'Lady Snowblood' review by MartialHorror.

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LADY SNOWBLOOD(1973)
(Directed by Toshiya Fujita)

"You have to love how the title tells you practically everything yet nothing. It's too freaking awesome."- Signed by MartialHorror.

Plot: A female with immense sword fighting skills hunts down the gang that murdered her would-be Father and raped her Mother. Also known as “Shurayukihime”.

Review:

I’ve been meaning to watch “Lady Snowblood” for quite some time, but I’ve always been reluctant. I tend to watch a lot of my Samurai films with my Father, and I had read some of the manga. I figured the movie would be softcore porn in the vain of “Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice”, where the titled sword does not necessarily refer to his actual sword......It refers to his penis. I don’t want to have to watch that with my parents again…But my Uncle gave a glowing review of the film and I kept hearing about how this was the female equivalent to the “Lone Wolf and Cub” series, which I liked. So eventually it found its way into my DVD player and not only was it not softcore porn, it was actually a pretty good samurai opus. It’s flaws are glaring, but its strengths made up for it.

Yuki(Meiko Kaji) opens the film revealing her badass sword skills when she kills a gang leader, referring to herself as Lady Snowblood. She has been born for vengeance, killing the man to curry favor with a bandit, whose resources can help her find two men and a woman, all of whom participated in the rape of her mother and the murder of her “father”. Her older (kid) brother was killed too, but no one cares about that. We learn that Yuki’s Mother killed the fourth gang member before being arrested. She proceeded to sex up anyone who visited the place in order to have a child to carry out her revenge. She dies at childbirth, but the child ended up being Yuki. Yuki trained with an expert samurai(?) and became immensely skilled, and now plans on using those skills for vengeance.

The films major strength is its gorgeous photography and excellent camerawork. Everything about this movie screams “artistic”. I was concerned that the movie would be sleazy, and while it certainly comes close to being so(featuring sex, gang rape, child nudity and..well, that’s it), it always treats it…..artfully, as cheesy as that sounds. The gang rape is shown to be horrific, with little nudity and loads of symbolism. When we see the Mother trying to conceive Yuki, it’s a very interesting montage. At one point, manga panels are used to tell certain aspects of the story. The blood spurts may be overdone, but the scenes of Yuki covered in blood(with her pale skin and white robe) are almost surreal. Blood and snow just go together, and “Lady Snowblood” sure exploits that. But not every scene takes place in the snow. The scene when Yuki visits her Mothers grace is very hallucinogenic with vivid colors and the locations were almost always ambitious in scope. Visually, it takes things father than nearly all of the Lone Wolf films. The movie just looked great. It sounds great too, with an excellent score which includes a song sung by Meiko Kaji herself(it was also used in the end of Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" to great effect).

There are also some other nice touches. For one, the acting is strong and Meiko Kaji(Yuki) was intense. Her eyes were freaking terrifying. She knows she’s tough, but she doesn’t oversell it. Too many actresses struggle with being tough. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, actresses need to be tough, not act tough. Kaji also can be charming, endearing and feminine, a huge contrast to her manga counterpart, where she’s a robotic ice queen. I didn’t like the manga because it’s sleaze seemed to be a gimmick. Yuki was boring, the plot was generally boring and there was no internal conflict. Yuki does have a conflict here, and thankfully it’s understated. She struggles to kill a few people and most of all, struggles to choose between vengeance and a normal life. As I said, it's understated so it never becomes tired or annoying, and Kaji nails her emotional turmoil in the end masterfully. But the films greatest human achievement is its portrayal of some of the rapists. They haven’t become good people or anything. But they do seem almost miserable, ruined by their pasts. They’re far from redemption, but it’s almost as if they know they will be punished for it. They certainly aren't one dimensional. The closest to one oozes of menace and the actor makes up for it.

My problem with “Lady Snowblood” is similar to my issue with “Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance”. The film has the need to be bogged down with unnecessarily flashbacks that go on too long and an uneven structure. Honestly, I’m confused as to why they felt the need to finish everything in one movie. Some of the fights are lackluster and disappointing, and the pacing is uneven for it. But this is the superior film due because it goes farther with a strong visual style and human characterizations. Lone Wolf was intense, but was always just 100% badass. This movie has an excellent scene where Yuki enters a westernized masquerade. It’s like as if she’s entered a whole new world, and Meiko Kaji plays the scene as if she’s suddenly insecure, unsure how to act in this alien world. The character of Yuki holds the movie together, while the films excellent direction and cinematography elevated it past the usual samurai opus. I didn't like the narration much though. It sort of dumbs it down.

The film has recently enjoyed a revival due to “Kill Bill” borrowing a lot from this movie. I love the movie and I love Tarantino, but he seems to be only good for reminding us of the good ole days. There’s nothing wrong with that, however, and I’m glad he reminded us of this cult favorite, “Lady Snowblood”. Artistically made with a haunting score, it’s certainly a worthy film to watch for samurai fans. Yes, it’s flawed and maybe a little pretentious, but I liked it. The 70’s were a time of experimentation in film, resulting in weird films like "Lets Scare Jessica to Death" and Japan was no different. Even Zatoichi had the strange "Zatoichi: The Festival of Fire". Even when the movies don't work, they were interesting, but “Lady Snowblood” is experimentation at its finest. It might not be as good as “Ichi”(also about a sword fighting chick in the feudal world), but it is an interesting film.

The fight scenes might just be passable, but most true samurai fans know that sword battles usually don't make the movie.

Violence: Rated R. Lots of blood spurting.

Nudity: Some. There is more sexual content than there is nudity.

Overall: Watch “Lady Snowblood” if you’re into samurai films. Like it or not, it sure is interesting.

3/4 Stars



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