SUMMARY
On a lone street, a gang leader encounters a beautiful woman.
Little does he know, he is about to die. The woman is Lady Snowblood,
child of the netherworld, and revenge incarnate.
Lady Snowblood has but one purpose in life; get revenge on those who
killed her family. Trained by a former Tokugawa vassal, Yuki as she
is also known, spends the next 20 years training, waiting for the day when
she will fulfill her destiny.
Ryu is a anti-government reporter who learns about Yuki's quest.
Writing about her exploits, he hopes to draw out the surviving
members of the gang so she can kill them. It does, but not in the way he expected.
Will Ryu's involvement help Yuki complete her quest, or help to get her
killed?
DVD VISION TEST
VIDEO: AnimEigo has done an excellent job with the
restoration. The colors are solid, with no color bleeding, wrinkles, or pixels to be
seen. They have also cleaned up the dust and film grain from the
original transfer, making this one great looking Samurai Eiga.
AUDIO: The Japanese 2.0 track is very well done. There is no mono
hiss, and they found the right balance for the music and dialogue.
EDITS: None. That's right, none. This is unedited at its best.
EXTRAS: Some liner notes, and trailers of other Samurai Cinema titles.
WIDESCREEN REVIEW
STORY: Based of the popular manga by Koike Kazuo,
Osada Norio's screen play is a pretty straight forward adaptation.
It also pulls no punches, frankly presenting the concepts of rape,
slavery, and prostitution. Combined with the brutal directing style of
Fujita Toshiya, Lady Snowblood is the template for most of the revenge
films that followed.
ACTING: Meiko Kaji is blistering cold as the child of the netherworld,
Yuki. Her icy stare, emotionless voice, and deliberate movements would make even the strongest
man cringe. You can't imagine anyone else who could play this role.
The
rest of the cast is entertaining. I can feel their emotions, and
sense their evil intentions. However, most of them fail to compare
to the intensity of Meiko Kaji.
FAN SERVICE:
During the tale of Lady Snowblood, images from the manga appears. If
you are a fan of Kill Bill, you can hear the
opening theme "Shura No Hana" or "The Flower of
Carnage" sung by Meiko Kaji. If you are looking for nudity,
forget it.
CONCLUSION
"Lady
Snowblood" truly is "ground zero" for many a revenge
picture. Movies ranging from "Sudden Impact" to "Black
Angel" all owe a debt to this pioneering film. It must have
created somewhat of a stir back then, considering that Samurai films were
on their way out. They made a sequel just 1 year later. As
further proof of it's staying power, a re-telling of this classic film was
made in 2001. "The Princess Blade" drew in audiences from
all over the world, and had a successful run in the US. Now, the new
generation can enjoy this film, and become converts.
Now, I'm not
going to say that this is a brilliant film. It's not. It a
brutal, "go for the kill" kind of movie. The dialogue
isn't anything impressive. While I do like the way it was shot,
there isn't really anything groundbreaking in it's presentation.
What makes this film so interesting is how it shows that a world of
revenge is a rough place. There is no mercy, there is no time to
mourn, and there is no justice. The law of the jungle is the only
way to survive, and Yuki has become a beast to do what she needs to do.
I
feel kind of sorry for Yuki. It seems that everyone relishes the
chance to remind her that she is a "child of the netherworld".
From her own mother, to the priest that trained her, they reinforce that
she is to avenge her father and her brother. With that kind of
negative reinforcement, how can she expect to have a normal life?
Plus, if you are an instrument of revenge, what do you do when the fight
is over? At least "The Bride" in "Kill Bill" had
her daughter to take care of . Yuki has no such safety net.
Even when her quest appears to be over, she doesn't seem able to settle
down.
I have to
admit, I dig the groovy 70's soundtrack for this movie. While it
would seem out of place in Meji era Japan, the electric guitars and Jazz
inspired sound remind me of the diverse work of Yoko Kanno.
Like most
people, I had heard about "Lady Snowblood" while Quentin
Tarentino was making "Kill Bill". After watching it, I can
see where QT drew his inspiration. There are many similarities both
from a narrative and a visual standpoint. While some say he was mimicking
"Lady Snowblood", I feel that he is paying tribute to a
film he obviously loves.
Some of the similarities between these two
films are obvious. The way both films are broken down into
chapters. The jumping around from past to present is another.
Let's not forget the whole blood and dismemberment thing.
Others
are a little more subtle. Lady Snowblood telling the daughter of one
of her victims to look her may ring a few bells. The final battle in
the garden is another. What Yuki's mother does to her rapist is
almost as cool as Uma ripping the tongue out of her attacker. There
are many more parallels I could draw, but you get the picture.
I was quite impressed with the
amount of love and care AnimEigo put into this release. Never have I
seen a Japanese film as old as this look so good. There was no film
grain, nicks or scratches. While there wasn't much in the way of color, it
didn't look washed out, as most of these films do. The audio was
great, with no hiss or drop outs usually associated with films of this
age.
I can safely
say that have joined the legion of fans of this piece of cinematic
history. Lady Snowblood is the queen of the revenge flicks, and will
continue to be for years to come. AnimEigo has once again presented
an old school favorite to a new generation.
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