IRE

Everything I do is in hopes of leaving a good and lasting impression. Every word I write I want to have the fluidity of a samurai’s sword. All my writings are a culmination of my own experiences. For all those reasons it is no surprise that in this class about Tarantino films I have chosen to write about strong women who left inspiring legacies. Just as their lives had purpose, I want my time on this earth to have meaning as well.

I have always been fascinated with China’s culture and America’s diversity. By studying different cultures, we can not only reflect on history to avoid the mistakes of the past but also connect the dots that link our commonalities to build in enlightened world community.

My essays for this semester concerns my interpretation of the historical subtext, camera angle, usage and dialogue in two of Quentin Tarantino’s films, “Kill Bill” and “Inglorious Bastards”. My analysis of these films focused on a theme of legacy and multi cultural influence. For pivotal historical events that often go unnoticed, I identified Quinton Tarantino’s mastery of re-earthing the stories and making them both compelling and educational.

O-Ren Ishi a defier of the odds and a master yielder of the samurai sword, was my first focus. Played by none other then Lucy Liu, her character was a daughter of a family of great multi cultural heritage; her father was a Chinese American Sergeant and her mother a Chinese civilian. The film chronicles her from age 9 when she witnesses the brutal slaughtering of her parents by Matsumoto, Japan’s cruelest of the Yakuza bosses. As she watches the killings of her parents, she decides to take matters into her own hands, a bold decision for a nine-year-old. She sets her sites on avenging the deaths of her parents. From then on she becomes, in my opinion, Kill Bill’s most notable of characters. As the story develops the focused observer will come to appreciate and even admire the character for how she has come to deal with her multiculturalism and how she accepts death honorably despite her making some poor life changing choices along the way.

My second essay follows none other then Shoshanna Dreyfus. It is another fiery story of vengeance; this time set in 1941 in Nazi Germany. Shoshanna’s Jewish heritage positions her and her family in great danger and ridicule. She also experiences the massacre of her family, and is castaway, left to fend for herself. The observer is able to explore, through her, the concept of Zionism, originated by Theodore Hertzel and inspired by Albert Dreyfus. Her experiences accented by her heritage and her character allow her to find her own authenticity. She manages to take on a new identity and remain undetected under the noses of the Nazi regime while operating a Parisian cinema she inherited from her deceased Aunt Ida. When given the power to rewrite history, she unequivocally grasps it by burning down her theater while filled with many of the Nazi elite.

In high school, my first major film project was creating a film spoken all in Chinese. Although completely underestimating how difficult this undertaking would be, it proved to be one of my most educational experiences. It was the first time I could apply my skills in the language to a project. It was my goal to showcase my knowledge of the Chinese language and culture and what better way to do it than in a compelling action-packed short film. The result, however, was not as expected. I completely failed to recognize that asking students who don’t speak Chinese to memorize a script in all Mandarin is too much from which to ask, an amateur move to say the least. Nonetheless, it taught me the importance of taking on the challenge outside my comfort zone and perhaps left a little bit of my legacy behind at my high school as a film in Chinese has never been done before and probably will never again be done at my high school. I would love nothing more that my film being shown in future years at my high school to inspire other students to take on a challenge.

I whole-heartedly believe that by researching the different cultures of our world, the world will become a better place. By expanding our horizons and taking a leap of faith, this English class on Quintin Tarantino opened my world into an archive of the legacies left behind by our fellow world inhabitants. It became almost effortless to attach myself with the characters I wrote about. Consumed by their vitality and ambition, I successfully reflected on my own identity. I could write my own resurgence story; this class gave me the realization that I could write my own destiny.