"KILL BILL: VOL. 2" (2004)

"Can she bak.e a cherry pie. 11

EX CU SLOT IN DOOR is slid open revealing two male eyes on the other side.

A FEMALE VOICE FROM OFF SCREEN says to the Doorman;

The door opens revealing BILL to the other side of the door, and for the first time, to the audience. He looks cool.

Bill looks inside and sees a fancy hotel room converted into a crap game. A crap table has been erected in the middle of the suite. SEVEN MEN stand around the table trying their luck. All playing has stopped at the opening of the door.

One woman in a beautiful black dress, stands at the head of the table ... It's her game ... her narr,e is L. F. O 1 BOYLE.

,

Bill stands in the doorway. ALBURT the doorman, who wears a

tux, waits for L.F. 1 s word.

L.F. laughs.

Bill steps inside and the game continues in earnest.

As Alburt frisks him, Bill takes in the room. There are five other men all wearing black tuxedos, all carrying samurai swords (as is Alburt), all working for Miss 0 1 Boyle. In his hand Bill holds his sheathed Hanzo sword. Referring to the • sword;

The two men stare ...

•

Bill takes out a roll of bills that would choke a rodeo bull to death. He peels off two hundred.

Bill walks over to the suite 1 s bar, a YOUNG WOMANtends it.

• don't like it, go to Vegas. You can

get a prime rib dinner there for 3.95.

BILL - What am I going to do, I'm thirsty. (throws a 20 on the bar) Pour the beer.

The Bartender produces a dixie cup, and a can of Budweiser. She pops the top and fills the cup, leaving half of the beer inside the can. She then offers only the cup to Bill.

The Bartender slowly shakes her head, no.

He lifts the dixie cup to his lips, and says;

Bill approaches the table with his dixie cup of beer.

Dropping his money roll on the table ...

Color L.F. impressed.

With her table stick, she pushes the dice to Bill. He takes them and inspects them.

•

Alburt starts to move from his position by the door.

L.F. motions him back to his position.

The players watch L.F. And Bill, an opposite ends of the table, trade quips.

Bill looks from the dice to L.F.

•

Bill throws ten thousand dollars on the table, the room reacts. •

Bill smiles as he rolls the dice in his hand, then throws ... 7 ... The room reacts .. . L.F. smiles and pushes the money and the dice back to Bill with her stick. He picks up his winnings, tosses them back on the table, and says;

The room reacts.

He holds the dice in his fist ... and throws ... 5 ...

Bill throws ... 5 ... more reaction ... more money ...

He shoots again, he wins again ...

L.F. MOVES THE MONEY in front of him.

Bill picks up the stack of moola ... L.F. Stands behind her table, stick in her hand, eyes on her opponent.

In the midst of this silence, his beeper goes off. His eyes go to it. It reads; ELLE DRIVER.

He raises his eyes from the beeper to L.F., casually tosses

• the green on the felt and says;

• BILL

And I 1 m not interested.

• BILL

-- You and nobody else. You sell at the bar a half can of warm piss, at twenty bucks a shot. How much did the six-pack cost you? 5.60, 5.65? You 1 re greedy O'Boyle. You're just too Goddamn greedy. You know what I • like to do when I meet greedy people? Take every fuckin thing they got. Leave em with nothing.

BILL •

Oooohhh, that 1 s ....

L.F.

• The house 1 s perogative and you know

it.

She holds out her palm and two new pair of dice (black) are placed in her hand by one of her bodyguards. She sets the dice on the table, and moves them in front of Bill with her stick.

Bill looks down at them.

His hand scoops the dice off the table.

He catches the young lady by surprise .

•

From the door Alburt says;

•

He throws ....

.................... BOXCARS.

The spectators go apeshit. • Bill scoops up his money and looks to the lady who 1 s game he just busted.

Bill sits on the bed talking with Elle Driver on the phone.

In the b.g. L.F. is throwing everybody out.

He looks over and L.F. is sitting on the floor of the bed.

All the players have left, only L.F. and her five tuxedo boys

remain.

Well, I 1 m not exactly among friends at the moment . (pause ... he laughs) I'll keep that in mind, bye bye.

•

He hangs up.

• house, ya gotta have LUCKY GUY

comes in and wipes the place out insurance.

Standing up, folding his winnings into his inside jacket pocket, looking at L.F. and her boys, he says;

Without another word he exits the hotel room.

Nobody makes a move to stop him.

L.F. 0 1 Boyle and her henchmen stand still as they wait for the sound of the elevator in the hall .

The Bride 1 s Voice comes on the soundtrack;

•

They hear the elevator in the hall.

L.F. O'Boyle tells her men;

Alburt smiles. •

The Five men go out the door.

The Five tuxedo-clad bodyguards hit the hallway, only to see .... BILL, with his Hanzo sword unsheathed, standing at the end.

This wasn 1 t expected, they unsheath their swords.

He Charges at them.

In the hotel 1 s hallwayJ Bill cuts through the five men. His mastery of the Hanzo sword in his hand is peerless. He cuts through the first four rather quickly. The fifth one, Alburt, is the most skilled, but he too falls under the master's blade.

L.F. 0 1 Boyle hides in her room, holding a gun, pointed at the front door. •

She sits in bushwhack mode, waiting for Bill, or anybody for that matter, to step through the doorway.

WHEN...

-

The window her back is up against SHATTERS, and a black gloved hand reaches inside and GRABS her by her hair, and YANKS her out the window.

Bill on the ledge of the hotel window (the 26th floor), outside L.F. O 1 Boyle 1 s room.

He 1 s yanked her outside and he 1 s dangling her over the side by her hair.

L.F. Is too hysterical to answer.

He drops her ..... .

Bill watches her all the way down. When he 1 s confident her fall was fatal, he leaves the ledge.

Chapter seven

11The lonely grave of Paula Schultzn

A small camper trailer sits all by its lonesome in the middle of a barren Texas wasteland.

A SUBTITLE APPEARS under this image;

nThe city of Austin Texas. 11

A fist knocks on the trailer door.

It opens, revealing Bill 1 s brother, BUDD. Not the Slick Willie Budd with the black suit and the silver-tipped black cowboy boots we saw earlier at the wedding chapel massacre. No, the Budd we see now is the Budd who climbed into a bottle five years ago, got himself comfortable, and decided to live there.

Bill, looking like a cool million, stands out in the dirt and dust of Budd's lot of land, looking up at his brother in his natural habitat. In the B.G. we can see Elle Driver lounging in the passenger 1 s seat.

Budd, surprised by the visitor, says;

Budd squints into the sun at the woman in Bill's ear.

INSERT, INT. - BILL'S CAR

Elle inside, blasting both the stereo and the air conditioner. She watches the brotherly scene play out through the car windshield. Obviously there 1 s no love lost between Elle and Budd.

•

• BILL

I dunno, I guess they thought it sounded cool. Anyhow, she had about 26 or 27 around her when (BLEEP) attacked. They all fell under her Hanzo sword. • The mention of a Hattori Hanzo sword gets Budd 1 s attention.

Bill nods his head, nyes. 0

Budd doesn't say anything at first ... THEN;

•

The disrespect is pain.

• don't need booze that bad. But who

the hell gives a crap anyway. That bitch ain't gittin no Bushido points for killin a white trash piece of shit like me with a samurai sword. I'm a bouncer in a titty bar, Bill. If she wants to fight me, all she gotta do is come down to the Club, start some shit, and we 1 ll be in a a fight.

Budd sees Bill 1 s true concern for his welfare.

• Bill tries to charm his brother.

Budd chuckles.

Budd is touched by Bill's concern and chuckles to himself.

The My-oh-my Club, is the sleazy titty bar that Budd works at. His job is tossin out the riff-raff that 1 s worse than him, out on their ear - minus a few of the teeth they had when they came in. His beat-to-shit pickup truck pulls up to the front, and he climbs out of the automobile.

Budd walks into the wood-paneled titty bar. No strippin goin on yet, just a few BARFLIES drinkin. The owner, TED, yells at him as he walks by.

Budd doesn't say anything, he just moves towards the back, •

passing by a STRIPPER serving drinks .

STRIPPER

• Hey, Budd.

ANOTHER STRIPPER walks out of the ladies 1 room and says to him;

A brand new, enormous red pickup truck pulls into the parking

• lot and stops.

The BRIDE sits behind the wheel, looking at the bar and the barrs front door. Using the rearview as a mirror, she grabs her long blonde hair and pulls it back to a ponytail with a rubberband. Then places a baseball cap on the top of her noggin that reads, 11 STUBB'S BAR B-Q. 11 She steps out of the truck's cab. She 1 s dressed like a little Texas two-stepper. Levi 1 s, cowboy boots, and a 11HARLEY DAVIDSON: LOUD AND PROUD11 tee-shirt.

The Bride walks into the club just as the band on stage explodes into honky tonk guitar. She walks up to the bar and oders a;

The BARTENDER gives her a beer bottle of Shiner Bock. As she drinks the Texas brew ... SHE ....

•

... Watches the BAND....

... The crowd ...

•

head to the music ...

SHAW BROTHERS ZOOM into her eyes; VENGEANCE THEME plays on the soundtrack.

Her hand removes her sog from its sheath. She moves through

the crowd of Texas two-steppers, sog in hand, towards Budd sitting oblivious on his stool ....

Budd curses to himself, and heads over to the disaster area.

The Bride ... observes Him ... CLEAN UP THE PUKE.

•

As the music from above continues, we see Budd driving his pickup on an empty highway home from work.

He passes by The Bride's new red pussy wagon parked on the

side of the road. After he whizzes by, she starts up the

motor, but doesn 1 t turn the lights on. She follows him,

hanging way back in the dark.

Budd driving, not seeing the automobile cloaked in darkness, trailing him.

Budd pulls his pickup truck in front of his small camper home. He walks inside, shutting the door behind him.

The Bride rolls to a stop ... Observing the lonely trailer out of her windshield ...

Texas tear-ass music begins coming out of the camper .... We see his figure pass the camper window, once or twice.

The Bride chooses her weapon -- Hattori Hanzo 1 s samurai •

sword .

She doesn 1 t say anything, nor will an actress of Uma Thurman 1 s caliber indicate her feelings, but the astute member of the audience will read the significance of her

•

choice. His current status be damned, the Budd who owes The Bride satisfaction was a warrior. And it 1 s that Budd she intends to send to his maker.

She takes a black stocking cap, and slips it on top of her skull, tucking her blonde hair underneath ...

TBEN ...

eyelids, and down the bridge of her nose, ..

• The Bride stops and buries her face in the dirt.

From inside the trailer, we hear the needle being lifted off the phonograph.

From a distance we see: The shadowy figure of Budd looking out the window of the camper.

The Bride keeps her face in the dirt.

The figure of Budd at the window, seems to dismiss the sound he heard for what it was -- a rat meeting its end at the claws of a cat.

The curtain closes again.

The needle is placed back on the phonograph.

CU The BRIDE face in the dirt ... One Mississippi ... Two Mississippi ... her eyes look up towards the trailer ... All 1 s clear ... She begins crawling towards the trailer again .

sound of Budd sitting in a chair rocking back and forth .

She hears the sound of a screw top unscrewed ... The sound of

• pouring in a glass ... The sound of a glass being laid heavy on,,

a table.

Crouched low on the balls of her feet, she, with great care, slowly and silently unsheathes her Hanzo sword.

Through the bottom slit in the door, she sees the distorted• image of Budd 1 s feet on the floor.

She slowly rises ... removes her black stocking cap ... blonde hair falls around her shoulders ... sword in right hand ... left hand grabs the front doorknob .. .

QUICK as a Texas lizard on glass -- She brings the sword 1 s handle down hard on the door lock --

EX CU Cheap Lock Busting.

She flings the front door open ...

The BRIDE'S POV, Brother Budd sitting calmly in a rocking chair, moving back and forth to the Texas twang on his turntable, cradling a DOUBLE-BARREL SHOTGUN aimed right at The Bride.

SERGIO LEONE CU, The Bride Blinks.

Both barrels BLAST in our face.

The BRIDE standing in the doorway is HIT SMACK DAB in the chest, and PROPELLED THROUGH the AIR BACKWARDS. • Landing hard on her back in the dirt.

Budd casually rises from his rocking chair and lifts the needle off the phonograph, cutting off the music.

Then with shotgun in hand, stands in the doorway of the trailer looking down at The Bride.

BUDD'S POV: The Bride laid out in the dirt below him -- Sword separated from her grasp -- Bloody mess down her front -- Groan from her throat.

Budd steps down from the trailer onto the dirt, standing over The Bride.

More groans coming out of The blood splattered Bride.

BUDD •

You done got a double dose of rock salt, right in the ole tit. Now not havin tits as fine or as big as yours, I can't even imagine how bad that shit stings ...

He lowers down on his haunchers, over her.

The Bride, hurting and incapacitated from the shotgun blast, still nevertheless defiant, SPITS a gob of bloody saliva, right in ole Budd 1 s face.

Budd, gob of spit running down on his cheek and nose. The cowboy removes a red bandana from his back pocket, and wipes away the goo. Then his eyeballs go down to the spitter.

With the help of his cowboy boot he rolls The Bride over onto her stomach, exposing her butt.

SNAPPING the barrel closed, he takes aim and FIRES both barrels -- EXECUTION STYLE -- right into her keister.

The Bride does the one thing she has yet to do with any opponent during the movie up till now. Her head rears back and she lets out a SCREAM!

• and presses one button on the panel.

The six-foot tall, long-haired blonde with the codename 11 California Mountain Snake, 11 is doing a savage boxing workout with her COACH.

This is one white bitch who can kick some serious FUCKIN ass. With one mighty blow from her huge right arm (synched to the sound of a CAR CRASH), her boxing Coach buys the farm.

Elle on cell phone. We cut Back and Forth.

This gets Elle's attention.

• We stay on Elle 1 s side for the following exchange.

We cut back to Budd 1 s side. And what he 1 s holding is The Bride's Hattori Hanzo sword.

condition.

• ELLE

She must suffer to her last breath.

CUT TO,

OVERHEAD SHOT - EXT. CEMETERY - NIGHT

We look down on a spooky Texas graveyard ... Tombstones ... Graves ... Dirt ... Low-hanging fog. This could be the opening shot of a Texas zombie movie. We also see TWO MEN WITH SHOVELS (one which is Budd, the other which is ERNIE) digging up a grave. Budd's beat-to-shit pickup is in the shot too. Its headlight beams shining on the two men. And last but

• not least, The Bride, bound and gagged, lying in the fla,tbed

of Budd 1 s pickup.

The BRIDE She begins to come to from the shot in her arm. Some dried blood lies caked around her wounds. Rope binds her wrists tightly together in front of her.

A big leather cowboy belt is wrapped tight around her cherry brown cowboy boots. Her eyelids flutter open ... and she sees stars. A giant, black Texas night sky full of them.

She has no idea where she is.

She turns her head to the left and sees,

Back window and Cab of truck.

She turns her head to the right and sees,

Hatch Gate to flatbed.

She listens ... she hears,

Crickets ... The sound of Two Men Digging ... One of the Men says something to the other in Spanish ...

The Two Men speak to each other in Unsubtitled Spanish ...

BOOM... They set it down.

She hears boots approaching the flatbed, The crunching of leaves leading in her direction ...

The grabs her by her collar, and yanks her out of the truck.

She FALLS to the dirt HARD.

Once in the dirt, The Bride sees an Old Coffin that 1 s been dup up. Next to it is a brand new pine box coffin, straight out of •

11 Fistful of Dollars. 11 And a freshly dug grave, with a pile of dirt next to it, in front of an old tombstone that reads; 11 PAULA SCHULTZ. 11

Budd and Ernie stand over her.

•

The Bride just GLARES up at the two tormentors, with the only weapon she has left, the contempt in her stare.

Budd turns to Ernie and says in SPANISH, subtitled in English;

The Bride knows how these fiends derive satisfaction, and she won't give it to them.

•

The two fiends laugh, then bend down to lift The Bride and carry her over to the pine box. She struggles with her bound legs and arms ... Both men DROP her to the ground. Budd whips out a can of mace from his pocket.

He holds the can of mace spray by her eyes. She stops. Her eyes go to the nozzle of the spray can, then to Budd.

He removes a flashlight from behind his back and turns on the beam.

•

Her eyes move to the right, indicating the flashlight.

The two men lift up The Bride, and carry her over to the pine box and place her in.

Budd puts the flashlight inside.

He picks up the pine lid, and is just about to place it over

the coffin ...

WHEN ...

THEN ...

Dark, excerpt for the cracks of light seeping through between the lid and the box. However with each nail pounded in, more lights is cut off ...

TILL ...

last hammered nail obliterates that light source.

The Bride lies in TOTAL DARKNESS.

The two men lift the pine box, and set it in the grave. •

Budd scoops up a shovel full of dirt ...

•

EX CU HER FINGERS turn on the flashlight.

CU The BRIDE LIT by the flashlight beam ...

BAM .•.

The Bride jump ...

BAM ...

The Bride is starting to perspire ... her breathing becoming more rapid and panicked ... her heartbeat begins to echo inside the pine box .

We 1 ve never seen her like this before.

She 1 s starting to lose it ... She lets out a SCREAM... She

• SCREAMS again ... Her bound-at-the-wrist hands move to the

lid ... She pounds on it ... Her bound feet kick up at it ... She starts to cry ... She 1 s getting hysterical ... Her fingers begin clawing at the wood lid ...

Leaving Blood Trails on the wood.

The Bride halts her hysteria.

She wipes her eyes, and runs her hands down her face, mentally sending the little girl she became, back to wherever she came from. The woman we know as The Bride is back. She talks to herself.

•

She does. The Bride continues in VO;

Fear comes into her voice as she combats herself.

She does. The screen goes Jet Black •

Budd and Ernie are finished filling the grave. The old coffin, with the body of Paula Schultz, in the back of the

flatbed. Before they climb into the truck and drive away,

Budd lays a dozen red roses on The Bride 1 s grave.

Budd behind the wheel. Ernie in the passenger 1 s seat. Car radio playing Mexican music. Budd's silver cell phone rings.

•

Elle Driver sits in a seat on a passenger jet enroute to the great state of Texas. She calls Budd on the airplane phone.

A smile spreads across Elle's face. She rests her head back against the seat's headrest. Her eyelids close. She slightly parts her lips ... and lets out a;

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

This is the face of satisfaction.

Chapter eight

11The cruel tutelage of Pai Meil!

•

FADE UP ON

We see a beautiful mountain range in the middle of China. A SUBTITLE APPEARS UNDERNEATH,

11 SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE OF CHINA 11

A VOICE OVER SPOKEN BY BILL, tells us a story over this landscape;

As Bill tells this story, it will be illustrated On Screen by footage from Old Shaw Brothers Martial arts flicks of the 70 1 s. Especially Films that feature Chinese Actor LO LIEH as the old, white-haired, white-eyebrowed Villian nPAI MEI. ,11

We see on screen Pai Mei demonstrate this technique on five shaolin monks. Who after being hit ... take five steps ... then

fall to the floor dead .

•

Bill and The Bride, years earlier, driving in a jeep through the mountains of China, enroute to PAI MEI 1 s.

The Bride sits in the jeep, by herself, parked in front of the Priest Pai Mei's home located high up on top of White Lotus Mountain.

For over 100 years, his home used to be the temple of the White Lotus Clan, and he was the temple 1 s head priest. The temple served as a home to over 60 priests and disciples. But now - the year 1990 - the White Lotus Clan is no more. All the priests have died. All that remains, is a very old man, who once upon a time, some worshipped as a god and some feared as a devil ... neither was wrong.

A huge stone staircase of one hundred steps climb up a hill leading to Pei Mei 1 s home. Bill climbs down to the jeep.

•

• BILL More like a sadistic one.

She climbs out, and gets her bag out of the back.

Bill casts a glance at the stone steps he just decended.

•

•

She begins the journey before her by ascending the 100 steps to Pai Mei.

The huge temple is exactly like it must have been a hundred years ago, except now it 1 s empty and dusty.

The Bride enters, She 1 s winded from climbing up those fuckin steps.

Her Voice ECHOES in the cavernous temple.

PAI MEI'S VOICE ECHOES back;

A beautiful (but dusty) Mahagony staircase leads to Pai Mei*s private chamber.

• The still unseen Man 1 s voice BOOMS back;

She climbs the wooden staircase.

PAI MEI 1 S POV: We see through Pei Mei 1 s pupils, through a sheer scarlet scrim that hangs down in front of his sitting area. The Bride enters the room.

She approaches the old man, reaches the edge of his sitting area in front of the scrim, lowers to one knee and bows her head.

* From here on end, whenever ENGLISH is spoken by The Bride, or every once in awhile by Pai Mei, it will be spoken in ENGLISH IN LIVE SYNCH SOUND. However, whenever MANDARIN is supposedly spoken, it comes out of their mouths as DUBBED ENGLISH like in a 70 1 s Shaw Brothers Chop Socky Flick.

THE BRIDE* Teacher, I am unworthy to be your student --

Pai Mei is still unseen.

PAI MEI 1 S VOICE* Your Mandarin is lousy. I can 1 t understand a single word you say. It causes my ears discomfort. You are not to speak unless spoken to. Do you understand Mandarin any better than you speak it?

THE BRIDE* I speak Japanese very well --

PAI MEI'S VOICE* I didn 1 t ask if you speak Japanese, or Mongolian, for that matter. I asked if you understand Mandarin?

THE BRIDE* •

A little, I am still learning .

PAI MEI 1 S VOICE*

• You are here to learn the mysteries

of Kung Fu, not linguistics. If you can 1 t understand me, I will communicate with you like I would a dog. When I yell, when I point, When I beat you with my stick!

Her head remains bowed, eyes to the floor.

WE CUT TO PAI MEI He's just like he was in the films earlier. Long White Hair, Long White Beard, Long White Eyebrowes, same long flowing White Robe. Everything 1 s the same, except he 1 s older, by about a hundred years. He sits stone still in his sitting area on the other side of the sheer scarlet scrim.

PAI MEI* Bill is your master, is he not?

THE BRIDE* Yes, he is .

•

PAI MEI* Your master tells me you 1 re not entirely unschooled. What training do you possess?

THE BRIDE* I am proficient in a combination of Tiger and Crane style. And I am more than proficient in the exquisite art of the Samurai Sword.

PAI MEI* (he makes a SNORTING SOUND) The exquisite art of the samurai sword. Don 1 t make me laugh. Your so called exquisite art, is only fit for Japanese fat heads. You really are a silly ass .

This brings up The Bride 1 s eye .. . She GLARES at the old man.

•

PAI MEI* Impudent dog! You dare glare at me!

She lowers her eyes. •

THE BRIDE* I 1 m sorry master --

PAI MEI* Silence! I do not wish to hear your unintelligible excuses.

Pause ...

PAI MEI* Your anger amuses me. Do you believe you are my match?

THE BRIDE* • No.

PAI MEI* Are you aware I kill at will?

THE BRIDE* Yes.

PAI MEI* Is it your wish to die?

THE BRIDE* No.

PAI MEI* Then you must be stupid. Rise stupid, and let me get a better •

look at your ridiculous face .

She rises.

CU The BRIDE

• through the scrim, eyes down.

Pai Mei laughs to himself again;

PAI MEI* You breathe hard. The one hundred steps robbed you of your wind. So your stupidity is matched only by your weakness. Is there anything you do well? -- Oh yes, you speak Japanese. I despise the Goddamn Japs. I would of thought an American would be immune to their pompous posturing. Apparently I was wrong. Go to that drawer.

The blonde woman goes to a large wooden drawer. She opens the drawer; it 1 s filled with just about every type of edged weapon .

PAI MEI* Remove the sword.

• The Bride removes a large heavy steel Chinese Sword.

Pai Mei rises from his sitting position, for the first time, parts the scrim, and approaches the Bride.

PAI MEI* Let's see how good you really are. Try and land a blow. If you land a single blow, I 1 ll bow down and call you master.

The Bride doesn 1 t need a second invitation, she ATTACKS with the sword.

He deftly moves out of the way.

The fighting style is now like an old Shaw Brothers film, with Pai Mei dodging at will all of her rapid sword slashes.

Quick and skillful as her moves are, they 1 re also full of Effort and Frustration. While Pai Mei effortlessly moves out of the sword 1 s path .

He's amused, and Speaks while they fight;

•

PAI MEI* Come now woman, can 1 t you even hit an old man?

She tries more ... •

PAI MEI* Your ability really is quite poor.

He STRIKES her with a blow to her chest, delivered with an open palm, that sends her flying back hard against the wall. She clutches her chest, and coughs up some blood.

Pai Mei laughs as he strokes his long white beard.

PAI MEI* Ha ha ha ha ha! I 1 ve fought cripples who posed more of a challenge. Now fight, goddamn you!

She ATTACKS with a wild cat's fury.

He HOPS and DUCKS and DODGES her sword easily.

He LEAPS HIGH UP IN THE AIR, and LANDS STANDING on the Blade of her Sword.

The Bride looks down the blade of her sword and can't believe• it.

Pai Mei smiles at her and says;

PAI MEI* From here you can get an excellent view of my foot.

He does a BACKFLIP off the sword, kicking the Bride in the face in mid-somersault sending her CRASHING THROUGH A WOOD WALL.

The Bride emerges from the hole in the wall.

Pai Mei stands waiting for her, TWIRLING THE SWORD in his hand like a cheerleader twirling a baton, till the twirling STOPS. The sword 1 s handle is pointed towards the Bride.

PAI MEI* Give up? Or care to try again?

The BRIDE 1 S FACE shows determination. Not to win, not even to land a blow, •

that she knows is impossible. This man's ability is truly amazing. However be that as it may, she 1 s determined not to quit, and through not quitting, she's determined to distinguish herself in his eyes ... in some way.

She takes the sword from him and tries again.

But this time, Pai Mei keeps grabbing her arm that holds the sword, manipulating it into positions that would do the young girl harm ... Like bringing the blade up against her other arm ... Poised to cut it Off.

PAI MEI* That blade's sharp. Careful not to cut off your own arm .

throat ....

edge is against her thigh ...

PAI MEI* If you can 1 t fight any better than that, what use do you have for a leg?

He lets go of her arms, she swings furiously at him ...

... he calmly SPINS out of the way. Then£ he KICKS her in the stomach, doubling her over, then he brings the Sword between her legs, Blade Edge against her Crotch.

PAI MEI* Now that really would be a shame.

He takes the sword from her grasp ...

SWINGS once ...

The BLADES 1 s against her jugular.

He SWINGS twice ...

The BLADE 1 s against the pocket of her throat.

He SWINGS a third time ...

The BLADE 1 s against the nipple of her right breasc.

PAI MEI* Your swordsmanship is amateur at best.

He tosses the sword in the air, catching it by the tip of the blade. Then like a mallet, brings the handle end down hard on the top of The Bride 1 s head. She lets out a howl, and falls to the floor, holding the lump on her noggin.

PAI MEI* I'm a hundred and fifty years old~ and you can 1 t even make me break a sweat.

He CHOPS the sword in half with his hand.

PAI MEI * Let's see your Tiger and Crane style match my Eagles 1 s Claw.

Again she ATTACKS ... again he eludes.

Like a Gordon Liu and Lo Lieh film, they do their animal style martial arts dance.

As she STRIKES and he BLOCKS ... he yells out;

PAI MEI* ... pathetic ..... terrible ... you idiot, you should 1 ve landed that blow ... you call that crane? ... Enough, I grow bored.

With little effort on his part, he reaches out and GRABS her wrist, TWISTS ... She 1 s on the floor, with her arm stuck out in the air behind her, her wrist still between his fingers. He could literally break her arm in half.

PAI MEI* I asked you to show me what you know, and you did. Not a goddamn thing.

He TWISTS her wrist ...

PAI MEI * Like all yankee women, the only thing you know how to do is order

in restaurants and spend a man's money .

He TWISTS more ...

• She CRIES OUT.

PAI MEI* Excruciating isn't it? I asked you a question!

Through gritted teeth, she answers;

THE BRIDE* Yes!

PAI MEI* I could chop off your arm at will. I think I shall.

He raises his other hand to chop off her arm.

The Bride SCREAMS in ENGLISH;

• THE BRIDE

No please don 1 tJ

PAI MEI* If you wish to speak romantic languages, you've come to the wrong place.

THE BRIDE* Please don 1 t cut my arm off!

PAI MEI* It's my arm now. I can do with it what I please. If you can stop me, I suggest you try.

THE BRIDE* I can't!

•

PAI MEI* Because you 1 re helpless?

THE BRIDE* Yes!

PAI MEI* Have you ever felt this before?

THE BRIDE* No!

PAI MEI* Compared to me you 1 re as helpless as a worm fighting an eagle, aren 1 t you?

THE BRIDE* Yes!!!

PAI MEI* THAT'S THE BEGGING!

He lets go of her wrist. She cradles her still-throbbing arm.

PAI MEI* Is it your wish to learn how to make others as helpless as you were?

THE BRIDE* Yes.

PAI MEI* Can you cook?

THE BRIDE * Yes. •

PAI MEI * I'll be the judge of that. (pause)

•

Draw me a bath ... your training will begin tomorrow. That arm is still mine. You may lose it yet.

TIME CUT

Pai Mei stands in front of a wood wall three inches in front of him. His right fist is cocked back by his breastplate, he 1 s concentrating on a certain spot on the wall.

The Bride stands behind him, watching.

He lets out a SCREAM, and puts his fist THROUGH THE WALL.

He turns to the new student;

PAI MEI* Since your arm now belongs to me, I want it strong. Can you do that?

•

THE BRIDE* I can, but not that close.

PAI MEI* Then you can't do it.

THE BRIDE* I can put my hand through that at six inches.

PAI MEI* And you could shoot a man from a rooftop with a scope-sight rif'le, if you so desired, but this is not what I asked. What if your enemy is three inches in front of you, what do you do then? curl into a ball? Or do you·put your fist through him.

• He HITS the wall again leaving another hole.

PAI MEI* Now begin. • The Bride takes her place in front of the wall. She HITS it. Only managing to stain the wall with the blood from her scraped knuckles. Then again. And again ....

Both Pai Mei and The Bride sit at the dinner table. Pai Mei concentrates on eating. The Bride 1 s hand is scraped bloody. She tries to eat a bowl of rice with chopsticks, but her fingers won 1 t work. She puts down the sticks and takes a scoop of rice with her fingers.

Pai Mei WHACKS her on top of her head with his stick.

PAI MEI* If you want to eat like a dog, I will make you live and sleep like a dog. Outside. If you want to live and sleep like a human being, pick up those sticks.

She does. •

She looks at her fucked-up hand, then to the wall, hesitating .... Then Pai Mei's behind her.

PAI MEI* It 1 s the wood that should fear your hand, not the other way around. No wonder you can't do it, you acquiesce to defeat before you even begin.

He walks off in a huff.

Pai Mei and The Bride stand at the edge of a large, round deep pit, dug in the earth (by the Bride). •

PAI MEI* In that pit, is a rat.

•

We see one lone rat in the huge pit.

PAI MEI* In the sky, is a bird.

Pai Mei brings a golden bow and arrow into Frame, and SHOOTS up in the sky.

A BIRD FALLS to the earth with a golden arrow stuck through it.

PAI MEI* You are to go into that pit, and catch that rat, with your bare hands. If you catch the rat, I will deem you the victor, and tonight you will dine on bird. But, if you can't catch the rat by sundown, I 1 ll deem the victor the rat. And because of the disgrace to my student, I will be forced to kill it. And then I will force you, to consume his body. Because to be my

• student, you must develop a taste

for victory.

She hops into the pit, gets down on the ground, lock eyes with her rodent opponent, and goes after it.

The BRIDE Practicing her Tiger/Crane combo Kung Fu.

MORE wall ....

At NIGHT punching the wall in front of her in her sleep.

Trying to catch the rat to no avail.

She looks up and sees Pai MeiF golden bow in his hand; looking down on her. It 1 s sundown.

She stands, dusting herself off (she's dirty from the chase) and looks at her teacher .

She picks her dead foe up from the earth, and removes the golden arrow. Then with the rat in her hand, she looks up to

• her teacher.

THE BRIDE* I acknowledge defeat at the paws of this rat. However, I will not eat • this filthy vermin. What I will do ... (she RIPS the rat open like a pomegranate) ... is consume his victorious heart. (she snatches the tiny heart from the rodent 1 s carcass. Holding it between her fingers.) But tomorrow, you kill a big bird.

She POPS the tiny rat heart in her mouth, and begins to chew.

Pai Mei looking down on her, says;

PAI MEI* How does victory taste?

THE BRIDE* Bitter.

We do a Shaw Brothers ZOOM into a CU on Pai Mei, he gives an affirmative NOD and GRUNT. •

The BRIDE'S FIST goes through the wall.

Pai Mei splashing by himself in his huge bathtub, when he hears a noise.

PAI MEI* Woman, is that you who disturbs my meditation?

She answers from outside the door;

•

• PAI MEI*

Enter.

She does, bowing to one knee.

PAI MEI * What news do you find so worthy, as to disrupt my bath?

THE BRIDE* I did it teacher. I put my fist through the wall.

PAI MEI * Very good. Would you care to demonstrate?

•

She moves in front of the wall ..... Takes her position ... Her right hand in a fist -- Locked and loaded into position ... . With Her left hand she reaches out and touches the wall where she 1 ll strike .... Like she 1 s transferring her energy into the wood ... She removes her left hand ... and ... STRIKES!

She hits it HARD, but her fist doesn't go through.

Her eyes sneak a look at the old man, who wears no expression.

THE BRIDE * I think you watching is making me nervous.

PAI MEI* Not only that, it has you speaking before you were spoken to. Try again .

She does.

• And when she does, she DOES it.

• PAI MEI Impressive.

She immediately goes down to her knees;

THE BRIDE* Thank you teacher --

He just as immediately, lifts her back up.

PAI MEI* You still fight better than you speak. Finally, a woman who understands what 1 s important.

PAI MEI* Begin again. •

Then the old man leaves to finish his bath.

The blonde gal begins again .... Fist against wood ... no effect .... starting all over.

CUT TO,

BACK TO COFFIN, SIX FEET UNDER

PITCH BLACK - - The Flashlight _Beam turns on. CU The BRIDE in Profile. Her breathing is normal. We can hear the soft beat of her heart inside the pine box. Her composure is back.

Taking the flashlight, she Shines the beam on the lid above her .... Along the line of the coffin's rim and the lid where many nails meet .... Then down to her Red •Cowboy Boots, bound by a leather belt around her.

Raising her knees, as much as the coffin will allow, and wiggling her feet, she slips her bare feet our of the boots and the belt 1 s binding ... Then, using her bare feet, then her bound-at-the-wrist hands, to pass one of the boots up to her ... When the red boot is in her grasp, she turns it upside down .... The STRAIGHT RAZOR falls out. •

Opening the razor, she slices through the ropes that tie her wrists, till both hands are free.

She positions the flashlight so its Beam Shines on the coffin

• 1

lid. The lid s about an inch and a half from the tip of her nose, about three inches from her hand.

With each Strike she lets out a KARATE SCREAM...

Her FIST SMASHES into the wood, leaving BLOOD on the lid ...

A crack in the lid ...

A SHOT straight out of an Italian horror film. We see the

tombstone of 11 PAULA SCHULTz,u and the mound of dirt over her grave.

Once extracted from her (almost) final resting place, she rolls over on her back, exhausted. She drinks in the night's air as if it were gulps of water.

DIRT is in, on, and under every crack, crevice, and wrinkle on her body.

SHE looks like a beautiful sculpture, made out of dirt.

A Texas diner across the street from the graveyard. A YOUNG SODA JERK stands behind the counter, waiting for a customer, when he sees something approaching through the restaurant 1 s big picture window that makes him look twice.

SODA JERK'S POV, Through the picture window, we see the Bride, emerge from the Texas night, and walk towards the diner looking for all the world like a six-foot tall female version of the Peanuts character 11 PIG PEN. 11 With each of her footfalls, a smaller mushroom cloud of dust comes off her.

The dirty blonde, walks into the diner, sits on a stool at the counter directly across from the Soda Jerk, and says;

Chapter nine

11ELLE and I 11

CUT TO,

out of her powerful speakers.

-

The car stops in front of Budd 1 s camper. She shuts off the car and the radio.

The camper door opens, Budd squints outside through the bright gold, hot desert morning, at the Tall Blonde Girl with one Good Eye.

Budd and Elle in the tiny kitchen of Budd 1 s tiny camper. Elle sits a the kitchen table, a black suitcase by her feet. Budd stands at a blender making them both breakfast margaritas, as he finishes telling the tale of last night.

-

Budd turns on the NOISY blender, as Elle writes down the name Paula Schultz on a small notepad, placing it back inside her pocket. As the blender MASHES ICE, Elle looks around and sees the Bride 1 s Hanzo sword in its sheath, leaning up against the T.V. In the front room. Budd shuts the blender off.

- ELLE

Can I look at the sword?

The tall blonde girl steps into the living room, takes the Hanzo sword, and sits back down on the kitchen chair.

She slowly removes the Japanese steel from its wood sheath.

Budd answers as he fills up two former peanut butter jars with breakfast margaritas.

Pause.

sword ever made -- wasn't made by Hattori Hanzo. Here, wrap your lips around this.

He hands her her margarita, she takes a sip. He takes a gulp.

•

Elle looks right at him with her eye, and says;

• she 1 s just smart for a blonde.

He looks over at Elle and grins.

Elle looks at him.

•

She gestures to the black suitcase by her feet.

He smiles and lifts it up on the table, unzipping it open.

Lying inside is a cool million, the thousand dollar bills are inside stacks of a hundred thousand each. At the sight of all this lettuce, Budd lets out a whistle.

He lifts a stack out of the bag, then another, then another ... and when he lifts the third stack out, he looks down and sees a BLACK MAMBASNAKE coiled underneath.

The Black Mamba opens its WIDE JAWS ... and LEAPS RIGHT AT BUDD...

... STRIKING Budd in the face repeatedly in blurred succession (three times in the face, and once in the forearm). • Budd topples out of the kitchen chair onto the floor, bundles of money fall with him.

Elle takes a sip of her Margarita.

The Black Mamba leaves Budd and goes under the refridgerator.

Elle looks down, Budd lies on his back on the kitchen floor at her feet. His face is already grotesquely swollen and white as a sheet. The serpent 1 s extraordinarily potent venom makes a full-frontal assault on the cowboys 1 s nervous system.

Fascinating creature the Black Mamba. Listen to this, (reading from the notepad) " ... In AfricaF the saying goes, in the bush, an elephant can kill you.

• A leopard can kill you. And a Black

Mamba can kill you. But only with the Mamba, and this has been true in Africa since the dawn of time, is death sure. Hence its handle; Death Incarnate." (looking up from the paper) Pretty cool, huh? (back to paper) 11 ••• Its neurotoxic venom is one of nature 1 s most effective poisons, acting on the nervous system causing paralysis. The venom of a Black Mamba can kill a human in four hours, if say bitten on the ankle or the thumb. However, a bite to the face or torso can bring death from paralysis within twenty minutes. (up from paper to Budd) Now you should listen to this cause this concerns you. (reading from the paper) The amount of venom that can be delivered from a single bit can be gargantuan.

• (looks up from paper)

-- You know I 1 ve always liked that word Gargantuan, and I so rarely have an opportunity to use it in a sentence. (back to paper) 11 If not treated quickly with anti venom, 10 to 15 milligrams can be fatal to human beings. However, the Black Mamba can deliver as much as 100 to 400 milligrams of venom from a single bite. 11

Elle finishes reading and puts the paper away. She looks down at Budd at her feet, going through all the symptoms she just described.

• definitely one. But I got another

nR 11 for that bitch you might be surprised to find out. Respect. But right at this moment, the biggest 11R 11 I feel, is Regret. Regret that maybe the greatest warrior I have ever met, met her end at the hands • of a bushwhackin, scrub, alacky piece of shit like you. The woman deserved better.

Budd, dying, watches from the floor as Elle takes out her cell phone and presses one button. The other party comes on the line, but we never hear their side.

Budd tries to make a sound from the floor, Elle calmly places her foot over his mouth.

A 1st GRADE TEACHER reads roll call;

•

1ST GRADE TEACHER Melanie Harrhouse.

• WE WHIP PAN ACROSS A bunch of kids to an EX CU of 1st grader

1ST GRADE TEACHER Beatrix Kiddo.

WHIP PAN TO AN EX CU OF The grown-up BRIDE,

BACK TO ELLE ON PHONE

• should I come over?

(pause) No no no no no, you need me baby. I'm there. (pause) Okay, I 1 m leaving now, go smoke some pot or something. I 1 ll be there soon.

She hangs up the cell phone, and looks down at the dead man under her shoe.

Picking up the Hanzo sword, she climbs down on the floor on her hands and knees to pick up the fallen money.

CU The BLACK MAMBA out from under the refrigerator, behind Elle ...

Elle senses it. And slowly turns her head to look back ..

Both Black Mamba and Elle Driver LOCK EYES ...

ZOOM INTO BOTH CU 1 s tighter and tighter, till Elle says;

ELLE

• Bring it on, bitch.

The viper known as death incarnate, LEAPS at Elle.

Elle flicks her wrist slightly. She doesn 1 t even swing the blade. She just holds it.

•

The snake's head touches it, and is immediately SEPARATED

from its body.

ELLE 1 S EYES look down at the Japanese steel in her hand.

Elle exits the camper with both the sword and the black

suitcase in her hand.

She climbs into her gold and black Trans Am, starts up the

engine, turns on the radio ....

WHEN...

driver 1 s side car door window ... •

ELLE'S POV, The dirty BLONDE BRIDE behind the wheel of her new, enormous

red pickup truck, HEADING RIGHT FOR HER ...

CU The BRIDE

behind the wheel, HEADING RIGHT FOR HER ... VEGEANCE THEME

her jaw drops open. She 1 s gobsmacked. Not only does she see

the dead walk, she sees the dead behind two tons of metal coming at her at 100 MPH...

FLIES through the air, then ROLLS OVER AND OVER about five times in the desert sand and dirt ... ending upside down.

The dirty blonde looks out her windshield at the wreckage of

the black and gold sports car. A smile with the slightest

hint of satisfaction, spreads across her face.

She hops out of the truck and into Budd's camper. •

As she walks through the door, Budd 1 s dead, swollen body greets her. As does her serpent namesake, dead on the floor from decapitation.

She begins searching the camper, quickly, for something in particular. We don 1 t have the slightest clue what it could be.

The BRIDE'S POV, Budd 1 s camper, seen from up high looking down.

The BRIDE searching the camper.

The BRIDE'S POV, Budd 1 s camper 1 Budd exits by himself.

The BRIDE searching the camper.

- The BRIDE'S POV,

She watches from a high perch, Budd practicing with a ... SAMURAI SWORD.

The BRIDE searching under his bed, she sees a sword on the floor, resting in a shiny, black wood mahagony sheath. She removes it from its hiding place.

She closes the sheath, this will do. She sees a pair of cowboy boots. Picks one up and places the sole of the boot against the sole of her foot. Her feet and this man 1 s boot are around the same size. She slips her dirty feet in them.

She's good to go.

Elle crawls from the wreckage of the Trans Am, holding the Hanzo sword, looking like she I s just been in a car wreck,.

A cut on her head makes blood run down the side of her face. Luckily for her, not the side with the good eye.

The camper door swings open. The Bride emerges from Budd 1 s home, looking like a Barbie doll that 1 s been dug up after ten• years buried in the backyard, carrying a Hanzo sword. Every footfall creating a cloud of dust.

The two women, each carrying a samurai sword, face each other in showdown position.

A shark smile spreads across Elle's face.

The Bride unsheaths her sword with great flourish.

Elle does the same.

Without raising their swords into position, the two blonde warriors circle each other.

•

FLASHBACK - SPAGHETTI WESTERN STYLE of Pai Mei SNATCHING out Elle 1 s eye with his Eagle 1 s Claw.

Elle nods her head 1 yes. 1

•

Elle raises up The Bride's Hanzo sword into position.

The Bride raises up her sword.

The Bride completely drops her sword stance and her samurai bearing.

The Bride brings her sword back into combat position.

The two blonde warriors .... swords in position ... no longer circle each other .. '. .but instead move forward ... closer and closer to each other .... one baby step at a time .. .

Their separate GRIPS on the SWORD1 S HANDLE.

Their FEET moving closer.

The Bride's eye.

Elle 1 s eye.

The Tips of each other 1 s Blade.

Their Blonde Hair.

As the Operatic Spaghetti Western Music Builds to a crescendo ... we CUT BACK AND FORTH between CV 1 s of the two women that get TIGHTER AND TIGHTER as we ZOOM in CLOSER and CLOSER .... UNTIL ... We reach the THEME'S CLIMAX....

Both women let loose with a Samurai Grunt and Swing.

EX CU, TWO SILVER BLADES CLASH.

EX CU: BLONDE HAIR WHIPPING.

EX CU: TWO SILVER BLADES CLASH AGAIN.

TWO SHOT: The TWO WOMENWARRIORS stand their ground, STRIKING and DEFENDING ... When they stop, no one 1 s been touched.

The TWO WOMEN- Swords in attack position - stare across to

• the other one, as they prepare for their next attack ...

Now they begin to circle again.

CU THEIR FEET making a circular walk.

They ATTACK...

EX CU BLADES MEET -- However this time we don'•t know who 1 s on the left or the right. One Blade maneuvers around the other.

EX EX CU: of TIP OF BLADE SLICING OPEN SKIN, about a quarter of an inch. It looks like a scalpel cut. No blood. Just skin separating. We don't know who's cut.

The TWO WOMENstand and face each other. Neither knows if it's them who has been struck. Neither woman bleeds.

We feel a count of ... One Mississippi ...

EX CU: ONE SILVER BLADE, clean as a whistle.

EX CU, ONE SILVER BLADE with a smudge of CRIMSON BLOOD on its TIP .

We feel a count of Two Mississippi ...

• ELLE,

BLOOD begins to PROJECTILE SPRAY out of a slice in Elle 1 s neck only a quarter of an inch long. The Blood does not exit the neck as liquid but as a FINE RED MIST, like that of an aerosol can, we even HEAR the slight SPRAY WHISTLE. Elle feels nothing. She turns her eyes towards the sound of the spray, and sees the blood escaping her like air from a balloon. She lifts her hand and places it in the path of the spray, it 1 s immediately BATHED IN RED.

Elle drops the Bride 1 s sword.

As her blood continues to escape, both women look across each other.

The effect is that Elle Driver is a balloon and her life is escaping before both their very eyes. And now looking across at each other, the two women see the other for the first time, not as adversaries, or opponents, or as rivals, or as bitches ... but as sisters.

Elle no longer has enough life in her to stand up ... She falls to her knees in front of The Bride ....

The Bride 1 s standing body. Her blood runs down The Bride 1 s leg. As she passes on, Elle gently wraps her arms around the Bride 1 s leg.

The Bride's hands go down to Elle 1 s long blonde hair, and begins gently stroking it, easing her pain as she expires.

Only in death do they find the sisterhood that could have been theirs. •

WIDE SHOT The Bride standing, Elle on her knees, the desert surrounds them.

The BRIDE putting a shovel down.

WIDE SHOT The Bride has finished burying Elle. She sticks a jerry rigged wood cross in the ground as a marker. Then using her sog;

Then drives away in the big red pickup.

SPAGHETTI WESTERN MUSIC ENDS

BLACK FRAME TITLE APPEARS,

Final chapter •

11The blood-splattered BRIDEH

• INT. BILL'S HACIENDA - DAY

Bill on the patio of his beautiful hacienda home (named Villa Quatro) located on the beach in Mexico. At the moment Bill partaking of his current hobby ...... Flower Arranging.

With his hands among various flowers of BRIGHT COLORS, he sorts and prunes a very pretty arrangement.

EX CU the BRIDE'S EYE .... watching ....

Bill 1 s Mexican housekeeper, JOSEPHINA, appears on the patio.

• Do you like it?

As he heads out the patio, he tells her;

•

He exits the patio, then turns around and pops his head back• in.

We follow behind Bill as he moves through his house ... He slips on his jacket ... Grabs his keys ... TWO energetic GERMAN SHEPHERDS follow him out the front door onto his driveway.

On his way to his silver Porsche, he roughhouse plays with the dogs, speaking to them in Spanish. When he gets to the sports-car, the dogs won 1 t leave him alone, and one jumps on the Porsche. He yells at it in Spanish;

The gates in front of Bill 1 s Hacienda home open, and his silver Porsche hits the streets running. •

•

hear a SPANISH TRAGIC LOVE BALLAD, coming from the car radio.

The Bride 1 s eye.

Dirt Road, lined by greener than green trees, the Porsche kicks up dirt ZOOMING down it.

The Bride 1 s eye.

A striking but antiseptic-looking INSTITUTION of some sort, surrounded by the beautiful foliage of Mexico. Bill 1 s silver Porsche drives up its driveway.

The Bride's eye .

The institution is not Spanish in style, but on the contrary

• it 1 s a clinical new-age box-like structure made up of clear

glass doors and walls and the color beige.

Bill walks through the glass doors, to a lone Asian FEMALE RECEPTIONIST, her desk is the only furniture in the lobby. In JAPANESE he explains to her his reason for being there.

EX CU The BRIDE'S EYE ... watching ... we now leave any shot of Bill not from the Bride's perspective. The SUSPENSE THEME is STRETCHED TIGHTER and TIGHTER as we look through the Bride's POV and listen to her VO;

The Bride's POV: The Glass-enclosed Institution, and Bill standing by himself in the empty lobby .

THE BRIDE (V.O.)

• Y 1 all figured I'd face him with my

Hanzo sword, aye? Well, I figured Bill figured the same thing. I am the product of three godfathers. Bill, Pai Mei, and Hattori Hanzo. Different teachers teach you • different things. But one thing I learned from all three, was 1'in combat, the opponent that does the unexpected, can usually expect to be the victor." Bill would never see this coming. Not from me. And least any of you judge me a bushwhacker, remember ... It was Bill who taught me how to shoot.

As the Bride has said these things, WE'VE seen INSERTS of her putting together her high-powered scope rifle. Snapping on the scope sight. Setting the FOCUS through the CROSSHAIRS. Loading the heavy-duty AMMO. Curling her long white finger around the rifle's TRIGGER.

SCOPE SIGHT POV: Bill's head in between the Crosshairs. SUSPENSE THEME is STRETCHED TIGHTER STILL ... it will soon break.

WIDE SHOT looking through the Institution's glass wall. The elevator in the lobby opens ... and A LITTLE GIRL steps out, and runs into Bill's arms. A LITTLE GIRL about five years old. A FIVE-YEAR OLD LITTLE GIRL with blonde hair. Bill picks up the Little Girl and lifts her HEAD into the CROSSHAIRS of the SCOPE SIGHT.

•

SUSPENSE THEME SNAPS into an OPERATIC WAIL ...

EX CU: The Bride's finger, pops off the trigger.

EX CU: The Bride's eye, A HUGE TEAR FALLS OUT ... We move out of the eyeball, into• a MEDIUM CU of The Bride, tears falling down her face ... She can't believe what she 1 s looking at ... that 1 s her daughter ... She's alive ...

Her REMEMBERING THEME PLAYS ...

CU of The BRIDE In one moment, Bill has managed to suddenly change the game.

Silence, except for a few birds.

•

Bill behind the wheel, his little girl asleep in the passenger seat. He sees something ahead.

A convertible Volkswagen Karman Ghia enters the road heading in the opposite direction. It 1 s a long long long way off, but it will get closer every second.

Bill senses something about this automobile, and throws a glance at his sleeping child.

His cell phone RINGS, he answers it.

The Bride behind the wheel of the convertible, her long blonde hair whipping in the wind, talks to Bill for the first time in five years and six months.

He glances down at the sleeping child.

The Bride gets choked up again, emotion betrays her voice.

She wipes her eyes. Her hand moves under her shirt, fingertips rest on scar.

THE BRIDE

• What do you mean?

• dreaming of her." So I gave her a

picture of you --

The EXACT PHOTO DISSOLVES OVER The Bride's face, then DISSOLVES AWAY.

Pause .... The cars get closer ...

want to sword fight, that's where I suggest. But if you wanna be old school about it - then we can wait till dawn, and slice each other up at sunrise, like a couple real life honest to goodness samurais. As per usual Kiddo, I'll leave the big decisions up to you.

The cars will soon pass ...

•

His foot moves off the gas, slowing the car; her foot does the same.

The cars in SLOW MOTION start to pass .

The Bride looks into the other car.

•

We ZOOM past Bill to the little girl in the passenger seat. We go ONE FRAME AT A TIME till the car moves past us, to Bill holding a pistol with a large silencer pointing right at our face. He FIRES. It emits only a tiny PHOOF.

The Bride throws herself across the passenger seat as the • driver 1 s side window EXPLODES over her head.

The two cars pass each other.

The Bride straightens herself in the driver 1 s seat. She looks in the rearview as Bill and her daughter drive away. Grabbing the cell phone she screams in it;

Bill on his cell, eyes on rearview.

He hangs up.

Hattori Hanzo lies sleeping on his mat ...

• Hello ....

The Bride's on the phone, calling Japan, in tears.

CUT TO,

• INT. THE BRIDE DRIVING TO BILL'S VILLA

The same shot we saw during the opening credits. She 1 s dressed in a white bridal gown, the exact replica of the one she was bushwhacked in.

Over her CU we DISSOLVE TO A CU OF HANZO talking to her earlier on the phone.

WE DISSOLVE BACK to The Bride.

We see the same shots as before of The Bride driving up to Bill 1 s villa, through his iron gates, and parking by his front door. We see TWO BLACK-SUITED MALE SATELLITES approach her .

Now comes the new stuff.

•

She climbs out of her vehicle, goes to the back, opens the boot~ and removes her MOSSBERG PUMP ACTION SHOTGUN.

The two satellites freeze ...

She SLIDES THE PUMP once, and FIRES. •

ONE is BLOWN APART by the blast.

She SLIDES THE PUMP a second time ... BLAST.

TWO buys the farm.

She slides the PUMP again ...

inside.

ANOTHER BLACK-SUITED SATELLITE hurries down the stairs, reaching for his weapon ...

She FIRES the shotgun into his kneecap ...

He TUMBLES down the stairs landing at her feet.

She points the shotgun straight down at his face.

• THE BRIDE Hello Manny.

She FIRES ... Then moves further into the house.

Apparently, this is the do-the-unexpected part of her plan. Fuck the charade, storm the camp, kill everyone she comes across, send Bill to hell, scoop up her daughter, and head for parts unknown.

So far, so good.

She enters the butcher block kitchen, and finds Bill 1 s cook and housekeeper, Josephina.

Josephina stares at the shotgun barrel pointed at her.

She grabs the housekeeper, and shoves her into the kitchen pantry .

•

She closes the pantry door, and moves into the hallway leading to the living room.

With her back against the wall, holding her weapon tight, she moves down the hall. As she creeps, an unseen Bill yells to her from around the corner.

• Back against the wall she creeps down the hall to the end.

She pumps the slide, and TURNS THE CORNER - SHOTGUN RAISED - READY TO FIRE ...

EX CU HER FINGER comes off the trigger.

What the Bride sees in front of her is, Bill in a tuxedo, holding a small, orange squirt gun pointed at her. Standing next to him is five-year-old little B.B., dressed up in a very pretty party dress, arm outstretched holding a orange squirt gun, aimed at The Bride.

The three look at each other for a moment, then Bill says;

Then he suddenly clutches his abdomen like he 1 s just been shot.

•

B.B. lowers her gun and plays out a big dying scene alongside her dad ... Bill falls to the floor. •

B.B. parrots this.

Bill on the floor, says up to his little girl;

The little girl falls down pretend dead.

The Bride, still absentmindedly pointing her weapon at them, is truly thrown.

Bill delivers his lines from the floor, spoken like a dying • breath;

And with these last words, pretends to die.

But then while pretending to be dead, he speaks in a dramatic narrator's voice.

B.B. raises her head off the floor and says;

B.B. •

(to Mommy) I 1 m impervious to bullets, Mommy.

The little girl 1 s head drops back down.

Bill continues his dramatic narration;

B.B. springs up holding her tiny orange squirt gun and says;

The Bride continues watching in gobsmackery.

Bill raises his head off the floor, and says to her in his normal voice;

The Bride shakes off her confusion, and acts out a big death scene fo her little girl.

She falls to the floor and pretends to die.

The little girl in her party dress, runs over to the big girl in her wedding dress, and kneels over her mommy.

Mommy opens her eyes .

• playing.

From the floor, looking up at her daughter, she speaks to her for the first time.

• MOMMY I know baby.

They embrace each other.

The female killer says to her daughter as mommieness begins to creep into her voice;

She holds her daughter out at arm 1 s length to get a better look at her.

B.B. starts stroking her mother's long blonde hair.

All of a sudden, Bill has joined them on the floor.

The little girl gets shy.

As she strokes her long blonde hair, little B.B. says;

B.B. points to Manny 1 s blood, which splashed a little on the Bride 1 s wedding gown.

•

Parroting Bill;

The little girl gives a big nod, yes.

B.B. does an exaggerated nod, yes.

• MOMMY No.

He offers his hand to Mommy, and helps her to her feet. Then says to B.B.;

She says excitedly;

B.B.

• Yeah!

He scoops the little girl up, puts her on his shoulders, and

as the mommy and the daddy and their little girl walk through the house towards the dinner table, Bill and B.B. Sing The Carpenter 1 s song, "Top Of The World.n It 1 s obviously one of their songs.

The dining room of Bill 1 s house. The family, mother father

and daughter, sit at the dinner table eating.

•

The Bride shows no sign of thawing around Bill.

• B.B.

Why? Where you a bad daddy?

• B.B. I stepped on him.

8.8. Yeah.

carpet? And Mommy, you would have been real proud of her, because she didn 1 t lie. She said she took Emilio out of his bowl, and put him on the carpet. And what was Emilio

• doing on the carpet, baby?

•

•

• BILL (to Mommy) She told me later, that the second she lifted up her foot and saw him not flapping, she knew he was dead. Is that not the perfect visual image of life and death? A fish flapping on the carpet, and a fish not flapping on the carpet. So powerful even a five-year old child with no concept of life and death knew what it meant. Not only did she know Emilio was dead, she knew she had killed him. So she comes running into my room, holding Emilio in both of her little hands - it was so cute - and she wanted me to make Emilio better. And I asked her, why did she step on Emilio? And she said, she didn't know. But I knew why. You didn't mean to hurt Emilio, you just wanted to see what would happen if you stepped on him, right?

• B.B. Uh-huh.

can 1 t be undone. I knew just how she felt Ito B.B.) You loved Emilio, didn 1 t you?

•

•

•

•

Bill sits on the steps of his porch in the back of the house drinking a glass of red wine. The steps lead to the beach and the sea.

Beatrix steps out onto the porch, and sits down on the steps across from him. •

Between them the dawn sky breaks.

He holds up the bottle of vino.

She shakes her blonde head, no.

She gives him a look.

She shakes her blonde head, yes.

She holds out the empty glass, and he fills it with red.

She gives him another look.

Bill drinks some wine.

•

• love is dead? I mourned you. Then

in the third month of my mourning, I track you down. I wasn 1 t trying to track you down, I was trying to track down - the fucking assholes - who I thought killed you. And when I find you, what to I find? Not only are you not dead, you're getting married - to some fuckin jerk - and you're pregnant? How do you expect me to react?

The Bride decides to tell all. As she tells this story, parts will be shown on the screen.

To give herself a running start with the story she starts it off in Japanese;

Bill interrupts her.

The Bride explodes;

•

BILL • But you never did.

kill me in my hotel room. As I was dancing in euphoria, the killer came down the hall.

There's a knock on the hotel room door.

•

The Bride stops dancing and goes to the door 1 s peephole.

PEEPHOLE POV, A pretty KOREAN WOMANin the blazer and skirt outfit of a hotel manager. She 1 s holding a basket of flowers.

The Bride says through the door;

Seeing it through the peephole .

• busy at this second, could you

possibly come back later?

As she talks, she accidentally drops the blue strip, she bends down to pick it up ...

Karen kicks open the door, Pump Action Shotgun in hand.

The Bride 1 s on her back, on the floor below her.

Karen aims the shotgun down at her,

With her foot, The Bride kicks the front door.

It SLAMS BACK HITTING Karen in the face.

The Bride scrambles to her feet, running for cover.

Karen pushes the door aside, steps into the room, and FIRES the shotgun The Bride 1 s way .

The Bride DIVES out of the way.

•

The BLAST DESTROYS the side of the room it HITS.

The Bride comes up from the floor with her SOG in her hand, and THROWS IT across the room at Karen ...

Karen BLOCKS the thrown knife with her shotgun. The blade • sticking in the weapon 1 s wooden stock. She removes the knife, and drops it to the floor.

The Bride is a sitting duck. There's nothing she can do except wait to get shot.

She raises the shotgun, and takes aim at The Bride ...

Karen stops.

Karen looks at her, nwhat?n.

Karen looks over to the door, and sees the tiny strip on the floor.

The Bride complies. Karen bends down and picks the strip off the floor. Then takes the package it came in and reads the directions on the box.

•

It is blue, Karen 1 s starting to believe her.

Karen does ... She starts backing out of the room ... before she leaves, she says;

•

Starting to get mad.

•

•

She takes a sip of wine. It's morning now. And now it 1 s her turn.

• I 1 d 1 ve been wrong, wouldn 1 t I?

Bill listens stoney, then;

The Bride listens stoney, then;

THE BRIDE

• Explain yourself.

That's his explanation.

She hears it.

They both understand one another.

THE BRIDE • You and I have unfinished business.

They both laugh.

•

She nods her head, yes.

As the blue waves of the Gulf of Mexico crash on the beach, The Bride in her bridal gown, and Bill, his tuxedo jacket off, face each other in a combat stance.

The BRIDE Breeze blowing her blonde hair, holding her Hanzo sword in its sheath.

WIDE SHOT The two combatants ... quite far from each other ... they intend to charge/attack ... stand in showdown stance.

The BRIDE The VENGEANCE THEME EXPLODES ON THE SOUNDTRACK. She takes her combat stance. But what she doesn 1 t do is remove her sword from its wood sheath. The fist of her left

- hand is wrapped around the wood sheath 1 s center. Her right

empty hand, raises and makes a beckoning gesture to Bill. Then with a face completely devoid of emotion, says in Japanese;

She 1 s facing him, sword in sheath, hand far from handle, in a standing still position, not moving a muscle of blinking an eye, staring her laser beams in Bill's direction waiting for his attack.

He stands in a combat position, sword raises in a combat grip, to charge her.

He screams a samurai scream ... and charges her ...

She stands motionless ...

Unblinking ...

Watching him coming ...

No fear ....

No expression ...

We go back and forth, close, wide, low.

Using only her left arm, with the sheathed Hanzo sword in its grip, she blocks all of his blows, right arm unmoving down at her side ... sort of like Pai Mei did to her earlier ... his sword and her sheath lock together ... they're close to each other, she brings up her right arm, sticks out two fingers, and hits Bill on ten different pressure points on his body. Then hits him straight on in the heart with her palm. His body jolts, like he 1 s just had a heart attack ... he coughs up a little blood ... he looks at her.

Their faces are very close ...

The face of the cold ice woman Ninja, melts away before our eyes, and the face of Beatrix Kiddo is filled once again with compassion.

• THE BRIDE

Of course he did.

She doesn't have an answer.

She looks at him apologetically;

He smiles at her duplicitly, and says with blood on his lips;

They smile at each other.

Then ...

Bill turns his back to her ...

And walks five steps in the opposite direction ... with each step his heart swells, on the fifth ...

It BURSTS ... WE HEAR A SOUND, like of a tire blowout ...

He falls to the beach ... dead.

The Bride walks over to his body.

She unsheaths her Hanzo sword.

Blood lies in a pool, by Bill 1 s mouth.

She dips the tip of the blade in the blood, leaving the tiniest of crimson smudges.

She then removes the Bill handkerchief, and wipes Bill 1 s blood from off the blade onto the white cloth.

She lets the Bill handkerchief drop onto his body.

The Jingi sword Hattori Hanzo created, just for her, for this purpose, has come to the end of its journey.

Beatrix, in a moment of enormous generosity, allows herself, one final tear, shed for her corrupter, her enemy, the father of her child, ... her MAN. The tear is for her as well. For• she 1 s very aware she will never ever be completely any other man 1 s WOMAN.

EX CU The Hanzo BLADE slowly sliding into the wood sheath.

EX CU the single teardrop, sliding down her cheek.

The blade disappears inside the sheath.

The teardrop falls of her chin.

Her journey, her revenge, her victory, her unfinished business, is completed,

The Bride exits the beach.

Bill doesn't. SERIES OF SHOTS END FILM As a female voice sings a song on the soundtrack.

We see the Bride, get B.B.

The Bride and B.B. are driving away.

The Bride and B.B. eating in a coffee shop.

The Bride and B.B. in a motel room. They both wear bath towels and both of their blonde heads are wet. The Bride sits behind her on the bed, combing the little one 1 s head.

The Bride spooning B.B. from behind, both of them are asleep.

It 1 s the morning ...

B.B. Sits on the motel room bed, watching Saturday morning cartoons on T.V.

The Bride is on the floor of the motel room bathroom, crying her eyes out.

She shoves a towel in her mouth so B.B. won 1 t hear her.

We wonder for a moment what's wrong ...

Till we see her face in CU ...

Her tears are tears.of joy.

She can't believe this is even happening. •

Her daughter is alive. They 1 re together. They get to begin again .

She covers her mouth so B.B. won 1 t hear her crying and get worried or confused.

•

But as the deadliest woman on the planet, lies on the motel room bathroom floor, smile on her face, twinkle in her eyes, happier than she 1 s ever been, she thinks one thought. Over and over again ....

Thank you god ... thank you god ... thank you god ... thank you god.

She washes her face in the sink, when she 1 s presentable, she walks out of the bathroom, jumps on the bed with her baby, hugs her from behind as the two watch Saturday morning cartoons.

The lioness has been reunited with her cub, and all is right in the jungle.

CUT TO,

•

By

Quentin Tarantino

•