Kill Bill Volume 1, By Quentin Tarantino

The film Kill Bill Volume 1, directed and written by Quentin Tarantino, portrays a dramatic story of the main protagonist that we only know as “The Bride” aka “Black Mamba”. Once a former member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, she was targeted by her former associates on her wedding day at a secluded chapel in Texas. After falling into a coma from a gunshot wound to her head, she awakens four years later to begin a long and bloody revenge steak towards the perpetrators who wronged her. Tarantino's beautiful cinematography of visual design using Mise-En-Scen of saturated colors, lighting, unique framing and camera shots enables the viewer to see the film setting as a cross over of Chinese kungfu and Japanese sword fighting in a modern day world. Throughout the film, you see rich saturated colors and
deep black shadows with a combination of low and high key lighting to set the mood and in the scene and story, while also projecting a scene of expectation and significance in each scene.
In the scene showing The Bride driving up to Pasadena California to confront Vernita Green, we see an typical suburban neighborhood full of bright green colors from the sunlight shining on the grass and toys littering the lawn, depicting a sense of leisure and hospitality. As Black Mamba approaches the front door, Vernita shocked face as she stares right at Black Mamba and the flashback that came with it put the audience on edge and in shock as well. As the fight commences, the audience is in disbelief to see the two of them tearing up the living room's art deco style and bright colors as if they were fighting in a arena. Another prime example of color and lighting is the entire setting of the House of Blue Leaves. From the moment we see O-Ren's group wearing primarily black suites enter the dance floor, we see an illumination of vibrant golds from the band's clothing, The Bride's classic Bruce Lee yellow and black suite and the light illuminating the dance floor and band. This gives the audience a sense of unsuitableness upon seeing O-Ren's entourage enter the dance floor. But then we see The Bride already sitting at
the bar monitoring the situation, it makes sense to us as we now know The Bride is ready to make her move on O-Ren. Another good example of color is one of the last scenes of the film when The Bride and O-Ren finally meet each other one on one in the back of the House of Blue Leaves. The contrast of color between the snow, night-sky and the moonlight, (at least I thought it was made to resemble moonlight), reflected a certain mood and significance to the audience. There you have The Bride, rugged and worn out but still just as deadly, who is covered by dark blood from her fight with the Crazy 88's but still shining brightly with her yellow suite and then you have O-Ren with her pure white robes blending calmly into the snow but still giving off a faint glow. In the background we still see the light that shines though the blinds of the building and the dark blue sky backdrop as the two warriors draw swords giving a sense of privacy to the audience. I want to point out to those who have only seen the American version of Kill Bill Vol. 1, the long fighting sequence that takes place in the House of Blue Leaves between The Bride and The Crazy 88's was somewhat intentionally switched to black and white so the film could retain its “R” rating and not have to be released as an NC-17 film in the United States. But one can say it can give the sequence a sense of a vintage Samurai Warrior look since the film is based off a variety of classic Chinese and Japanese black and white movies.