Episode Details

How did a movie as violent and erratic as Lady Snowblood end up in the Criterion Collection?

Lady Snowblood is a violent Japanese revenge tale that is both entertaining and visually accomplished, with the film's artistry landing it in the prestigious Criterion collection.

Though it's in some circles known as the largest source of "inspiration" for the Kill Bill films, this movie left behind its own trail of scattered bodies not to be missed.

When Yuki's father is murdered and her mother raped by a group of thugs, she is born the instrument of her parents' revenge. She sets out to track down the criminals responsible, and carry out her vengeance. But finding them is harder than she would have thought, and ending their lives much more complicated than she could have imagined.

Join me for this discussion of the film's handheld camera artistry, its spicy killing shows, and martial arts training through child abusing barrel rides down dangerous mountains.

Directed by Toshiya Fujita. Screenplay by Norio Osada. Based on Lady Snowblood by Kazuo Koike and Kazuo Kamimura. Starring Meiko Kaji, Toshio Kurosawa, Masaaki Daimon, Miyoko Akaza, Ko Nishimura.

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