Title: Lady Snowblood: Blizzard from the Netherworld
Rating: 4/5
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
Starring: Meiko Kaji, Toshio Kurosawa
Director: Toshiya Fujita
Language: Japanese

Concluding my stint on 70s cinema comes a pair of films that are perhaps most aptly described as the ‘original’ version to Tarantino’s ‘Kill Bill;’ his borrowing from this era of film making is a fact he’s more than open about and indeed opened the gateway for my own exploration. Filled with more sword-wielding carnage through its tale of retribution, Meiko Kaji (the star of the ‘Female Prisoner’ series) makes another return as a wholly different, yet equally mesmerising character.

Set in 1874 Japan, the tale follows Yuki – aka Lady Snowblood – (Kaji), a woman bore in prison to a woman incapable of exacting her revenge on the three responsible for brutally murdering her husband and raping her. Dying during labour, her child is raised according to her wishes, her sole purpose to exact bloody vengeance for the sadistic actions of such men. Based on the manga of the same name (written by the man who gave us ‘Lone Wolf and Cub’ no less), you can be assured that no expense is to be spared in the loss of life, limbs and gratuitous floods of blood in this tale of vigilante justice.

Despite the remarkably similar sounding premise, the aspect most intriguing here is lost in Tarantino’s work; the character of ‘Lady Snowblood’ is not a generic two-dimensional assassin and the strongest aspect is indeed the drama pertaining to the challenge she is to face. Is she to follow her mother’s wishes? Or will she follow her perceived destiny? And furthermore, what is to become of her if she succeeds? There is a subtle dark realism she brings to the character that elevates this from another mere gratuitously bloodthirsty film. With a lesser focus on the minor characters, notably the nonetheless capable journalist who becomes entangled in her web of anarchy (Kurosawa), this proves to be an expert marriage of director and actors, working with one another to produce a clarity of character vision.

One of the most striking aspects to its direction is the imagery used, the juxtaposition of beauty and death running rampant throughout the film, ushering in this young woman dressed entirely in white as the saviour of the story; not least in the blood soaked protagonist walking through the snow, or the blood-red snow fall during the powerful scene of the new life in Yuki crying next to her dying mother. The effects are simplistic but effective in the manner they are used, the use of colour evidently with significant thought as it creates the desired atmosphere.

This proves to be another worthy addition to the notion of combining ‘art-house with grind-house,’ though the manner it comes across is vastly different to that in ‘Female Prisoner.’ This is a cliché tale of vengeance wrapped up in numerous sub plots, dramatic tension and ultimately a degree of poetic realism that I’ve yet to see entirely recreated. This film treats the genre in a far more serious manner, and the end result demonstrates how effective a style can be produced. Fans of ‘Kill Bill,’ should unquestionably seek out the masterpiece that Tarantino felt needed to be re-made, and those with a love for fake blood and violence will find enough to their liking to make the Western equivalent hang their head in shame. Lady Snowblood; proving a powerful plot can elevate the quality of the goriest of the grindhouse era.





Title: Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance
Rating: 3/5
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Starring: Meiko Kaji, Juzo Itami, Kazuko Koshiyuki
Director: Toshiya Fujita
Language: Japanese

The second part in this series shows a remarkable change in style; expecting more of the same powerful action-filled swordplay and another tale of vengeance, instead the result delivered on neither of these. Whilst assuredly succeeding in not falling into the ‘sequel trap,’ trying to deliver on one notch more than what came before it, the result feels different enough to alienate the viewer who may feel they have been misled. There is very little action to be found here, and not enough violence to satisfy my gore-hound cravings for even its own duration. Instead it strives to be more creative, more intelligent and thought provoking than ever before, but in doing so have lost sight of what made the first so enjoyable.

Following from the first, several years have passed and Lady Snowblood (Kaji) is still at large. Relentlessly hunted for mass murder by the police, she survives as a fugitive on the run, constantly under attack until the day she relinquishes her sword, giving herself up to the police. Sentenced to death by hanging, before she can reach her destination she is sprung by the secret police, rescued in order to infiltrate an anarchist (Itami) to retrieve a letter that could expose them for who they are. Quickly befriending the anarchist, she betrays the corrupt government officials to work as protector, helping the truth to emerge.

Unexpectedly, the main issue presented here comes from Kaji’s performance. With four previous superb performances, this is her showing she isn’t flawless herself (though admittedly the plot left a lot to be desired). The acting feels wooden; there’s no emotional depth, she has no stake in the political proceedings and thus feels rather like a tool to be manipulated by others, a bowling ball swept up by the political turmoil to be flung at the pinheaded enemies in an attempt to knock them all down. Whereas before we saw her inner turmoil at her actions, her strength of will more than of the sword, even the ‘vengeance’ aspect disappears. This inability to demonstrate the character capable of independent thought is a fundamental issue that detracts from the good done in the first part.

Taking a backseat in her own film gives way to the two co-leads in Itami’s revolutionary, vying for change, and his disillusioned brother played by Koshiyuki. Two very different characters with different intentions and goals, this aspect could easily have been exploited in more detail to demonstrate their relationship in more than simple chunks of cliché dialogue, both having their moments to shine in the proceedings. The villain in this tale feels rather cheap and generic with little thought behind his motivations, and despite the initial source of mystery, this soon clears up leaving an instantly forgettable two-dimensional character.

The soundtrack at times felt a little out of place in tempo, but rarely detracted from the end result, and the choreography where it did occur felt less impressive. Many of the stunts looking perhaps a little clumsy; far from the image of elegance and grace she used to wield in her ability to fight, which whilst perhaps understandable to an extent (tired of being hunted, getting lazy and over-confident) was disappointing to watch, and at times down right awful (watching an extra clutch his face in pain after being stabbed in the stomach for example). Furthermore, much of the fights have a notable absence of arterial spurts, blood gushes and flying limbs. In fact, there wasn’t enough violence present to provide more than a morsel of a snack to the gore-hound in me. Whilst not a terrible film, this was certainly a disappointment to an otherwise successful stint on this period of film history, and those looking for a more conventional swordplay film may do well to skip this one.