Kill Bill Vol.2

Kill Bill Vol.2

Director: Quentin Tarantino
Country made: USA
Year made: 2004

Buried alive scene


There is a specific scene in this film which represents generic thriller aspects when we see ‘The Bride’ drugged, captured and buried alive.
The coffin itself represents death and confined space.
Filmed from the inside of the coffin we see the last slits of light turn to darkness and the vulnerable bride is left to die.
With the noir lighting with chiaroscuro we can just see her distressed, worn out face from the light of her torch which is one of many minimalistic props in this scene, through the torch were shown limited light and with close ups creates effective mis-en-scene and emphasises the generic thriller shadows cast by the bride in her claustrophobic space. other props include rope tying the brides hands together which is cut by a knife, showing her strength as a femme fatel through her imprisonment.
.This claustrophobia and darkness build suspense in that we feel she is unable to escape in her generic unglamorous setting of a graveyard that will ironically become her own place of rest if she does not escape.
Both diagetic and non diagetic sound are used in this scene, the diagetic sound builds fear for example the nails in the coffin, as it stirs a sense of dread, and shows her vulnerability to the powerful men of the scene. It also emphasises her struggle with heavy breathing, and the struggle from escaping from the ropes that bound her limbs and her hands when trying to hammer her way out of the coffin.
With the western music, Quentin Tarentino is cross-referencing from 'The Good the Bad and the Ugly' shows the symbolism of downfalls in characters futures, as well as the graveyards location creating a sense of dread in the brides outcome of this tragedy as to those in the 'The Good The Bad And The Ugly'