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donsanedrin t1_j1kt0z2 wrote

Reply to comment by 313Wolverine in I finally let Kill Bill into my heart and it's wonderful by Forward_Cranberry_82

Up until that point, Tarantino movies really pushed the idea of "chapters" in its pacing.

And I never really cared much that he goes out of his way to introduce chapters, but I can understand how it fits with the way he wants people to experience scenes.

It wasn't until the scene in which the Bride confronts Bud and he traps her and buries her that Tarantino's chapter format works brilliantly.

They introduce a flashback at a very tense point in the movie, and the flashback lasts so long that you almost forget where you last left the Bride at her lowest (thematically and physically).

So when the flashback sequence it over, and it immediately transitions back to the Bride in the coffin, it just feels so satisfying. Because you learn that, originally your thought the Bride was screwed and helpless, but the flashback shows that she actually has the skills and willpower to climb out of something as dreadful as this.

And the music they use, Ennio Morricone's "L'arena" starts off really bleak and desperate, and then suddenly grows into this triumphant crescendo.

That made the whole movie. I think its the most cinematic sequence Tarantino has ever done.

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Derp-state_exposed t1_j1ntzjx wrote

bleak and desperate are interesting descriptions. I come at this from an entirely different perspective, with an ear that was exposed to this track long before I actually enjoyed the film in entirety. But looking specifically at L’Arena, and at the minor -to-major -to minor chord progression , with drum clashes on downbeats - to me at least - are simply, yet structurally sound in expressing a harmony that draws in the listener, and establishes a progression before the whistling melody plays.

Without having made the picture-based connection before hearing it, I found the track to be more sound and true to contrapuntal form in clearly defined chord changes. When adding the whistle, then the trumpet melody, given the Spaghetti Western (Morricone especially) similarities in the chords and strings used, I found the track to be a layered anthem for a hero’s entrance.

In my case I hear the sounds distinctly, as I have a musical ear and mindset, but in analysis only- after the fact most definitely. In the moment of the beginning of the track, my mind’s eye is inspired, and moved to an inner awakening not unlike any hero grounds themselves in their training. I find myself grounded and focused through the clear string progression to start this track.

In hindsight, this scene is the anticlimax for The Bride, where she overcomes her obstacles with her training. L’Arena is the moment of the series where the champion, the hero is born.

But art is subjective, and many see and hear reality different, some do not subject themselves to the same study or discipline of the eyes or ears. Others seek an objective valuation- for better or worse, to each their own 🙏🍵

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donsanedrin t1_j1nvb5v wrote

I never saw the italian movie that the music originally plays over, not until a couple of years ago.

The opening minute and a half, to me, felt like music of somebody fixing to be executed. Like a death march, the final moments of somebody who is fixing to come to an end.

And the music literally stops, and pauses. It feels like it came to an end.

And then the horn comes in, and it feels like...rebirth. It feels spiritual. And then the drums are now in a steady beat, that builds. Feels like triumphant ascension.

And when I finally found that scene, it played out quite similar.

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