The Kill Bill Diary: The Making of a Tarantino Classic as Seen Through the Eyes of a Screen Legend Paperback – Bargain Price, October 31, 2006

In early 1982 … I had a not-so-nice (as I called it in the past, ‘My unconscionable close encounter with Mr. David Carradine’) ... make that the late Mr. David Carradine as he passed away in June of 2009.It was in Las Vegas at the annual ‘ShoWest Convention’ (where much of the movie industry’s biggest to the smallest Exhibitors, Distributors & Studios meet yearly) — and Mr. Carradine was there at the MGM Grand, selling an indie film that he wrote, directed, produced & starred in entitled, ‘AMERICANA’ …Once this thing, ever so briefly happened, my ever so minuscule, TINY EEEEE-go (I was in my early 20’s) was bruised. It was one of those, ‘How dare he … etc.’ events.… and full disclosure, I hung onto that ouch for years. Decades, in fact.CUT TO: Earlier this year (2015) — I got a hold of his book, ‘KILL BILL DIARY’ and in it —— he details how for too-too many years, he was a practicing alcoholic and how it & he did too much harm as a result of the booze to his family & friendships, his marriages and his career.Now, coming from some of my own family members who’ve been dry (at this writing) for over four decades and members of A.A., I should have recognized that behavior back then — (especially, after our brief and the above term ‘close encounter’ does apply) … as he was headed for one of the bars on the main floor of the MGM Grand.So, for well over a decade, Mr. Carradine was ‘dry’ … and he wasn’t like the drinking Mr. Carradine.I came to re-consider his rudeness to myself and his at times unconscionable behavior(s) on and off the set(s) were fueled by that devil rum, so to speak.In short, if you can read this somewhere in the great beyond, David C., I do forgive you for our not so nice meeting that Winter’s day oh so long ago in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada. Rest well, you most certainly earned it.D.A.

Began reading this book after finishing "David Carradine, The Eye of My Tornado by x-wife Marina Anderson. The Anderson book is replete with stories of David starting his morning off when a bar opens, continual drinking throughout the day and on movie lots, etc. She did get him to stop drinking briefly, and friends were amazed at the real Carradine, but he went back to his old habit. Even Director, George Mendeluk (one of many persons) relates a tale of when he was summoned to Carradine's trailer at 7:00 a.m.where he met a "leering" Carradine with an open bottle of vodka. Carradine offered him a drink, which Mendeluk declined, saying he didn't drink at work or that early in the morning. Mendeluck says Carradine replied "Well I do. Got a problem with that?" Mendeluck said no problem, as long as he knew his lines and hit his marks, which Mendeluck said he did, despite the heavy drinking. Fast forward to The Kill Bill Diary, which I am half-way through, and there has been zero mention by Carradine of any drinking by him at any function or occasion - not once. He says he went out for "coffees" and watched his current wife sip Merlot wine at dinners and other functions. From his account, you'd think he was a Mormon - except he does admit to smoking cigars and drinking coffee. Not giving us readers a glimpse of the real David Carradine, but I guess denial and only telling half a story is part of being an alcoholic. Then in a later part of the book, he incredibly claims he has been sober for the last six years. Only problemo is the Kill Bill Diary starts March 21, 2002. Taking six years off that goes all the way back to March 21, 1996 when he was married to Gail Jensen and includes all of his marriage to Marina Anderson (1998-2001). When Marina first met him, he was at the height of his drinking, even stories of Carradine and former wife Gail being totally snookered at various events are numerous. Marina is the one who resurrected his career and the only wife who persuaded him to go on the wagon, albeit very briefly, much to her disappointment. Of course, at the time he wrote Kill Bill Diary, Marina's book was not written and would not be until after his death in Bankkok, Thailand in 2009. Marina and others, after researching his death, say it was murder, and not accidental death or suicide.

I LOVE the "Kill Bill" movies, and had always wondered what it was like for the actors to breathe life into their characters via Tarantino's manic (and brilliant) direction. I enjoyed Carradine's subjective perspective, and have a better understanding now of how day-to-day events unfold on a basic shoot. This movie was pretty complex, requiring months of grueling martial arts training, shooting on multiple continents, and a HUGE cast of characters that needed to be molded into a cohesive tale, and Tarantino apparently inspires enough trust and loves his actors enough to make them voluntarily submit to pretty much any wild thing that pops into his head. Carradine's role, ironically, is relatively small (considering the movie is named after his character), but he was inspired by his conspiratorial relationship with Tarantino in such a way that his presence eventually loomed large, although he was little more than a few hand images and voice overs in Part 1.I confess to being mildly disappointed in not having more technical detail about the shoot: Carradine mostly relates stories about his personal relationships with his fellow actors, and includes multiple personal anecdotes about his wife, Annie, as well as a widely cast net of Hollywood "Players." All well and good, as the title states the focus will be the experience through David's eyes, but I now hope I'll find other interviews and/or books featuring Uma, Sonny Chiba, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen, and others who can add to David's story and provide unique insights of their own.An easy read, and a nice keepsake to memorialize the man who has since passed. I'm glad Tarantino gave him one last chance to shine.

A great BTS view of the filming process of the two Kill Bill films

Sehr cooles Tagebuch, macht echt Spaß den Dreh von Kill Bill durch die Augen des Film- und Fernsehaltmeisters zu beobachten. Er hat im Original eine wunderbare Schreibe, von der ich nicht weiß, wie eine deutsche Übersetzung ihr auch nur annähernd gerecht werden könnte.

As someone who grew up watching Kwai Chang Caine on TV I had a love hate relationship with David Carradine. I loved his quiet humble character that he portrayed but much to my chagrin, to hear that he was a heavy drinking braggert who took the coveted spot from Bruce Lee, how could my opinion of him not change? His Kill Bill Diaries have now again allowed me to reassess my outlook towards him. So well written and philosophical with such a positive and "big picture" look at life, how can I not like and respect his viewpoint. Certainly an ode to Quentin and Uma, he doesn't pull any punches either and calls things as he sees them. Well done and much deserved respect!

Das Buch ist ein frivoler Tagebuchbericht, der bei Weitem mehr ins Detail gehen könnte.Für Fans von Tarantino, Carradine, dem alten Hollywood und dem alten-alten ist das Kill-Bill-Tagebuch dennoch ein lesenwertes Sammelobjekt.