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Kill Bill

posted 18 years ago by clive-ihd
6 replies | jump to latest

Kill Bill borrows from a number of sources, but was anyone else reminded of Kind Hearts and Coronets.

Volume 1 begins with the quotation "Revenge is a dish best served cold.". It states that it's an old Klingon proverb, but it's actually much older than that, and Louis Manzini quotes it in Kind Hearts and Coronets.

In Kill Bill the Bride has a note pad with a list of her victims, which she crosses off when they die. In Kind Hearts and Coronets Louis Manzini crosses his victims off the family tree.

[–] ThePaladin1 17 years ago

Not particularly, outside of the general theme of revenge. It's very possible with the amount of references the movie makes and I would not be surprised to find out I'm wrong

About the proverb by the way, it's often attributed to Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, though it doesn't actually appear in the original text, no one seems to know the actual origin. It is given as a Klingon proverb in the Star Trek Series

[–] anicavictor 17 years ago

well, not quite.. There are several connections , including those you've already mentioned, but I don't think these were taken by Tarantino from Kind Hearts of Coronets.Kill Bill's director took more of his inspiration from blaxploitation movies of the '70 and especially from kung-fu genre. Anyway, you shall probably find useful the KB "movie connections" section which is also available on Kill Bill's movie page on IMDB

[–] victorla 17 years ago

Francois Truffaut's "Bride Wore Black" has an image of bride crossing her victims in the note pad - I suppose Tarantino took it from there

[–] PlumpFiction 17 years ago

Just watched Kind Hearts for the first time and although the story itself is nothing like Kill Bill, there were a few similarities... the crossing off of the names, the idea of a actor playing multiple roles, the "best served cold" bit...

[–] Phillip Marlowe 17 years ago

I'm sure Tarantino thinks it is a Klingon proverb. I enjoy his films very much, though they are virtually all style with very little substance, they are style of a very high order. Undoubtedly, his knowledge of exploitation films and Asian martial arts movies of the 60 and 70s (and probably most mainstream films of the last 30 or so years) is encylclopedic. But there is no indication in his work that he has any great knowledge or appreciation of, or interest in, Golden Age era film.

[–] FrangipaniMozzie 14 years ago

It could be an influence for Tarantino but I don't know if Taratino has seen a lot of Ealing era films; he's more known for knowledge in exploitation films and such.