Much has been made of Thurman’s muse status for Tarantino, the theory being that she’s the Dietrich to his von Sternberg, the Deneuve to his Techine, the Renee to his Renato. Certainly, the Kill Bill movies form a lovingly tailored homage (no, not pastiche) in her honour – a sort of Petrarchan poem, composed of discarded celluloid alpha-females and kung-fu fights. And it’s an incredible taspestry.
Aside from signing up the usual contingent of cult heroes (particularly David Carradine, Gordon Liu and Sonny Chiba) even the tiniest details in Kill Bill signpost long-forgotten places. The Bride wears a replica of Bruce Lee’s yellow tracksuit from Fist Of Fury/The Chinese Connection. The sword she uses is the same one employed by Butch (Bruce Willis), to kill Zed’s unpleasant pal in Pulp Fiction.
Chapter Eight of Kill Bill, ‘The Lonely Grave of Paula Schultz’ is lifted from the 1968 comedy The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz, while Chapter Ten is named after the 1972 horror The Blood Splattered Bride. It’s a fan-boy orgy created in the name of Uma (which may or may not be a good thing if you’re a gorgeous, sylph-like star).
But despite the evident love that’s been lavished on Kill Bill, and the careful composition of an unforgettable character for the leading lady, both Thurman and Tarantino are insistent that their relationship is conducted on a strict auteur-to-muse basis. The recent break-up of Thurman’s marriage to Ethan Hawke, however, has produced an eruption of tabloid speculation to the contrary.
At any rate, the director sure isn’t above dragging the former Lancome model down to gutter-level. Why else the ‘white-trash bitch fight’ from hell, with Uma squaring up to fellow six-foot blonde Daryl Hannah? And just to make things really sordid, he sets this little fracas in a trailer. How glamorous.
That said, for all the mass slaughter, limb-chopping and assassinations she perpetrates, it’s Kill Bill Vol. 2’s catfight which proves to be The Bride’s finest, icon-making hour. It must be love, but not as we know it.