Though incredibly simplistic, the opening scene of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 1 has become one of the most recognized sequences of all the auteur's works.
As one of the most recognized American directors, Tarantino utilizes Japanese characters in his opening credits as well as retro 70's-stylized brass background music to imitate his inspiration of traditional Kung Fu film. Overlaying the characters over the frosted glass also attempts to disorient any preconceived notions the audience may possess prior to watching the film.
Tarantino continues to toy with the audience's expectations by including a psychedelic title card where multiple copies of the text come together in the center of frame.
Following the presentation cards, a black frame fills the screen which is eventually filled with a quote about revenge and heavy breathing from the character out of frame. By including the quote, Tarantino purposefully sets the theme for the film and foreshadows the main plot points to follow.
The frame cuts to a woman covered in blood as she lays nervously and continues to breathe heavily. The director creates a heavy shadow across the character's face to emphasize her facial expressions and her feeling of uncertainty. The blood-splattered veil sprawled across the floor reflects the turmoil of her current situation. Tightness of the frame prevents the audience from gathering any other information than what is directly on screen and builds tension.
To signify the importance of the antagonist without revealing his true identity, the frame follows his boots as he walks across the floorboards to his victim. By doing so, the film focuses the audience's attention away from the bleeding bride towards this menacing entity. The dark color of his pants and boots visually represents the character's dark nature. Though the camera tracks the footsteps of this character, the frame remains tight focusing solely on his boots without revealing any other information.
The frame cuts back to bride's face as she trembles from the man's entrance. To establish the identity of what character was introduced, a hand holding a handkerchief with the name "Bill" embroidered on it wipes some of the blood off the heroine's face. Such an action not only introduces the character without revealing his face, but displays the confusing nature of the film's antagonist. The monologue overlaying this frame, in which Bill attempts to comfort the woman, produces further evidence of Bill's bipolar tendencies.
The bride attempts to defend herself by speaking directly to the area where the hand originated from. More of the character's face is illuminated by the light as she gains confidence to speak her first line of the film.
This scene ends with the sound of a gunshot and blood exploding onto the floorboards behind the bride's head. Prior to the last frame, the floorboards were clean but covered by the bride's blood-matted hair and veil. As the veil is blown away from the gunshot, blood splatters across the previously clean "background" of the frame. Allowing such gory actions literally illustrates the "spilled blood" or cause for revenge.
