Archive for the 'japan' Category
Movies 2008 #9 Lady Snowblood – Love Song of Vengeance
Lady Snowblood – Love Song of Vengeance The short answer? I liked this film this much (opens hands up really wide).
While this isn't great cinema, it is certainly entertaining cinema. Wildly so. A steely eyed-murderess slashes her way through a corrupt cabal in charge of Meiji era Japan?
Yes.
Toss in some black death (as a biological weapon!) and a half dozen blood geysers and you've got the makings of a to notch pass-the-popcorn genre flick.
I am a sucker for this period and genre, so your mileage may vary, but if you've ever seen and enjoyed a Zatoichi movie then this will be a film for you.
Movies 2007 #56 Lady Snowblood
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.

