Overheard in an alternate reality:
“Man, they totally ripped off Kill Bill”
Another fantastic entry from one of my favorite periods in cinema history- samurai films in the post-Yojimbo, blood geyser manner. Vicious, stylish and filled with memorable characters, chan-bara in the 60s and 70s is almost as good as it gets for me. With the exception of Hong Kong’s balls-to-the-wall 80s output (think Police Story,) there’s no genre/era convergence I like better.
In specific, this is a fine revenge film. Meiko Kaji plays the title role with great style. Lady Snowblood is a steely-eyed murderess of the highest caliber out to complete a path of revenge started by her mother some twenty years before. In fact, she’s literally born into the role. Her mother passing on the onus of revenge with her dying breath. Which, for my money, is worth double bonus points. There’s not much more to the plot other than that, but that’s enough when the setup is that diabolical and there’s as much swordplay as there is in this film.
Definitely worth a rental if you’re a fan of the genre.
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