn't brilliant, but I liked it's action B-movie style. And in the sequel Tarantino thinks he can change it into a film about 'characters'. There's nothing wrong with that, but does it have to be so boring? I obviously don't mind a film that's full of conversation, the problem is that this conversation is so lifeless. The 'mythology' of Kill Bill is nowhere near exciting enough to spend two hours pondering, it's flimsy and dull. The first film worked because it knew it was stupid, you can't squeeze something deep out of it. I don't care if Bill's brother is working as a bouncer and is feeling a bit depressed. I don't want to know about Bill's comic book collection. There's no depth there to discuss.

And Tarantino doesn't seem to have the discipline to cut it down. It's a common criticism these days, but this film is long and bloated. It's full of pointless scenes that only have about a minute of life in them. Instead they go on for ten. Tarantino has the idea that he's a genius of dialogue, and everything he writes will be remembered for generations - so why cut any of it? He's wrong. It's all pretty tedious. He has clearly surrounded himself with sycophants that talk him up and compare him to Shakespeare. They tell him it's all wonderful and he believes them. Somebody needed to chop half an hour off this film. He's obsessed with his own importance. I've heard him describe himself as an auteur. It's ridiculous.

I'll try and be balanced here and mention some of the film's nice moments. The Bride escaping from a coffin was entertaining and the daughter's scenes weren't bad. There's not much else. I'm not looking forward to Inglorious Basterds.

4 comments:

  1. Some dear friends of mine with whom I invariably disagree on films have repeatedly recommended this to me.

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  2. It might depend on your opinion on Tarantino. He irritates me and so his films irritate me.

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  3. I have to disagree with you (well, I don't HAVE to but I will). I liked KB2 better than the first one precisely because it was about the characters.

    I don't much like Tarantino either, when he's being Tarantino (once was enough for me with Pulp Fiction and from what I've heard about Reservoir Dogs, never might be plenty). I just felt this one had something more to it.

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  4. I like the idea of it being about the characters, but I don't think these characters have anything going for them. I thought it made the two films comnpletely unbalanced - they both should have been full of stupid action or they both should have been about the characters.

    Ah well.

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