1. Kill Bill (2003/2004)
Divided into two parts, Kill Bill was unadulterated Quentin Tarantino. The beginning of volume 1 sees a bloody bride on the ground in her wedding gown being gunned down by her former lover, Bill. After awakening from a four-year coma, The Bride plots out her revenge. Volume 1 sees The Bride going from suburbia to Tokyo in order to exact her vengeance. It is an incredibly bloody film that was on the verge of receiving an NC-17 rating, while volume 2 takes everything down a peg. Where volume 1 was a guilty pleasure, the second half of the film is an absolute joy and as an audience we not only cheer for The Bride, but also come to an interesting turning point as we find Bill has been raising The Bride's daughter. Because there's so much violence in the first half, the second half serves its purpose in taking the time to answer some of the questions raised in volume 1. By this point, the perspective of revenge is turned upside down because now, The Bride's daughter is involved. We learn that Bill has raised the girl on films like Shogun Assassin, and now The Bride is left with questions within herself. It's interesting that the violence she had been enacting on others is exactly the type of violence her daughter is exposed to watching such films. Eventually, Bill gets his honorable death and The Bride gets to take her daughter home. But, she's forever changed and expresses and overwhelming sense of relief by the end. It's a powerful scene and leaves a feeling of levity where there seemingly shouldn't be. These films work because years later, they've maintained their relevance and have done so on the premise that violence is merely a caravan or a product of the society in which we live. I'd like to think that the purpose of film is to incite conversation and reflect on that which happens in our own personal lives. Though these films are greatly exaggerated, they serve their purpose in making us dissect and analyze the subtext that is so cleverly tucked away. Though I don't feel these films in particular have gotten progressively more violent chronologically, ideas and themes were expanded upon greatly. For instance, Taxi Driver made us question what's right and wrong. It made us think about how Travis was portrayed in the media. Robocop while upping the ante in terms of violence, made sure to bring to light again, how mass media portrays acts of violence and heroism while indulging in satire. With Fight Club, the main characters are completely aware of violence being used as a coping mechanism. They use brutality as a means of initiation into an exclusive club whose main purpose is to bring down the establishment, ironically enough. Kill Bill was a pop-culture explosion and a kick to the senses. It made use of the violence seen in exploitation films of old and used the violence as a means to convey the rage The Bride felt, but took the time to reflect on the idea of what it is to be morally conscious and responsible, which is what every character goes through in their respective films. The redeeming qualities come not from having everything spelled out, but really digging and taking the time to answer the questions all of these films raise in ourselves and how they reflect on the world around us.