Japanese martial artist Sonny Chiba - who plays sword-maker Hattori Hanzo in Kill Bill - isn't the kind of person to keep his mouth shut. So when director Quentin Tarantino told him he was cutting one of his scenes, he exploded into a rage.
But this was no a display of vanity. Chiba simply thought the scene was important to show Japanese culture in its true light. 'I am very disappointed that this scene was not shot,' he says. 'It was a scene in which I taught Uma Thurman about the Samurai sword. I told her that a sword was not made to kill people. I taught her the basic Samurai principles and philosophy. I was really angry when it was cancelled because of her schedule. If that scene had been included, the sword-fighting would have made more sense.'
Chiba, star of the violent 1970s film series Streetfighter, is diplomatic about Thurman's sword-fighting skills. But he was impressed with Lucy Liu and Daryl Hannah. Hannah will even travel to Japan to appear in Chiba's own film about a white female samurai warrior. 'It was funny for me to see the girls performing as Samurai,' Chiba says. 'The Japanese samurai swords are really heavy. But in some scenes, Uma was using only one hand. That's unrealistic. Maybe some men could do it with one hand, but it's hard for a woman to do that. It's something I want to forget about. But I think Lucy was really good.'
In spite of his problems with the missing scene, Chiba is full of praise for Tarantino. 'I think Quentin studied our culture very well,' he says. 'There are some very small things wrong, but that's okay.''