G321 Kill Bill Voume 2

Director: Quentin Tarentino
Year Made: 2004
Country Of Origin: USA

Anaylsis of mise en scene:

There is a specific scene in Kill Bill Volume 2 Where the bride has been drugged, beaten and placed into a coffin. The coffin is very powerful in the scene; it is an utilisation of the thriller genre and is used to heighten the sense of death and claustrophobia. This is an important thriller scene as it shows generic signifiers of thrillers which will help us in our planning. As the last nail is being hammered in, there are beams of light from one side of the coffin's corner. The Bride has no space at all to move, and her body descends into pitch black, whilst there is light reflecting on her sweaty muggy face. The lighting is Noir, like many classic 1940's Thrillers, and is also chiaroscuro which provokes the fear and doom that she can't escape. It almost reminds us of a nightmare and seems not quite real. The certain part in this film makes us feel tension and fear.
As Uma Therman plays the lead femme fatal role and is being buried, I have always felt on her side and that she is starting to take control. Here she is isolated in a confined claustrophobic space, in unglamorous location (Graveyard).
The sound in mostly both diegetic, and non diegetic. In the mise en scene we hear the sound of the nails, being battered in the wooden coffin, and the sound of the mud being shovelled as well. These both could be generic signifiers because they provoke fear and death within the situation, which makes us wonder if this is the end for her. Another diegetic sounds is her constant heavy panicking. The non-diegetic sounds are editing over the top of the scene. These are the soundtrack played which emphasises fear, as this is a cross reference to 'The Good The Bad And The Ugly'. In this Thriller film, music at the end is played by Morricon. From this we no that there is a downfall for the unfortunate certain characters in this film, which may even multiply the fear for us as we hear the music in Kill Bill 2. Also there is no dialogue in this scene and the music and actions tell the details itself. The intertextual references are the music from 'The Good The Bad And The Ugly' and also the location. The location of that certain scene with the music is also set in a graveyard. Quentin Tarentino may have done this to remind us of the film and what happened to the characters, which may lead to climax of the bride’s death. As we know she does not die, he might have done this purposely so that we sit on the edge of our seats and feel sympathy for her. This even may make her more of a powerful femme fatal role.
The props in this scene are very generic. A rope is used to tie the bride’s hands and feet together, this was holding her back, and she used a knife to free herself from them. These both emphasise the imprisonment and fear. There is also a torch used, which is effective as it makes it more supernatural and gives shadowing for the thriller genre. There is no make-up visible and the costume is darkening due to the lighting. The camera angle is very close up. I think this scene is very interesting in how the director used his knowledge in other thrillers, and this has helped us into our study of thrillers.