Mise-en-Scene of Quinten Tarentino’s ‘Kill Bill’ - Opening scene

FIRST SHOT: The very first shot in Kill Bill is a black screen with a quote written in white which say ‘Revenge is a dish best served cold’, this was written in a contracting colour to the background as it is a quote of significance to the movie and gives a small insight as to what the narrative will. ‘Revenge’ meaning someone is going to have something bad happen to them and in turn do bad onto someone else and ‘Served cold’ could give connotations of unpleasantness or murder as bodies go cold once someone has deceased and that ‘served’ means to give implying that the death would not have been of natural cause. Underneath we see that the quote has been taken from an ‘Old Klingon proverb’ referencing to star trek giving the idea that the movie doesn't take itself too seriously and the director was obviously a fan and wanted to include one of his interests in his film. This makes it feel slightly personal. The viewer can hear heavy panicked breathing non-dietetic sound as if someone’s in trouble, we hear this for a few shots during the introduction.

2^ND SHOT: The shot begins with a quick cut from the darkness straight into the scene where the breathing is suddenly louder now. The setting is not completely clear at this point in time as the shot is an overhead close up looking down on a woman’s head and shoulders, all we know at this moment is that she lying down on a wooden floor. This woman is obviously the person who we could hear breathing heavily during the shot of the quote. Her whole body is shaking and moving each time she inhales like she gasping for air. Her face is beaten and she looks as if she is in a lot of pain, she is covered in blood and has tears in her eyes, this shows us that she feels completely vulnerable and pathetic giving us the impression that she lost the fight. Her eyes are looking to the side at first but as we hear the non-dietetic sound of footsteps her eyes start to move around as if she is looking at someone. She seems to panic more in this moment which tells us that she is threatened by this person and that they may have been the one who abused her. Her hair is tangled and soaked in blood which shows that there was struggle during this fight and draping down from her hair is a veil which makes the viewer believe that she was a bride. This makes the viewer feel empathetic for the character as it shows that she has had her wedding day ruined by an attacker. Her make-up is very simple which gives connotations of innocence and purity which would make the viewer feel even worse for this woman as she seems to symbolise a good, family orientated person. There are no colours in this scene as it is in black and white which gives the impression that the scene is taking placing in the past. As the woman has been beaten this matched with the quote gives you the idea that either she will be the one getting revenge or someone will be getting revenge on her behalf. The lifelessness of the colours in this scene also connotes despair and hopelessness giving us and insight as to how the woman feels. The light is coming from right side of the screen as if natural lighting coming from the window, this, matched with the wooden flooring, tells us that the scene is taking place inside. The duration of the shot is 13 seconds where we just look down on this helpless person, this creates suspense and we do not know what is going to happen to this woman and as we cannot see her body we don’t know what condition she’s in.

3^RD SHOT: Straight cut to the next shot and we see a tracking shot of person’s feet casually walking across the floor, from the woman’s eyes I assume they’re walking towards her. The shoes this person are wearing are shiny leather boots, we can hear the leather squeak implying that these are new boots. The books give an impression that this is a wealthy person and from the previous scene we can assume that he had something to do with the beaten woman, like a gang boss. The person casual wonder towards her also implies that he had a hand in the attack as he does not seem to be in any rush to help her.

4^th SHOT: In the fourth shot we are back looking down at the beaten bride. The woman’s eyes look straight up, the tip of the man’s shoe becomes slightly visible and the footsteps stop confirming that this is the person she was watching walk over. A hand leans in towards the woman holding a handkerchief and starts wiping blood from the woman’s face as if cleaning an item. This shows that the man only sees this woman as a possession and that he feels like he has control over her. The handkerchief says the name Bill embroidered in the corner in italics, this gives the idea that ‘Bill’ is an important, wealthy person but it also brings up the question ‘who is bill?’ creating an enigma for the viewer. After wiping the brides face he start poking it as if to taunt and provoke her, teasing her for being beaten up. The scene ends when the man stands back up and we hear him, off screen, loading a gun. The woman shouts ‘BILL’ and her facial expression shows her panic and shock. The gun shot is heard and we see blood splat from behind the woman head and her eyes close. As a first scene this is quite shocking to watch and makes the viewer curious as to who will be getting revenge for her death and who is Bill?