Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance

Rating:
Summary: Sequel to LADY SNOWBLOOD tones down the bloodshed
Review: LOVE SONG OF VENGEANCE (1974) is a sequel to the Japanese swordplay drama, LADY SNOWBLOOD (1973), and picks up the adventures of female avenger Shurayuki Hime in 1907, more than ten years after the events in the first film. Fans of the first film may be disappointed by the toned-down bloodletting and the shift in the story's emphasis from Lady Snowblood, or Yuki, to the struggles of a band of rebels protesting government oppression in the aftermath of Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905. There is considerable action at the beginning and end, but there are long stretches that focus primarily on an anarchist (Juzo Itami), with an ailing wife, who has in his possession a letter from a murdered rebel that the Secret Police would like to get their hands on. Early on, Yuki (played by Meiko Kaji) is saved from execution by the Secret Police and ordered to find the letter, thus taking her away from the vengeance mission of the first film and throwing her smack in the middle of political and social tensions of the era. A spectacular climax involves a fire in a lawless Tokyo slum district.

Fans of Japanese cinema should give this a chance, mainly because it stands up on its own as a stirring drama about political struggles in Japan in the early 20th century, an era we don't often see recreated on film. It's very well-photographed and acted, with some evocative sets and some very unusual costumes. While she doesn't actually have enough to do to please her fans, Meiko Kaji (also in FEMALE CONVICT SCORPION) remains impressive as always.

Rating:
Summary: A waste of an actress's talent
Review: This movie picks up where the original "Lady Snowblood" ended, but instead of a cogent story line, we're treated to a convoluted mishmash of intrigue, senseless plot lines, cartoon villains, and racist overtones that lend nothing worthwhile to the story.

And as if that weren't enough of a reason to question the sanity of the movie's writers, Lady Snowblood herself barely is allowed to say more than "Hai!" and as a result is forced to display her fury only with smoldering looks and adept slashes of her samurai blade. The very reserved style of her fight scenes provides the only saving grace for this waste of time, and it makes me wonder how good this movie might have been if she had been given a script worth her considerable talent and a chance to develop her stunning grace with the sword.

Even more incredible (to me, at least) is discovering that Kaji is actually a multitalented indivdual who not only acted in this and other action films, but also sang some of the songs used in the first "Snowblood" movie, as well as in "Kill Bill." More's the pity.