Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance

Starring: Meiko Kaji, Juzo Itami, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Yoshio Harada, Shin Kishida, Toru Abe, Koji Nanbara
Directed by: Toshiya Fujita
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Drama, Thriller
1974

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Lady Snowblood (Meiko Kaji) is coerced to infiltrate the home of a political dissident, where she begins to see the world from his perspective.

Review:

Tim: After the brutal Lady Snowblood, a year later director Toshiya Fujita and star Meiko Kaji reunited to make a sequel. I was thoroughly impressed with the unflinching violence and gruesome story of the original, so I was intrigued to see what they would do in the sequel. I didn't expect or anticipate the path they would take with Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance. It's obviously a sequel because the same protagonist shows up, but it feels very different than the first movie. In a world where we've been taught that sequels basically just do the same thing again (but bigger!), it was a bit disorienting to see a film make such big departures from the original. I truly appreciated this unique approach.

Most vividly, there are far fewer blood splatters in this film. That was never the point of the original, but the geysers of blood remain the most vivid image from that movie. You might get a few here and there, especially towards the end of this film, but it's a surprisingly bloodless movie for much of the runtime. This was startling and unexpected. Much more emphasis is placed on character development this time around. We see much more of the political realm here, we see government corruption, we see class warfare. It's a much broader story- it incorporates the culture and society of the time, whereas the first movie was a more straightforward revenge story. It's interesting that this movie broadens the scope so much.

That being said, I didn't always love this movement. The movie is definitely focused on the government, media, class differences- but some of this comes at the expense of our main character. I went into this movie excited to see another story about Lady Snowblood- an unexpectedly incredible character. It felt like she became too much of an afterthought during the story. Yes, she has some impressive scenes early on- I loved the beach standoff- but then, she becomes almost a supporting character. The villains, the villagers she's trying to help, the political dissident and their relationships- it feels like these are the main focus of the story. That could work, but this is less a story about Lady Snowblood, when we really wanted her to be the main focus. I didn't like how male characters became more of the focus while the strong woman character faded back a bit. I don't think that was the right path forward for this film and it cheapens it a bit.

The movie really does dial up the drama. This isn't bad, but we needed more action. You have a few scenes at the beginning and then the memorable finale, but the middle of the film ends up being too slow. The drama is good, but it's just so much without enough high intensity breaks. That makes the film feel a bit soggy in the middle, especially as it becomes a bit redundant at times.

Meiko Kaji is once again good in the titular role. It felt like she was a bit more reserved in this film, but I appreciated the time we got to spend with her. I did wish we had more time with her, but she delivers another strong performance. There was definitely never a guarantee we'd get to see her reprise this role, so it did feel like an unexpected blessing. Juzo Itami was a nice addition to the cast and really gives a memorable and effective performance. Yoshio Harada gives a strong performance, too. The new additions to the film all give mostly strong performances and the cast as a whole is a definite plus.

I still enjoyed Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance. I appreciate the attempt to do something different with the sequel and it works more often than it doesn't. This film could have taken the easy approach, but it didn't. While it does differentiate this film, it almost feels like too big of a switch. The focus drifts away from the most interesting character and the movie is hurt a bit by this. This is still a good movie, but it's not quite as memorable or as effective as the original. This is often how sequels go, so nothing out of the ordinary here. It does make Love Song of Vengeance an interesting case study, though. This is still a worthwhile sequel and one I'm glad I tracked down.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Lady Snowblood, Yojimbo