WILLIAM FLANIGAN Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance. Viewed on DVD. Cinematography = six (6) stars; choreography = four (4) stars; sound effects = four (4) stars; makeup = four (4) stars. Director Toshiya Fujita's rush-job, cheap-production sequel comes up short in practically all departments starting with a nonsense title and a overly contrived scenario (the latter involves Meiji secret police who usually can't shoot straight!). Fujita and his film-making colleagues would seem to have strained hard to dream up further adventures of a fashion-model assassin-for-hire (now with a price on her head) who is a walking, flamboyant self-advertisement (and not particularly choosy whom she works for at any moment). The Director provides little more than a photo shoot of poses in exotic/unusual settings for lead actress Meiko Kaji with and without eye bags (from too many all-night drinking parties?). Kaji's acting chores are pretty much limited to delivering about 10-12 lines of dialog (she does widen her eyes now and then), but Kaji's character makes up for this with a magic sword that only has to brush against her opponents (or just be in their general vicinity) to kill off countless stunt actors. Inter-scene continuity of successive close ups repeatedly demonstrates the lack of make-up artistic skills, as Kaji's eye bags come and go. The sound track offers a selection of 3-4 standard cries of pain for slashed/stabbed combatants. Alas, sandal walking only gets one, as the sound of foot steps is independent of the surface actors are walking on (unless walking in the ocean). Cinematography (wide screen, color) is fine. There is a spectacular scene early on of ocean waves breaking on a beach followed by a crab's eye view of same! Scene lighting is occasionally on the dark side. Theatrical blood (of which a fair amount is on display) looks like, well, dyed liquid dish-washing soap. Subtitles are okay. The appeal of this Toho Film studio programmer would seem to be limited to die-hard fans of Meiko Kaji. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.

Oslo Jargo (Bartok Kinski) *** 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.Lady Snowblood - Love Song of Vengeance has her doing the same great sweeps of her little, feeble umbrella sword and they added some political rubbish to the play as well.Still, they are worth a look for the time.

Woodyanders Fiercely efficient assassin Yuki (ably played with steely resolve and resignation by the stunning Meiko Kaji) gets caught by the police and sentenced to death for her crimes. However, the Japanese secret police spring Yuki from prison so she can used to eliminate anarchist revolutionary leader Ransui (a solid and likable portrayal by Juzo Itami).Director Toshiya Fujita keeps the complex and engrossing story moving along at a steady pace, maintains a grimly serious tone throughout, stages the sword fights with aplomb, and even tosses in a smidgen of sleazy soft-core sex and gratuitous female nudity for extra trashy measure. The intricate script by Norio Osada and Kiyohide Ohara offers plenty of stinging political commentary on the abuse of power and authority, with the police coming across as total sadistic bastards who use torture and other brutish methods to reign supreme over the land. In addition, this film boasts a hefty body count and concludes on a rip-roaring note in which Yuki slices and dices up the villains as huge fountains of gushing blood paint the landscape bright red. Moreover, there are sturdy contributions from Kazuko Yoshiyuki as Ransui's loyal wife Aya, Yoshio Harada as Ransui's estranged doctor brother Shusuke, and Shin Kishida as ruthless and manipulative police chief Seishiro. Both Kenjiro Hirose's funky-throbbing score and Tatsuo Suzuki's restless, yet sumptuous widescreen cinematography are up to par. A satisfying follow-up.

gkbazalo Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance was quite different from the first Lady Snowblood. That one concentrated on the story of her revenge for deeds against her mother 20 years in the past. This one uses the framework of the clash between the rising authoritarian nationalist movement under the first Meiji emperor and the rising class of urban poor led by intellectual nihilists. It's pretty funny seeing kids skipping down the city streets singing songs about Japan being victorious over Russia in the 1905 war. Our Lady is swept along by these events rather than controlling them. After being sentenced to death for her deeds in the first film, she is "rescued" on the way to the gallows by the emperor's secret police and recruited to infiltrate the nihilists who have documents that could bring down the government. Lady Snowblood switches sides and we progress through torture, bubonic plague as a weapon of mass destruction, and class warfare. The film is carried more by the characters around Snowblood than by her, especially the two anti-government brothers that Snowblood befriends, as well as the police chief, who can't get a break in this movie. He's the bad guy but reminds me of Inspector Clouseau, whether falling off his horse or getting his eye poked out. However, she does what she needs to do and provides the action we expect. Altogether, I enjoyed this one better than the first. 7 of 10.