The Violent Beauty of Lady Snowblood

Sneak Peeks—

Jan 7, 2016

Share

Toshiya Fujita’s chanbara cult classics Lady Snowblood and Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance, now out on Blu-ray and DVD, remain two of the most influential works of their genre. Set in turn-of-the-twentieth-century-Japan and released in the mid-1970s, the revenge saga centers on a young sword-fighting woman who has been raised from birth to avenge the harrowing murders of her family. Quentin Tarantino, one of Lady Snowblood’s admirers, revered Lady Snowblood so much that he took inspiration from the film for his Kill Bill series. The clip above features the saga’s star Meiko Kaji in a scene from Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance that highlights that film’s dazzlingly choreographed combination of visual beauty and unflinching ferocity.

Related Films

More: Sneak Peeks

A Subtler Side of the Hepburn-Grant Magic
A Subtler Side of the Hepburn-Grant Magic

Filmmaker and distributor Michael Schlesinger and critic Michael Sragow dive into the pleasures of Holiday, a romantic-comedy classic that has long stood in the shadow of The Philadelphia Story but has a poignancy all its own.

Inside Criterion / Sneak Peeks — Jan 13, 2020
Wim Wenders Looks Back on the Digital Future He Predicted
Wim Wenders Looks Back on the Digital Future He Predicted

From search engines to all-engrossing handheld devices, the technologies that the German director conjured for his 1991 opus Until the End of the World are now common features of contemporary life.

Inside Criterion / Sneak Peeks — Dec 13, 2019
John Bailey Breaks Down a Tour de Force of Gothic Lighting
John Bailey Breaks Down a Tour de Force of Gothic Lighting

The veteran cinematographer takes a close look at the highly stylized and atmospheric lighting in one of the most pivotal scenes in pre-Code classic The Story of Temple Drake.

Inside Criterion / Sneak Peeks — Dec 6, 2019
All About Mankiewicz
All About Mankiewicz

One of the most celebrated Hollywood writer-directors of his time, Joseph L. Mankiewicz offers a window into the way he sees his characters in this illuminating clip from an archival interview.

Inside Criterion / Sneak Peeks — Dec 3, 2019

You have no items in your shopping cart

View Cart Check Out
Close Menu

Search

For streaming, search the  Criterion Channel