The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

This movie begins in 1874 with a woman named "Sayo" (Miyoki Akaza) giving birth to a baby in a Japanese prison. As it so happens, Sayo's husband and her young son were killed by four bandits and she was subsequently taken away by one of them and forced to become his consort. Eventually, Sayo kills her abductor which results in her being imprisoned for life. Although Suyo dies after giving birth her last words to her fellow inmates is to make sure that her baby "Yuki" (Meiko Kaji) gets revenge on the other three people responsible for the atrocities committed upon her family. To honor her request Yuki is then given to a nearby priest who not only raises her but also teaches her the necessary combat skills she will need to exact her revenge. And then at the age of 20 she is released to fulfill her mission in life. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an entertaining movie with a good plot and some fascinating elements of Japanese history and culture. Unfortunately, it also had several action scenes which were much too unrealistic and this greatly limited the overall effect. Even so, in spite of its faults, I still liked this film and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Lady Snowblood / Blood Snow / Snow of Blood / Fighting Snow Lady (Lit.) (shurayukihime). Viewed on DVD. Restoration = ten (10) stars; subtitles/translation = seven (7) stars; cinematography = five (5) stars; choreography = five (5) stars; music = four (4) stars; splatter/spurting effects = three (3) stars. Director Toshiya Fujita and Principal Producer Kikumaru Okuda deliver a four chapter film adaption of a popular contemporary manga (comic book / graphical novel) which chronically reminds the viewer of it's original source material. A live action manga complete with over-the-top accesses that characterize the genre. This is a tale of supposed enhanced suppression of the under classes by the top one per-centers during the first few decades of the Meiji emperor-ship. After undergoing 20 years of mostly sadistic training (including being rolled repeatedly down a hill in a barrel while still a child!), the leading protagonist sets out to exterminate four villains (one in each movie chapter) who destroyed her late mother's life. The film is loaded with expository voice over (more like listening to an audio book than watching a movie) suggesting (a) a lack of ideas about film adaption and/or (b) insufficient production financing. Acting is pretty hammy all round. Leading actress Meiko Kaji seems to do more sword-swinging posing (and posing in general) than line deliveries (she looks stunning when favorably costumed and lit, but has little to say compared to other cast members and appears a bit bored (or unhappy?) with her role. She also sings the opening/closing theme song (which is translated--a rarity!). Choreography is okay but a bit dragged out due to extensive inserting of Kaji-posing shots. Blood spurting (especially during sword fights) is strictly comic-book style - it looks like each of the wounded suffers from off-the-scale high blood pressure and is on the verge of blowing up due to gallons of excess blood! Cinematography (wide screen, color) and lighting are fine. Subtitles/translations are very good with all singing, signage, and written text translated. Music is contemporary (it often sounds like a rift on Italian spaghetti westerns of the time) and does not fit well with the time period of the film (late 1800s). Restoration is outstanding. An interesting organic cartoon. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.

*** This review may contain spoilers *** *Plot and ending analyzed* I guess if you have the brain of a gerbil and chew sugar candy all day, this film should fit your bill just fine. Others might want a little more in the way of a coherent story. There are parts of Lady Snowblood that are atmospheric and colorful, but the idea is not handled with enough competency, or even concern.Lady Snowblood is some dull, waif of a woman, who has a feeble umbrella sword, whom she uses to chop in half corpulent bodies, hands, limbs and heads. Okay. The enemies are as imbecilic as the premise, even unable to fight such a woman. They just sit by and wait to be "chopped up". I must admit that the high reviews made me think these films would rate as high as Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman or Lone Wolf and Cub, but they are nowhere near as great.Still, they are worth a look for the time.

Beautifully directed by Toshiya Fujita, LADY SNOWBLOOD is another Art House samurai saga chock full of geysers of blood. When it all comes together as it does here, the result is a joy to behold. (I'd seen this one years ago, but revisiting it just recently reminded me just how good it is.) Yuki (the lovely Meiko Kaji) is the orphaned daughter of a woman forced into prostitution when her husband was murdered (in a VERY graphic sequence). Armed with her umbrella (which hides a sword, the use of which she has mastered), Yuki sets out for revenge. "You were born for vengeance," her mother told her when she was born to her in the prison where she died for killing her rapist: "A child of the Netherworlds..." "I've immersed my body in the river of Vengeance," her theme song tells us. Much like the current situation here in these United $tate$, her world is one where "unfair practices by mercenary plutocrats and shady businessmen and actions taken by corrupt officials seeking only to benefit themselves" are rampant. "People say... that what cleanses this world of decay is not pure white snow... but snow that is stained fiery-red- the snow of the Netherworlds!" Yuki enlists the aid of the beggar clan to help find her next target, whom she tells: "It's time to start the journey of Death." Says the Narrator: "All life is transitory... but the virtues are eternal." When "liberal" writer Ashio Ryurei begins writing a manga, LADY SNOWBLOOD, chronicling her exploits, he draws the ire of the local authorities (who, like the Democratic Dictators who've ruled THIS country for so many decades, now, get real upset when The Little People get out of line). LADY SNOWBLOOD is one of the better samurai epics (and that's saying a lot, as there are a good many of them of superior quality)- and it doesn't skimp on the bloodletting.