The majority of the 'general' western audiences knows Lady Snowblood as one of the most significant inspirations for Quentin Tarantino (and Uma Thurman) in the creation of the Kill Bill films and the character of The Bride itself. In one scene in particular from Vol. 1 - the "Showdown at the House of Blue Leaves" chapter - this is more than obvious. Anyway, I won't mention Kill Bill and Tarantino again, I promess. Lady Snowblood, although made more than 30 years ago, is a masterpiece in its own right.
This incredibly stylish film (check out all the shots that mix blood on white, whether snow or kimono) is a little known entry in the niche of female samurai films. The protagonist is a woman and a deadly one at that. Of course, she is stunningly beautiful, just in case one is not entirely captivated by her sword-wielding skills. With a great story, well-done action sequences, and talented acting, the entertainment value of Lady Snowblood could not be ruined even by the awfully cheesy 1970s Western music.
For those familiarized with Japanese history, the year is Meiji 6, and the country reels after the dissolution of the 300 year old Tokugawa shogunate. The empire is undergoing the first stages of militarization, which involves the first ever compulsory draft. Some unscrupulous shady characters run a "get out of the draft" scam, which involves spreading rumors that people dressed in white are government secret agents. The ruffians brutally murder a teacher on his way to the village where he is to work (he wore white), dispatch his son, and rape his wife. The wife manages to take revenge on one of the attackers but is arrested and thrown in jail before she could finish her task. In jail, she seduces every guard in sight in order to bear a child to complete her vengeance. This "child of the netherworld" is Yuki, Lady Snowblood (Meiko Kaji), and the film is the story of her cold revenge that takes place twenty years later.
The film is suffused with impressive imagery, and the narrative has several unexpected twists and turns. All for the better, as it keeps the story interesting beyond the visual candy, of which there is plenty. The blood and gore are also well-done, even if blood tends to spurt as if from a well-shaken Coke can. Most definitely a tad above the other (more famous) swordplay films, Lady Snowblood is a sight to behold. There's also a sequel, Love Song of Vengeance, which is not as good, but for Toshiya Fujita and Meiko Kaji fans, a must-see nevertheless.
Classic Japanese period revenge film. Very well done. Visually beautiful. Cool sequences. Tarantino's "Kill Bill" pays homage to this film, as well as others of its type.
Excellent samurai tale of revenge that quite obviously was one of Tarantino's sources of inspriation for 'Kill Bill.' Red, red, blood and one bad ass bitch make this a good time all around.
Kazuo Koike's theory is right, great characters make the stories write by themselves. Add someone with great screen charisma like Meiko Kaji and you have a winner.
Whatever you think of Tarantino's Kill Bill, its success meant that some of the little known(in the west at least) films that inspired that film have had some dvd releases, and Lady Snowblood is among the best of them. The films plot is fairly simple. a woman gives birth in prison and dies. Before she passes away she tells the other locked-up women that her daughter has only one reason in life: revenge. We then find out what has happened to cause this situation. the woman's husband was murdered and she was beaten and raped by a group of five. After managing to kill one of this gang herself, she was sent to prison. In the prison she whores herself out to any man available so that eventually ends up pregnant with the aim that the child will revenge her dead husband and her own sad demise. The film follows this daughters training and eventual attempt to revenge her parents.Of course, it all gets a bit messy.
For such an old film Lady Snowblood doesn't seem very old fashioned. It's a tale of revenge which is very bloody chopped limbs and gushes of blood and if the story seems tired, it's actually told in a fairly original way. Told in chapters (like Kill Bill) these story moves at a slow pace but you know each small part will have its own climax so theres never to long to
wait before a new development. The film also incorporates an extended scene where the story is told via illustrations (the story is based on a bestselling manga, and this is a technique which is also "borrowed" by Kill Bill, albeit in an animated style) and its with this mixture of
storytelling techniques that the film seems quicker and more lively than it actually is. Which is of course a good thing. The lovely Kaji Meiko plays Yuki, otherwise known as Lady Snowblood, otherwise known as the crazy bitch out for revenge. For the most part Yuki's un-expressive face manages to reflect all kinds of anger as well as a real sadness. Watching her facial expressions really translates this sense of untrust. The film looks amazing, contrasting all sorts of wide camera shots with close-ups, incorporating the landscape as well as close-ups of faces and with the added use of the weather (she isn?t called Snowblood for nothing), Lady Snowblood pulls you into its narrative.
Again, Tarantino nicked some of the framing ideas and compositions of shots, and you can hardly blame him because they're so effective. For an example of this, simply see the scene
where the group are looking down on Yuki's mother - laughing and smirking at her - and you get a sense of the way this film works on a back to basics level. Lady Snowblood seems to reduce themes, character and camera shots to a primitive level, it's only flourishes are the way the story is told. The action is also handled very well, swords swing leaving gushing blood and all sorts of detached limbs, while maintaining an ironic beauty. Blood on snow (like her name) is quite beautiful, but disturbing. Despite its b-movie plot, this is a film which is full of style.
Lady Snowblood Blizzard From The Netherworld is an excellent revenge-flick and all-too an obvious influence on some contemporary cinema. Its not the most subtle film, but it has a huge amount of character and is still a step above the average hack-and-slash revenge story. Its one of those films that surprises you at how good it is and almost begs for a repeat viewing. If this review seems to compare the film to Kill Bill too much, then watch this film and you'll see why Lady Snowblood is superior in many ways.
This is one of those movies that have an all Japanese motivation. A girl is trained from childhood to avenge the death of her father and the brutal rape of her mother. Then she does it. Lots of blood and lots of sword fighting. Well, she does most of it, everybody else pretty much dies.
The movie is well done, although I think it is hard to watch for most of the people nowadays, since it has that 60's-70's feel to it. I can see how this could have been an inspiration for Kill Bill. If you liked Kill Bill for other reasons than that it had Uma Thurman and Lucy Liu in it, then you will love this film.
If you watch the movie, you will probably have fun, but if you look at the whole picture (pun intended) there isn't much to it other than the actual revenge and death of everyone. The girl is very nice, the acting is OK, the atmosphere, settings and soundtrack are good, but that's all. No strange twists of the story, nothing unexpected
As a sucker of what I call 'Femmegeance" I have to give this masterpiece 5 stars. While I write I find myself debating if "They Call her One Eye" or "Lady Snowblood" is the best revenge movie ever.
If you watched Kill Bill, I recommend watching this since Tarantino pretty much styled KB out of this one. Kaji Meiko is ultra sexy in this and with an incredible thirst for blood. Revenge here is simply a moving painting with different styles, a well thought out and scripted plot. Simply, it just doesn't get any better for seeing a girl slash away people and spraying blood (lots of it!) everywhere, severing limbs and all that good stuff you want to see a hot asian woman do!
Fantastic, not 5 but 10 stars!! and I will watch it again and again. A classic!
Tarentino peut bien aller se rhabiller avec ses vengeances.
Non, plus sérieusement, je n'ai d'autre choix que de glisser un mot sur Tarentino dans ma critique puisqu'il est évident que ce film de Toshiya Fujita fut assurément l'une des grandes sources d'inspiration de Quentin. Ou, du moins, s'il ne l'est pas, il le devrait.
Lady Snowblood est une épopée de vengeance formidable qui, même en 1973, parvient à nous replonger dans un Japon ancestral où le sang abonde et la quiétude n'existe pas. L'utilisation surabondante d'un sang exagérément écarlate a évidemment de quoi provoquer quelques sourires en coin chez les spectateurs, mais il n'en demeure pas moins que le film est empreint d'une esthétique déroutante et que la poésie des images en vient vite à se frotter à la rudesse du propos.
Quant à elle, l'intrigue, qui fait habituellement défaut dans les films du genre, est tout simplement formidablement travaillée, à un point tel que le déroulement est vraiment très peu prévisible et que les différentes clés aux problématiques font preuve d'originalité et de recherches approfondies. De plus, cette vendetta est drapée sur fond socio-politique, de quoi attester davantage de crédibilité à l'oeuvre dans son ensemble.
Quatre noms à tuer sur un bout de papier.
Quatre cadavres qui se sont effondrés originalement.
I can't believe it's taken me so long to watch this. I mean, here you got a bloody and violent revenge flick and the beautiful Meiko Kaji. Heck, both my wife and I have decided it we ever have a daughter we're naming her Matsu, from Kaji's character in Female Convict Scorpian. Well, now that I've seen it, everyone is right, this is awesome. Gorgeous cinematography combined with brutal violence and an amazing lead performance, Kaji is one of the few females who truly seems badass, not an actress trying to play it. A must see.
Yuki's family is nearly wiped out before she is born due to the machinations of a band of criminals. These criminals kidnap and brutalize her mother but leave her alive. Later her mother ends up in prison with only revenge to keep her alive. She creates an instrument for this revenge by purposefully getting pregnant. Though she dies in childbirth, she makes sure that the child will be raised as an assassin to kill the criminals who destroyed her family. Young Yuki never knows the love of a family but only killing and revenge.
I want to give this an extra half star. Here's the deal. For what it was, it was a fantastic movie...but since we grade all movies on one scale, I really can't give this the same points as some movies. Ain't it a b*tch?
I heard that this is where Kill Bill came from. It sure did. I love how the marketing department put on the box "featuring music used in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill. Tarantino took a lot more from this movie than just the music. But let's not review Kill Bill. I already love that movie. (Although I've never written a review for it...hmmmm)
This movie is gory. Old school, thick red paint squirting everywhere gory! And boy, is it cool? The premise is very similar to Kill Bill, only the part of vengeance is done on behalf of the daughter of the wronged, which makes it kind of interesting. She's trained since birth to be a killing machine, but still manages to have emotions. There really aren't fight sequences in this movie so much as slaughtering. In fact, the hardest people to kill in this movie are henchmen, who, for once, are fairly competant while still being cannon fodder. But the posse? My God, do they die easy, which is kind of a shame. I was really hoping for some knock-down, drag-out fights, but instead I got a lot of cool bloodshed and fun atmosphere from backstories. Really, the backstory carries this movie more than the actual hunt for the four culprits. I don't know what is going to happen in Lady Snowblood 2, but I can imagine it is going to be significantly weaker than the first one. Either way, I anticipate a good time.
By the way, I'm going from Lady Snowblood to The Quiet Man. I have what they call "diverse tastes."
AMAZING! I love this movie. Almost makes Kill Bill seem like total plaigiarism. Stylish, passionate, brutal and deadly. Great plot, extraordinary performances, and visuals that look like anime come to life set this kung fu movie above the usual b grade trash. Any fan of Kill Bill needs to see this movie. The similarities aren't only in plot and theme, but in the amazing style. A rare gem.
I only just found out that the Manga on which this is based was written by Kazuo Koike - also famous for Lone Wolf and Cub and Crying Freeman - and it was the precursor to Kill Bill, so I'm really dying to see this one.
MCT:August 30, 2008
MCT:May 27, 2008
MCT:February 26, 2008
MCT:November 12, 2008
MCT:October 12, 2008
MCT:September 29, 2007
