The two part film series Kill Bill, directed by Quentin Tarantino, was released in 1994 and follows the storyline of Beatrix Kiddo, who seeks revenge upon her five worst enemies and presumed killers of her unborn child. On the surface, this film seems to be just a bloody, cut-em-up Tarantino film, but when a feminist critical lens is applied to the film, some things become a little more apparent, such as the underlying implication towards Tarantino's progressive viewpoint on women’s roles in society. The main antagonist, Bill, is the leader of the The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, which is made up of him, his brother, Budd, and three women (O-ren Ishii, Vernita Green, and Elle Driver). These women are seemingly under his control, and are
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Females hold a pivotal role in the film, but yet are just as resilient, if not more resilient than their male counterparts in other action films. Examples of this volatility are littered all throughout the film, especially during the fourth act: Showdown at House of Blue Leaves. In this act Kiddo faces her first adversary, O-ren Ishii, who is another member of The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. The half-Chinese, half-American mob boss, O-ren Ishii, is partnered by her two most trustworthy goons, Gogo and Sofie Fatale who are in charge of the Tokyo gang, the “Crazy 88”. The fact that O-ren and her two accomplices, three females, rule the entirety of the Tokyo underground reinforces Tarantino's message of having females hold many powerful roles in the Kill Bill world. When Kiddo finally gets to Japan she track’s O-ren Ishii down to a private restaurant hosting the “Crazy 88”. There Kiddo is faced with taking on the entirety of the “Crazy 88” before finally being able to take on Ishii. This scene is meant to be overly gory and grotesque, when in the script it states, “Many members of The Crazy 88 are Sliced, Slashed, and liberated from the limbs they were born with at The Bride's blade. [...] The Bride whips the silver Boomerang out of its holster, and Throws it… ....It Twirls Through the Air… ...Embedding itself longways in one of the boy's faces” (Tarantino, Act 4.Showdown at House of Blue Leaves). The ease with which Kiddo brutally decimates all of Ishii’s mercenaries works to enforce just how seamlessly Kiddo fits into the action movie role, previously thought to be best played by a
Females hold a pivotal role in the film, but yet are just as resilient, if not more resilient than their male counterparts in other action films. Examples of this volatility are littered all throughout the film, especially during the fourth act: Showdown at House of Blue Leaves. In this act Kiddo faces her first adversary, O-ren Ishii, who is another member of The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. The half-Chinese, half-American mob boss, O-ren Ishii, is partnered by her two most trustworthy goons, Gogo and Sofie Fatale who are in charge of the Tokyo gang, the “Crazy 88”. The fact that O-ren and her two accomplices, three females, rule the entirety of the Tokyo underground reinforces Tarantino's message of having females hold many powerful roles in the Kill Bill world. When Kiddo finally gets to Japan she track’s O-ren Ishii down to a private restaurant hosting the “Crazy 88”. There Kiddo is faced with taking on the entirety of the “Crazy 88” before finally being able to take on Ishii. This scene is meant to be overly gory and grotesque, when in the script it states, “Many members of The Crazy 88 are Sliced, Slashed, and liberated from the limbs they were born with at The Bride's blade. [...] The Bride whips the silver Boomerang out of its holster, and Throws it… ....It Twirls Through the Air… ...Embedding itself longways in one of the boy's faces” (Tarantino, Act 4.Showdown at House of Blue Leaves). The ease with which Kiddo brutally decimates all of Ishii’s mercenaries works to enforce just how seamlessly Kiddo fits into the action movie role, previously thought to be best played by a