Tribute To Bill

Just visited the entertainment section of the BBC News website and discovered that David Carradine, Bill in Kill Bill Vol.1 & 2, has been found dead at the age of 72 in a Bangkok hotel room. The Kill Bills are two of my favourite movies and Carradine's performance in both is magnificent.

In Vol.1, Bill is the faceless, enigmatic and sadistic boss-man that coldly slayed the woman carrying his baby without batting an eyelid. Carradine manages to convey the brutality of Bill simply through his creepily calm, seductive voice. Bill, thinks the audience, is nothing but evil.

But it is in Vol.2 that we look a little deeper and see the real Bill, a loving man whose brutal actions were spurred on by a broken heart. Filled with remourse, Bill accepts his defeat and graciously allows the bride the revenge she deserves. Carradine effortlessly succeeds in transforming the way we look at snake-charmer Bill, completely overhauling his villainous character from the first film into some kind of an anti-hero one cheeky wink and sparkling smile at a time.
By the conclusion of Vol.2, we too have been seduced by Bill, by Carradine, and like the bride we feel strangely saddened by the death we all expected to find the most satifying.

David Carradine was truly brilliant actor who I'm sure will be sorely missed. Here's one of my favourite scenes from Vol.2, where we get our first proper look at the "villain", Bill.

Photo Courtesy of areavoices.com, Video Courtesy of youtube.com (user ericholmgren)