One critic suggested that a person with children could never have written the scene where the Bride kills Vernita in front of her child in ‘‘Kill Bill – Vol. 1.’’
I completely and utterly disagree. When you’re dealing in the genres of Hong Kong kung fu films and spaghetti Westerns, or even American Westerns, that is an absolute staple of those movies–the 4-year-old child is on the prairie and they’ve seen their parents slaughtered and they spend the rest of their lives avenging the deaths. At that moment the child is dead and the warrior is born – that’s the symbolism.
Seems like there’s also the possibility for back stories, too – like the evolution of Bill.
I might do that as an animated movie – more about his origins and Bill’s three godfathers – Esteban, Hatori Hanzo, and Pei Mei. This little journey that starts when he’s 12. I’ve already got a deal with Miramax, I can do this anytime. I spent so much time writing the script, that I know all the mythology of it. I even like the idea of writing a Frank Miller-style graphic novel.
In the meantime, you’re on the jury at Cannes in May. Was that a fantasy of yours?
It completely and utterly is. Forget about being the president of the jury – it’s also this kind of symmetry: Ten years ago I won the Palme d’Or, and now coming back as the president – one of the youngest presidents if not the youngest – it’s a total fantasy. When it comes to recognition in filmmaking, for true cinema, I put Cannes above everything else. When I die it can say ‘‘Palme d’Or winner Quentin Tarantino.’’
’‘No one ever said that I bite it,’’ cautions Daryl Hannah, who won’t reveal how, or even if, her character, one-eyed Elle Driver, dies at the hands of the Bride (Uma Thurman), the wronged assassin Driver tried to snuff in ‘‘Vol. 1.’’ At their last meeting, the Bride was comatose, Driver was in a porno-perfect nurse’s uniform (complete with eye patch), and the action between them was psychological. But in this second installment of Tarantino’s epic revenge hemorrhage, the ladies’ gloves are off. ‘‘This is more of a down and dirty fight sequence. Not as pretty and lyrical as the fight with Lucy Liu,’’ says Hannah. ‘‘This is just a barroom brawl gone wrong. Quentin had become obsessed with the movie ‘Jackass.’ So even though this was written as a standoff…it turned into just a gross and nasty ‘Jackass’ fight.’’ The melee – which, like the opening scene in Vol. 1, takes place in a domestic setting – utilizes household items ‘‘for their disgusting appeal,’’ adds Hannah, ‘‘and for weapons.’’ Martha Stewart, eat your heart out – literally.
