Chiaki Kuriyama's calm menace and physical assurance make her a persuasive presence in action. Gogo Yubari earns the attention, though we would be wary of treating one short fight as a full account of an actor's work.
Fi1m perspective
In Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), Chiaki Kuriyama wears a school uniform and swings a spiked ball on a chain. Her Gogo Yubari gets the film's best short fight, with enough physical assurance to make the outlandish weapon convincing. We were delighted by the encounter because she makes that weapon feel manageable as well as dangerous. Sally Menke's editing keeps the action legible, allowing us to follow the fighters rather than merely register movement. Kuriyama benefits from our being able to see what she is doing.
The route to Gogo ran through Battle Royale (2000), in which she plays Takako Chigusa for Kinji Fukasaku. Tarantino saw that film before casting her in what became her Hollywood debut. We prefer Fukasaku's film: its teenage killing contest hurts because the teenagers are taken seriously, despite flashbacks that labour the point. That matters when considering Kuriyama, who is often cast as a young woman in uniform capable of menace or violence. In Battle Royale, the young people are allowed foolishness and affection as well as fear.
Her film career began with Shikoku (1999), and after Kill Bill: Vol. 1 she continued primarily in Japanese films and television. In Exte: Hair Extensions (2007), she takes the lead as Yuko Mizushima for Sion Sono; Blade of the Immortal (2017) casts her as Hyakurin for Takashi Miike. These are horror and samurai films respectively, keeping her within genres that have often called on her physical presence. We see no reason to count the relative scarcity of subsequent English-language roles against her.
Tarantino's writing is the caveat. We found Kill Bill: Vol. 1 exhilarating in its fights but incomplete as a film, and Kuriyama's contribution works within those limits. Gogo has a costume, a weapon and a short encounter in which to make herself matter; Kuriyama does, which is a considerable achievement in such busy company. For the stronger film, start with Battle Royale. Save Kill Bill: Vol. 1 for an evening when the fighting matters more than getting a complete story.
Biography
Chiaki Kuriyama is a Japanese actress, model and singer. She was born on 10 October 1984 in Tsuchiura, Japan. She began her career as a child model in the mid-1990s, appearing in magazines and photobooks, before making her film debut in Shikoku (1999). Early roles included Battle Royale (2000) as Takako Chigusa and Ju-on: The Curse (2000).
Kuriyama gained international recognition for her performance as Gogo Yubari in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003). Tarantino cast her after seeing her work in Battle Royale. She reprised the role in Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004). The fight sequence with Uma Thurman won the Best Fight award at the 2004 MTV Movie Awards.
She has continued to work in Japanese film and television, with later credits including Azumi 2: Death or Love (2005), Blade of the Immortal (2017) and Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy (2022). Kuriyama made her singing debut in 2010 and has received awards such as the Asia Rising Star Award in 2014.
