*** Official KILL BILL VOLUME 1 Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[MatS]

one thing that always struck me kind of funny was when The Bride is looking at the Hanzo swords she clearly starts to reach for the second one down on the rack when Hanzo says "wait try the second one down"

I'm also pretty sure in the shot of the sword looking toward The Bride and the shot of The Bride picking up the sword the swords do not match. I think the 2nd sword on the rack shown from the shot looking toward her is actually lower on the rack in the shots from behind her.

 

[Jake Johnson]

One of my friends is convinced that in Kill Bill Vol. 1, that water was used in place of blood, in one of the trailers when Uma Thurman slices a guy down the front. He says that water sprays off the front of him. Is this true?

 

[Dave_P.]

I don't believe they actually show blood in any of the trailers (you'll notice that the stains of The Brides yellow jumpsuit are mysteriously black instead of red). I think this was to avoid the red-tag trailer. There is one shot where The Bride slices a guy on the second floor and he falls over the railing onto a table below. When she slashes him it looks like sweat instaed of blood in the B&W version and also in the color version. It may just have been the way the scene was lit or maybe an intentional(?) flub by QT.

 

[Ralph Jenkins]

"Urami Bushi," the Meiko Kaji song that is heard during the end credits of both Kill Bill "volumes", is from the Joshuu Sasori (Female Convict Scorpion) series of films. ("Urami Bushi" translates to "Grudge Song".)

Kaji starred in the first four films of the franchise as Nami Matsushima, a woman who is betrayed by her lover and lands in prison, where she is chistened "Scorpion" by the other inmates. Kaji is a striking presence in these films. She plays the role practically mute, but her piercing glare speaks volumes. She is a bit like a female Japanese version of a hero in a Sergio Leone spaghetti western.

As the series continued, Kaji's Scorpion became like an unstoppable force of nature, exacting revenge for wronged women everywhere. It's hard to beat the opening scene of the third picture, in which she runs through the streets still attached to the severed arm of the cop who cuffed her and attempted to capture her (as "Urami Bushi" plays on the soundtrack, naturally).

The first film in the series (Female Prisoner Scorpion #701) is being released on Tuesday (4/27) in region 1 by Media Blasters. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Kill Bill, and the second film (Female Convict Scorpion Jailhouse 41) has been available for some time on DVD from Image. The quality of the Image DVD could be better -- the print has plenty of damage and the subtitles are burned into it -- but the disc is certainly watchable, and it does boast an anamorphic transfer. I haven't seen the Media Blasters DVD yet, but hopefully they had access to the new print that was created for the Japanese region 2 release.

Kaji also played the lead in the two Lady Snowblood films, which were obviously another big influence on Tarantino. The song Kaji sang for Lady Snowblood, "Shura no hana," also appears on the Kill Bill soundtrack (it is heard after the conclusion of the fight between the Bride and O-Ren).

By the way, Scott, a Meiko Kaji "best of" CD was released last month in Japan. Here's a link to it:

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=TECE-30463

If you go to CD Japan's Japanese site, you can listen to samples of all the songs on the album (this page is in Japanese, though). "Urami Bushi" and "Shura no hana" are both definitely on it, as is another song from Female Convict Scorpion.

 

[Keith_R]

does anyone know the name of the song used in the end credits, not "urami Bushi" but the instrumental one? I've been looking all over for this song but can't find it. Anyone know a name? thanks.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Check post #400 of this thread.

- Walter.