Media studies analysis on kill bill

1. How does Tarantino’s non-linear timeline play with Todorov’s stages of
narrative?
Todorov’s stage of narrative is a linear way of telling a story. Meaning beginning middle and end.
However this is every different to the start of kill bill. Because they start with the disequilibrium of the
attempted death of the bride. Then the next scene skip to the end of the film where there is a new
equilibrium and the bride kill Vetnita Green. This is a good example of a non linear way on how to tell a
story. Tarantino also uses a wide variety of flashbacks and flash-forward throughout the story. Another
example of this is when the bride is in the back of Buck’s (male nurse) truck and she talks about another
character who is called cottonmouth childhood. Then jump cut back to the bride in the car. The reason
why Tarantino would play around with the storyline is to make the audience aware on what is going on
in the film. Which is different to telling the story in the linear way because it doesn’t make the audience
think as much when telling the story in the non linear way. As for Todorov's way of telling a story can get
have a sense of boredom.

2. How does the bride’s story relate to Strauss’s theory of binary opposition?
Binary opposition is all about opposite thing. Here are a few examples night and day, moonlight
and sunlight, good and evil. The way the bride tell her story is she is the victim of the deaths of
her child and her fiancée. The villains are the ones who killed her chance of having a normal
life. This links to Strauss’s theory because the bride think by killing all the people who did her
wrong will bring justice. Which is the whole narrative of the story. Throughout the film there is
interaction between the villains who ruined the bride life and the bride taking revenge for what
they had done to her. Strauss’s theory of opposition is main structure to text. Meaning that
whatever is in a story, play, book or film there is always something that opposes it in some form
or way. This come back to the binary of opposition and when there one thing that happens
there will be something else that will oppose it and will react to that.

3. Identify the enigmas posed in Kill Bill so far which link to Barthes’s Enigma
Code?
Barthes enigma code defined narrative as a puzzle that need to be solved by the audience. Barthes
enigma code is like a mystery that the audience has to figure out and what are the expectation of
the narrative throughout the film. Also the film can leave the audience with unanswered question
of the audience to see what might happen next. To link this to kill bill the main narrative is a
character called the bride has loosed her unborn child and her fiancée. She is looking for revenge on
the people who had done this to her. This link to enigma by the audience not knowing if she will
succeed or if she get killed in the process.

4. What does the audience expect to happen in the film- based on the genre
and Barthe’s Action Code?
The expectation of the audience is that the bride will get revenge on the people who had ruined her
life. However you don’t know whether she will come out alive or not it is one of the questions that
links to Barthes enigma code. But to link kill bill to Barthes action code is the audience will expect
some sort of action and violence between the bride and the people who ruined her life. This is what
Barthes action code is audience expecting certain consequence for what has gone on in the film.
However Quentin Tarantino plays with the audience and make them think by having the use of
flashback and flash-forward's. Also Quentin Tarantino doesn't leave the film at the audience
expectation because he make a series out of the film.

5. In terms of Barthes’s Semantic code what does the iconography suggest
about content and narrative? (e.g Heroines, villains, why is the setting of
Texas in parts of the film relevant? What does this suggest to the audience?
What martial arts movie or gangster/crime iconography is evident?)
Barthes’s semantic code is the meaning of a certain character through objects and props and
location. Sometimes the character can also be conveyed by his or her costume. A good example
from kill bill is when the bride has escaped from hospital and she doing this on a wheelchair
because her legs aren’t working. So what show the audience is how much of an impact it has had
on the bride life. This is also show in setting and costume with the bride being in a hospital and in
a passions gown in a coma. The way that narrative is shown through the iconography is by the
use if props. For example her knife that she used in the first fight scene tells thee audience that
she is a fighter and not the likely person who what to give in.

6. What kind of observations can you make on the symbolism in the film?
Example is the bride and the yellow truck.
The symbolism in the film are mainly Japanese's which links to the type of story it is. Because the
weapon that the character mainly use in the film are samurai swords. Which link to the history of
the Japanese. It also link to the ethnicity of some of the characters. Barthes symbolic code is about
having a image or colour that represent the character. I think the reason why tarantino represented
the bride in the

7. What is the cultural reference made in the cover of the film and in the main
fight scene towards the end of Vol.1. What are the audience expectations as
a result?
The culture of kill bill is Japanese's this is because of the us of symbol and there was one Japanese's
company that help fund kill bill. Another point to tell the audience that the culture of the film was
Japanese’s was the use of props, costume and setting (mise en scene). For example the samurai
swords that were used this link to the Japanese history. The audience will expect a big fight scene
between the bride and bill however Quentin Tarantino decided to make a continue on from the
first film. This would be to get the audience’s attention. However the audience members would
expect the bride to win the main fight scene in volume 1.

8. By Laurence Bunney