Lady Snowblood (film)
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| Lady Snowblood | |
|---|---|
 American theatrical re-release poster. |
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| Directed by | Toshiya Fujita |
| Produced by | Kikumaru Okuda |
| Written by | Kazuo Uemura Kazuo Koike |
| Starring | Meiko Kaji Ko Nishimura Toshio Kurosawa Masaaki Daimon |
| Music by | Masaaki Hirao |
| Cinematography | Masaki Tamura |
| Distributed by | Toho |
| Release date(s) |  December 1, 1973 |
| Running time | 97 min |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Lady Snowblood (修羅雪姫 Shurayukihime?) is a 1973 Japanese film directed by Toshiya Fujita and starring Meiko Kaji. It is based on the manga of the same name by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Kazuo Kamimura and follows the story of the titular assassin seeking vengeance upon the bandits who raped her mother and murdered her father.
It produced a sequel the following year, a remake in 2001 and was a major source of inspiration for Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, as well as providing it the song "The Flower of Carnage".
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[edit] Synopsis
Note: The following events are written in their chronological form, which differs from the order shown in the film.
During Japan's Meiji period, the overthrow of government caused riots and outbreaks throughout Japan. Men wearing white were often considered government officials, and were murdered for money.
A teacher (Masaaki Daimon), his wife Sayo (Miyoko Akaza), and their son Shiro (Shinichi Uchida) walk through a field in Kashima prefecture. Since the teacher is wearing white, a bell rings and a band of criminals attack the family. A woman named Kitahama Okono (Sanae Nakahara) holds Sayo while the three men, Banzo Takemura (Noboru Nakaya), Tokuichi Shokei (Takeo Chii), and Tsukamoto Gishiro (Eiji Okada) stab and murder the man. They also kill Shiro (off-screen) and take Sayo to be raped and beaten. After some time, Tokuichi Shokei takes Sayo to work for him secretly far away, but Sayo takes this chance and stabs him with a knife and kills him. Sayo is taken to a womens' prison. After realizing she cannot avenge the death of her husband and son anymore, she sleeps with every prison guard possible to conceive a baby. Hoping for a strong boy, she receives a girl, which she names Yuki. After telling her cell mates to raise the child for vengeance, Sayo dies of childbirth.
About six years later, one of the woman takes the young Yuki (Mayumi Maemura) to a priest named Dokai (Ko Nishimura) and is severely trained by him. She learns how to fight with a sword and dodge attacks. When Yuki is twenty years old (now played by Meiko Kaji), she sets out to find the remaining fugitives.
First to find, Banzo Takemura, Yuki runs into his daughter Kobue (Yoshiko Nakada), a whicker basket weaver. She leads him to find her father, which she encounters while hosting a card game in his house. Later, Yuki confronts him on a beach and asks him if he remembers raping her mother. He suddenly remembers, and begs for forgiveness. She does not comply, and slashes his torso with her sword. His body floats into the sea.
After learning that Tsukamoto Gishiro has died naturally, she visits his grave and cuts the flowers on display. While walking through the town, she meets a reporter named Ryurei Ashio (Toshio Kurasawa). He questions her past, and then writes about it in his paper. This is used as a lure, and successfully it works, revealing Kitahama Okono. She sends a band of police officers to kidnap him. They torture him until he reveals the location of Yuki, but he refuses. At the same time, Yuki infiltrates the estate and kills a number of police officers. When she enters one of the buildings, she is fired upon by Okono. She has Ashio at gunpoint. Ashio escapes and knocks over the candle lighting the room, which distracts Okono. Yuki leaps up and cuts Okono, and she falls over her balcony and onto the ground. More police officers enter, and Yuki kills them all. She then enters another building, in which she finds Okono has hung herself. Out of rage, she slices the entire lower body off of Kitahama Okono.
Yuki has believed she has fully avenged her family's death, but then Ashio learns that Gishiro is still alive nearby. He also tells her that Gishiro is his father. Yuki is surprised, but still intends to kill him. She goes disguised to a ballroom party and sees Gishiro enter through a hidden door on a wall. She follows, and is attacked by him. She cuts off his hands, but Ashio sees that it is only a man wearing a mask of Gishiro. They take a flight of stairs, leading up to the second floor of the ballroom, where Yuki sees that Ashio is blocking Gishiro from shooting her. He turns and fires into Ashio's chest. Yuki takes her sword and runs it into both Ashio and Gishrio. She brings it out and cuts Gishiro's face. He falls over a railing and onto the ground floor full of guests. Yuki realizes she has been shot by Gishiro. She walks outside to the snow covered area, where Kobue suddenly appears again. She runs up and stabs Yuki in the lower chest in return of Yuki killing her father. Kobue runs out of sight as Yuki stumbles on the snow, then falls. She cries for loosing Ashio, and thinks of her family. The sun sets. As the sun rises the next morning, Yuki miraculously opens her eyes and lives.
[edit] Cast
- Meiko Kaji as Yuki Kashima, aka Lady Snowblood.
- Ko Nishimura as Priest Dōkai.
- Toshio Kurosawa as Ryūrei Ashio.
- Masaaki Daimon as Gō Kashima.
- Miyoko Akaza as Sayo Kashima.
- Eiji Okada as Gishirō Tsukamoto.
[edit] Sequel and remakes
The film spawned one sequel, Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance (Shurayukihime: Urami Renga, 1974). In it Yuki is in prison for the crimes she committed in the first movie. The Japanese government offers to free her if she will kill an enemy of the state.
A 2001 science fiction remake, released in the US as The Princess Blade, stars Yumiko Shaku and features fight choreography by Donnie Yen.
It was a major inspiration for Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films, which borrow the story of the woman with a list of targets, and the chapter format. The scene in which The Bride fights O-Ren Ishii uses a snowy landscape that echoes scenes in Lady Snowblood, and the theme song sung by Meiko Kaji (translated by Tarantino as "The Flower of Carnage") is also used in Kill Bill, Vol. 1.
[edit] External links
- Lady Snowblood at the Internet Movie Database
- Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance at the Internet Movie Database
- (Japanese) Lady Snowblood at the Japanese Movie Database
- (Japanese) Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance at the Japanese Movie Database
