Kill bill 2 and once upon a time in america.

Kill bill 2 clip

In kill bill 2 Tarantino challenges the typical genre conventions of a thriller by having the main and strongest character a girl who is seeking revenge, usually in the genre the girl is a typical beautiful, manipulative woman who relies on the men and often meets a sticky end. The bride is still a femme fatal but she survives and she is the one solving the problems and killing people, the bride is the one with the power.

In this scene of ‘kill bill part two’ Tarantino uses head lights in the dark which is a key feature of a thriller.

He also uses dark lighting and dull colours to portray the darkness of the evil characters. Another kind of lighting he uses is chiaroscuro lighting which connotes threat, unreality/ nightmare. The moon in this clip gives it a gothic feel.

Tarantino uses a bird eye shot of the bad guy which makes him look small and unimportant, panning and establishing shots are used to show the location of the characters and this also establishes the setting, Tarantino has used an isolated location, giving a feeling of disorientation and loss, the bad guy in this clip lives in a trailer, so he is seen to be ‘trailer trash’. The use of enclosed spaces gives this scene a very claustrophobic feel, which connotes being trapped. The location of the trailer is quite extreme showing that these are no ordinary people. There is a big use of zoom and close up shots which show the expression and emotion on the characters faces so we can see their reactions to situations.

This clip doesn’t contain much dialogue from the characters there is however diagetic sound for example when the mud is falling on the coffin, this adds realism and brings the audience into the action.

The soundtrack from this clip references ‘the good the bad and the ugly’ because the same track is used this awards the bride with a similar status to Blondie, this reference not only indicates Tarantino’s respect for Leonie but also is an ironic comment on the bads and uglies who try to defeat the bride in kill bill. The reference also reflects the changing attitudes to women over the last 40+ years. The bride has the role that is traditionally male in action thrillers. The bride in kill bill is development of the Buffy role (Buffy the vampire slayer).

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Once upon a time in America:

Sergoi leoni, in once upon a time in America utilises aspects of the thriller genre.

The music in the movie has a very melancholy feel to it.

Opening scene:

The establishing signifiers are aural ( non diegetic sound). At the beginning of the film its black and all your hear is the song ‘god bless America’ which is almost the complete oposite because in the film bad things happen in America. Another thing you hear is eve’s footsteps and the door opening which anticipates eve’s entrance.

When eve enters the room there is noir lighting with a small glimpse of pearls indicating eve being a femme fatale we also know she is the femme fatale because she is living with noodle but not married to him. There is a use of close ups in the beginning scene and low key lighting.

Just three minutes into the film there is a murder which shows this is going to be a typical thriller.

In a way the lamp in this scene is symbolising eve because it’s the same colour as her clothes its also a very glamorous lamp just as eve is a glamorous person also when eve is shot the lamp is turned off symbolising her death. 

The police come in and shoot eve they are very brutal and it’s hard to tell they’re the police so this tells us that the police and the mob are almost the same.