@@youknowwhoiam2771 In the original Kill Bill shooting script Bill says, "Once upon a time in China, some believe around the year, one-double-knot-three," but for whatever reason it would up being "double-aught-three" in the final print. That still makes Pai Mei pretty goddamn old, but not 1000.
Pai Mei is at the peak of physical fitness and maintains that via specific intense targeted training. This reverses the effects of cell damage, effectively allowing continual life by halting and even reversing the process of ageing.
So there I was. Looking at my laptop's screen. Struggling... finding ideas, living a dreadful morning with limited creativity. And then, it came to me! A realization! [Plays some notes on the flute] My work wasn't getting done, and I was bored as fuck. Hours were mere minutes, minutes were nothing but seconds. I was fast by being slow. The work... Was unfinished [plays the flute again].
@@juanchocorleone ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GX1RHrj7IP4.html You need to have a phone handy as well so you can play this at the end for emphasis.
I love how you can tell just on Uma Thurman's face how long before the main story this takes place. She's not only head over heels in love with Bill, but also visibly younger, cockier and more naive.
She looks very phsycially soft here too, I don't know if it's the makeup artist work or just the acting. Either way, yes, the difference is obvious, not just in attitude but also in behaviour.
I love, that Tarantino does not show the story but rather lets David Carradine narrate it in its entirety. It could have made for an awesome action scene, but with the vivid narration, everyone has an own story of Pai Mei in his head, as it is with legends.
@@smlchristian3 as I said a psycho and a coward.. A psycho bc the punishment is exaggerated for the fault committed (if it even was a fault) and a coward bc he has like the super secret formula to have super powers so they were no match for him and thus he was not a brave person
@@pablodono7227 Don't insult ancient Chinese traditions or the people who devote their lives to them. They know how to inflict pain and kill you in ways we've likely never thought of.
The way he interacts with Beatrix is just so calm and sweet. Really charming and yes I know their relationship is also toxic. But things in the beginning was quite nice like this scene.
Fun Fact, the actor who portrayed Pai Mei in Kill Bill played the hero who killed the very same legendary Pai Mei (who in turn is based on the chinese folklore hero Bak Mei) in the 1977 film Fists of the White Lotus, referenced by name in Bill's story. In the latter, the twin brother of the original Pai Mei mastered the "Hundred Pace Palm" technique, to which the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart was inspired by Tarantino really knows his Kung Fu flicks
A quote from this rattled into my consciousness at 4 this morning. The baby woke at half three. "At first I tried to console her, only to find she was inconsolable". What followed next was the massacre of all three remaining hours of sleep at the tears of a one year old.
I love how the legend of Pai Mei foreshadows the future, The five finger palm technique that was used on Bill, Ellie's defiant eye being plucked out, and I also love how it references the past as well, the massacre of the monks, the massacre of El Paso, the miscommunication between the Monk and Pai Mei, the miscommunication between Beatrix and Bill. All tied nicely togehter.
An assassin telling a story with a flute, he must have really loved her, but not bad enough to understand her wish to have a child free from an assassin’s life.
I have so many favorite lines from the Kill Bill 2 movie.. Beatrix to Elle: Bitch, you don’t have a future! Esteban to Beatrix: How else is he ever going to see you again? Budd to Bill: That woman deserves her revenge.. and we deserve to die..
This story is a homage to the original "Fist of the White Lotus" movie where the Pai Mei in Kill Bill plays the Shaolin Monk in that movie who kills Pai Mei. There's also a scene where Pai Meis men massacre Shaolin Monks and they even have the exploding heart technique too. Dope classics both movies.
People were impressed when they realized he trained her how to rip out someone's eyeball (Elle) and were really impressed when they realized he also trained her to do the exploding heart technique. (Bill) ☠️
I always found there to be such depth behind her reason not to tell Bill that she learned the five Point Palm technique. If she ever admitted it to Bill, wouldn't this mean that she is a fighter on the level of Pei mei, wouldn't this had changed his mind about trying to kill her knowing she was such an elite warrior? Or perhaps she never told him because in her heart she'd hope that at some point she can have some life of normalcy with him, and didn't want his clearly frail ego to distance himself from her after learning she was the better warrior. I guess it's poetic that he thinks about her as the better one in his last moments.
I think she didn't tell him because a part of her was keeping it in reserve if she ever needed to use it against him, which is why she cried and said she was a bad person when he asked why she never told him. Even though she loved him, she is a killer and she had a killer's instincts, which she felt bad about since it further verified everything that came out in their final dialogue.
She didn't want to hurt Bill's feelings by telling him about Pai Mei teaching her the 5 Point Palm Exploding Heart technique. Therefore, Beatrix didn't tell him until the near end after he had witnessed her utilizing the technique on him. When Bill asks her why she didn't tell him, she claimed she didn't want to hurt him and called herself a horrible person.
@@j.martinez8767 That uncertainty is what made Kiddo better than everyone else, she had always been created to be the best killer among them, so for her to have a conscience and understand that no matter how ingrained it is, her accepting that her career is wrong is what brings her hero arc to a full circle.
She couldn't even trust Bill with their baby and left him the moment she found out she was pregnant. So I think deep down, she always held a sort of wariness against Bill. Maybe it was one of Pai Mei's teaching. To not be trusting of others, even Bill. Or maybe the years of assassination hardened had her heart even against Bill.
Pai mei is the pettiest and most POWERFUL person in the Universe, the deadliest combination of all. Snake is certainly not the first person who tried to poison him over the 1000 years, so I don't believe he can be killed that easily.
Probably David Carradine's best scene in a movie, ever. Tarantino is a master at casting the right person in the role destiny created for them.Consider all the main characters, and think of someone else playing that character, difficult, isn't it.
i disagree. DC’s best scene was in the wedding chapel. amicable niceties as a facade, but raging jealousy and anger boiling underneath. every gesture and comment he made while talking to the bride gave a sense of foreboding and dread oozing with contrived congeniality, while the bride tried hard to hide her fear and apprehension.
Bill tells the story of how Pai Mei murdered 60 monks over one of them essentially not saying "good afternoon" to him, and Uma Thurman's face is this the entire time: 2:13
Pai Mei made the exception for Beatrix because her quiet determination and humility earned his respect during the harsh training. Thus, he teaches her the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart technique.
He sounded so exasperated, frustrated, disappointed, and sad as he said that. It's like he once asked Pai Mei and Pai me responded with the typical 'i teach no one' response. He looks fed up. He is bitter.
I first got to know David Carradine through Kung Fu the legend continues in 1993. Him with the flute, the slow speaking style and the Shaolin background. David channels that background in this dialogue because it's so damn cool. It holds you. Even though he is playing a character completely, galactically opposite to Kwai Chiang Caine, you really want to listen. Brilliant performance. RIP legend.
It occurs to me that every element of this scene has an innate simultaneous life/death dichotomy. Light/dark. Beauty/brutality. Except for the flute... The desert landscape itself is beautiful, it's also a harsh and brutal environment where only the strongest meanest creatures can survive. The fire. Fire is the first building block of humanity, we need it, it sustains human life, it's beautiful, and it kills and consumes and it's a horrific way to die. Life and death at the same time. The sky. Night represents death, yet the night sky in the desert is incredibly beautiful at the same time. A beautiful woman in the firelight, and she's also a savage killer. Beauty and brutality at the same time. Bill, with his incredible voice playing beautiful music and reciting a beautiful story, and he's a ruthless killer... The only exception is the flute. Is Tarantino making a statement about how music is transcendent? It rises above and it's apart from these concerns? Or, maybe that flute has been used as a weapon to bludgeon someone to death?
The flute using these tones has been used in a lot of Hollywood kung fu productions as a way to impart a ethereal(spiritual) feel to the scene. David Carradine was in a kung fu tv series (played the character Caine) in the early 1970s and has a long history with the instrument.
Pai Mei/Bak Mei (White Eyebrows) was based off a real life person and there is a Kung fu style named after him. His story as I know it but not to be taken as historical fact. He was one of the Five Elders of the Shaolin Temple and partly responsible for its fall. During this time the Ming Dynasty had become corrupted and would be easily overthrown by the Manchurians(Qing dynasty). The leader of the Temple Hong Mei(Red Eye Brows) died and was succeeded by fellow monk Jee Sin. (possible jealousy for being passed over?) Their was contention at the temple between the two as to whom they would they would support the corrupt Ming or foreign Qing? The Manchurian's had trouble suppressing the revolt of the Xilufan and so the Shaolin aided them with no loses but this ended up making them look like a potential threat and so two ministers plotted their destruction and although they where unable to convince the Kangxi emperor whom was grateful for their aid where able to sway his successor the Yongzheng emperor to attack the temple. The other elders survived the massacre and would find safety at other temples for the time being Bak Mei was initially sent to Spy while his brothers and sisters prepared for rebellion but the more he saw, the more he realized their attempt would be fruitless and so he betrayed them in exchange for the his life and the lives of his students by agreeing to lead their imperial forces against his former temple. Hated for his betrayal Bak Mei would be hunted by the surviving rebel monks and would have to go into hiding, converting to Taoism.but those whom confronted him would die at his hands,. Finally Jee Sin and Bak Mei would meet face to face again and to spare bloodshed among all those whom followed both men decided they would end the conflict in single combat between the two. The two fought long and hard with Bak Mei the victor broke Jee Sin's neck. Later Wu Ah Phiew(not sure his story) and Hoong Man Ting a student of Hoong Hei Khoon a layman(non religious monk) taught by Jee Sin would avenge their master and masters master by killing Bak Mei in combat. Initially Hoong Man Ting's wife Fong Wing a superb fighter of her own would try to convince them to seek peace over violence but Bak Mei's betrayal was so great that it could not be unavenged and so she made her husband promise that regardless of the outcome that this would be end of the conflict. The two men killed Bak Mei in combat and retired as martial artists promising to live hermetic of seclusion and pacifism. Later in life Hoong Khoon in his eighties would find a young girl fainted on their doorstep and so he and his wife adopted her. Acting a dutiful daughter she would act as if to serve him tea but would strike him with the Phoenix Eye punch a move synonymous with the Bak Mei style. Instead of taking action on this girl, he remembered his wife's wisdom about vengeance never ending so he accepted his karma and died peacefully.
Everytime I watch this video, I always get a feeling this story of Pai Mei was inspired from the history of Chanakya. Chanakya, a poor Brahmin, on being insulted by the mighty king Nanda, from whom even greek conqueror Alexander feared and retreated, plotted an elaborate revenge, vanquished the entire royal family of the Nandas and ended up replacing king Nanda with Chandragupta Maurya and thus architecting beginning of the glorious Mauryan dynasty in India.
I always like to explain the consequences of an action I think is completely irrational or absurd and then conclude with “ .. and that will be the story of you.” It always gets a double take
I've read that the flute he is using is the same one that he used in the movie "Circle of Iron" when he played a blind beggar/guide. Whether it really is, is hard to say. Carradine had several flutes.
Plot twist, Pai Mei was totally his secret crush and he was so overcome with emotion that he noticed him that he couldn't think straight until they had passed each other, and by then it was too late. He almost turned and got his attention just to nod at him but realized that would be idiotic, so he ran home with his tear ducts and nasal passage overproducing secretions all the way. The next day he was so angry with himself for blowing his chance so badly that he vowed he would finally make the move and send a letter to Pai Mei professing his long burning love. Unfortunately Pai Mei came before the mail man and the rest is history... they left the love letter part out of the legend because it was private and some of the old timers found it pretty gay tbh
There once was man who played with his flute. He played with his flute in a hotel room. He knew how to play with that flute in the most perfect way. He knew how to make that flute sing. He made it sing in a secret way that only he and his wardrobe knew.
Her smile is painfully radiant. If I were him I'd be legit uncomfortable with the knowledge that I'd have to play opposite her eventual hatred. She just....fucking /glows/ love here.
This is my favorite scene from ANY movie and ive seen it all from "here comes mr jordan" to "valley of the wolves" which is a banned iraqi movie... Ive seen it all and this one scene and umas smile as the fire caresses her face and Carrodene is playing the wooden flute, telling his legend of pei mei. Its amazing. Gentle and beautiful.
I love how when first watching this movie you almost join Beatrix and assuming that it's a joke. And I love that how when you finally see pie Mei he is ultra badass
Kinda interesting how the Pai Mei story of him killing all the monks at the temple is similar of how Beatrix killed the entire 88 crazy gang in their lair
