Lady Snowblood

In 1874 Japan, a woman gives birth in a prison. Almost a year before, the woman, Sayo (Miyoko Akaza), her husband and son are attacked in a village by four criminals - Okono (Sanae Nakahara), Banzo (Noboru Nakaya), Tokuichi (Takeo Chii) and Gishiro (Eiji Okada). The husband and son are murdered in cold bold, and Sayo is taken by Tokuichi to work for him. After Sayo murders him, she is sent to prison, where she has sex with many guards in the hope of becoming pregnant, to give birth to a child that can avenge her. That child is Yuki (Meiko Kaji), who after receiving years of training from a priest, becomes Lady Snowblood, a lethal assassin whose only thirst is for revenge.

While this may sound similar to countless martial arts or samurai films to come out of Japan and China during the 1970's, there's something profoundly different to Lady Snowblood. While it certainly offers scenes of outlandish violence (the blood spurts from the body like a gushing fountain), director Toshiya Fujita, taking inspiration from the manga Shurayukihime, seems more interested in building the foundation to the sweeping story than having scene after scene of flying limbs. Separated by title-carded chapters, the film makes a point of giving us a decent story to each target, subtly interlinking the stories to make sure they flow, rather than simply jumping from one person to the next.

What also separates this from others of similar ilk on the grindhouse circuit is the cinematography by Masaki Tamura, which is nothing short of beautiful. I promised myself I would try and get through this entire review without mentioning Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill (2003-2004), but it's not hard to see why he chose to steal (sorry, it's 'homage' when its Tarantino doing it) the same setting and colour palette. Every scene is wide and lovingly crafted, and when the violence ensues, it turns out that red on white is truly stunning. It may not have the outlandish violence of, say, the Lone Wolf and Cub series (1972-1974), but this has a calm yet quick slash of a sword, rather than an extended sword fight, and the film is clinical in that aspect to say the least. While the pace may be often too slow, this is still a satisfying revenge drama featuring one of the most iconic character of its genre.

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Version: Eastern Eye's R4 DVD release. Japanese / English subtitles.

I probably would not have been able to see 'Lady Snowblood' had it not been for Quentin Tarantino and 'Kill Bill'. I've seen the 'Lone Wolf and Cub' movies several times on SBS, and I think they're great, but I probably would not have been able to find a copy of Lady Snowblood without the popularity of 'Kill Bill'. Luckily for me, I still managed to see 'Lady Snowblood' before 'Kill Bill'. I don't want to sound smug, but I'm probably one of the few people my age who can say that, and seeing 'Lady Snowblood' before 'Kill Bill' is a lot better than seeing 'Kill Bill' and then expecting 'Lady Snowblood' to be exactly like 'Kill Bill'.

In the 3rd year of Meiji Japan (1871 or thereabouts, I think), a family is attacked by bandits. The father and child are killed, the mother Sayo (Miyoko Akaza) taken by one of the evil-doers as a slave. When Sayo is imprisoned and unable to exact her vengeance, she bears another child, Yuki (Meiko Kaji), to carry on where Sayo. Yuki is born for vengeance, and that may be all she ever knows.

Normally I comment on revenge stories and say "wow awesome vengeance!". However, in this case, I've been studying this period of Japanese history for a university course, and I can appreciate this as more than just a tale of vengeance. 'Lady Snowblood' is a tragedy, a story about sweeping social upheaval and the people caught up in change. Of course, I can't resist pointing out the fact that this is also an awesome revenge story. 'Lady Snowblood' is an awesome revenge story.

Despite the high amount of fake blood, 'Kill Bill' and 'Lone Wolf and Cub' are better action movies than 'Lady Snowblood'. Meiko Kaji's Yuki is fearsome, and she fights well, but the over-the-top fights of 'Kill Bill' and 'Lone Wolf and Cub' are better. The camera is shaky at times, and the action is often hard to distinguish, but any fan of 'Kill Bill' or the classic samurai movies should still be able to appreciate it.

'Lady Snowblood' stands as one of the best classic samurai movies around. The remake 'Princess Blade' doesn't hold a candle to this, nor does the similar Etsuko Shihomi film 'Dragon Princess'. I even think fans of the recent 'Azumi' should check out 'Lady Snowblood'. Those who haven't seen 'Kill Bill' should see this first, and then 'Kill Bill' after. 'Lady Snowblood' isn't just a revenge story, but its still a a damn good revenge story - 9/10

This film has obviously gained a lot of attention since Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Volume One and Volume 2 came out. I am not ashamed to admit I got interested in it after it being linked to Kill Bill, but then again, I hadn't heard of it until a while after the Kill Bill movies came out, and I thought it sounded like something I'd be interested in, my kind of movie. And it definitely is.

Let's get it out there in the open: this film is really silly. It has those great seventies Kung Fu noises when someone jumps up in the air unlike any human could, as well as noises when someone shoves a sword into the enemy. But because it's silly don't jump to the conclusion that there isn't a point to watching it. Sure it's just entertainment. But the story is one of the best I've ever witnessed, and not because of the blood and guts.

The story is of course about revenge, but the revenge spawns from a woman who gives birth to a daughter and swears that the daughter must be an instrument of revenge on those that messed with her mother. (A silly premise, but here's where it becomes cool). Meiko Kaji who plays Lady Snowblood, also known as Yuki, doesn't spend the movie wrapped in evil and revenge with anger on her face. There's genuine hurt in her performance. It is actually extremely sad that all she is is an instrument of revenge and death, but that's what weighs the film down into some sort of believability.

The sets are standard Japanese action sort of sets but they have that certain charm about them that's easy on the eyes, it locks the film into this particular recognizable genre but still stands on its own two feet as a film. Also another standard in this genre is freeze frames. Usually I like to comment on shots that continue movement but a certain frame, frozen or still moving, is my favourite of a film. Now, one freeze frame (if memory serves me correctly, the only one), of the baddie coming up some stairs, that may be the second Shurayukihime (apologies if it is) and one side of her face is visible in the freeze frame to alert the audience of this woman's arrival. It is laughable in this but laughable for the right reasons: it isn't corny or annoying, but it's a genuine charm of this genre.

Many standards of this genre may stop you from watching this but watch it for the genuine heart-wrenching story of Yuki Kashima, also known as Shurayukihime, Lady Snowblood.

A genuine piece of cinematic gold that is also entertaining and worth a watch.

Based on a comic by late Kazuo Kamimura and Kazuo Koike, Shurayukihime is a story about vengeance and rebellion. Shurayuki who had her father murdered by conspiracy goes out to avenge the three conspirators.

The movie's title "Shurayukihime" is a play on "Shirayukihime" which is the Japanese title for Walt Disney's movie Snow White. Very similar title, but the two movies can't be further apart in their contents.

In the original plot, there was some element of rebellion against the government that was the ultimate culprit of the conspiracy, but in the movie, this did not play a main role of the story except where Yuki kills the police force that captured Ashio.

The movie which attracted little attention when it was released, now has world wide audience thanks to Tarantino giving it credit as inspiration for Kill Bill. The back drop of battle between Oren Ishii and Black Mamba is almost verbatim copy of the last scene from this movie.

There is little known part 2 of this movie released in 1974 which picks up after this one with Kaji reprising her role as Yuki.

More recently a version done by Yumiko Shaku was released in 2001 with backdrop set in the future, and story which is almost unrelated to the original except Yuki eventually avenges her mothers murderer and that her organization Takemikazuchi was rebelling against the the government.

Some of Kamimura's original artwork of Shurayukihime can be seen in his website at kamimurakazuo.com

The movie is unusually graphic for a Japanese movie of its era. Meiko Kaji was a star of another dark comic turned movie Sasori. Her mood fits this type of role perfectly.

Watch this movie for its action, and historical value.

It was the 1962 Kurosawa movie "Sanjuro," I believe, that first introduced the "geyser blood" special effect to the world, but 11 years later, Toshiya Fujita's "Lady Snowblood" developed this image to a fine art. In this latter film, we meet Yuki Kashima, "born for vengeance" in a Japanese woman's prison in 1874. Trained from childhood to avenge the deaths of her mother, father and brother, by 1894, armed only with a sword hidden in her parasol handle, she is ready to exact retribution from the three killers still living. All three of these confrontations between Yuki and her enemies are, uh, executed marvelously; all are suspenseful, action packed and surprising, and all feature those geysers, jets, gouts, streams and sprays of the red stuff mentioned above. Yes, this IS a very gory movie (let's just say that Yuki's kimonos never seem to stay lily white for very long!), but it is also a very beautiful one. Exquisitely filmed, and often featuring gorgeous seaside or garden backdrops, the picture is actually very artful and poetic, as reflected in some of its chapter titles (such as "Crying Bamboo Dolls of the Netherworlds" and "Umbrella of Blood, Heart of Strewn Flowers"). Meiko Kaji plays the part of Yuki with great intensity; she makes Yuki a gorgeous instrument of vengeance whose skill with the blade really is something to behold, and her final moments on screen are quite moving. Thus, "Lady Snowblood" gives us a compelling story, strong action and great visual beauty; it would be a perfect picture, I'd say, if only the anachronistic jazz in the background didn't occasionally pop up. An obvious inspiration for Tarantino's "Kill Bill," the film is certainly deserving of a wider audience, and thanks to the widescreen DVD from AnimEigo that I just watched, with excellent subtitling, crisp images and many fine extras, that audience now has a chance to discover this winning entertainment in a perfect form....