Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance (1974)

Lady Snowblood is caught in the politics of early 20th century Japan.

Director:

Toshiya Fujita

Writers:

Kazuo Kamimura (story), Kazuo Koike (story)

Stars:

Meiko Kaji, Jûzô Itami, Kazuko Yoshiyuki

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Meiko Kaji	...	Shurayuki-hime (Yuki Kashima)
Jûzô Itami	...	Ransui Tokunaga
Kazuko Yoshiyuki	...	Aya Tokunaga
Yoshio Harada	...	Shusuke Tokunaga
Shin Kishida	...	Seishiro Kikui
Tôru Abe	...	Terauchi Kendo
Rin'ichi Yamamoto	...	Inspector Maruyama
Kôji Nanbara	...	Toad
Masasuke Hirose	...	Shiba Yutaro (as Shosuke Hirose)
Shunsuke Mizoguchi	...	Sekiguchi Eizo
Akira Hamada	...	Okada Takichi
Hiroshi Ishiya	...	Yoshizawa
Mizuho Suzuki	...	Narrator
Shôichi Hirose

Storyline

Lady Snowblood (Shurayuki-hime) is caught by the police and sentenced to death for her crimes (in Lady Snowblood I). As she is sent to the gallows she is rescued by the secret police who offer her a deal to assassinate some revolutionaries.

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Plot Keywords:

action heroine | female assassin | second part | sword | severed hand | 

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

15 June 1974 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Film (Eiga) Co. Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Along with the previous 'Lady Snowblood', this movie served as one of the main inspirations for Quentin Tarantino's 'Kill Bill' Volumes 1 & 2.

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Goofs

At one point, a man fires multiple rounds at Yuki from a sawed off shotgun. However, without reloading he fires many more rounds than a shotgun of that size could hold in the magazine.

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Connections

Follows Lady Snowblood (1973)

User Reviews

Politically-minded sequel

Well-made, but unpleasant sequel to one of the greatest cult Japanese films of the 70's, "Lady Snowblood II: Love Song of Vengeance." This installment focuses less on classic blood spray sword fight scenes and more on the corrupt politics of the time. Fascinating history lesson, but of course the more serious subject matter does mean less fun. The film itself looks beautiful, with extravagant sets and costumes, and an excellent music score, and Meiko Kaji gets to show a more human side of her persona here. One thing that must be mentioned is that the violence factor in this sequel is more extreme; although there is less of the theatrical arterial blood sprays here, we get instead some thoroughly unpleasant and grisly scenes of human torture, including stabbings, burnings, eye gougings, savage beatings, as well as one man being injected with plague, which causes his skin to break out in nasty sores. A few scenes are kind of sickening, and i wasn't really expecting such serious subject matter. The film does tend to drag a bit in the middle segment, but comes back strong for the final third, when Yuki gets her revenge on the corrupt officials who have looted and burned an entire village for their own financial gain. Peopled with some truly slimy villains, and a heroic finale, this is a worthy sequel to a classic.