The classic jidaigeki drama Shurayuki-hime, which premiered today in 1973 and is known in English as Lady Snowblood, is a movie for which we uploaded every piece of promo art we could find years back. But we’ve found one more. The film inspired an artist working under the single name Poochamin to produce the modern promo poster above. We think this is a fantastic tribute piece as nice as any of the original efforts that came from the filmmakers Toho Co. It’s based on a production image, seen below, of star Meiko Kaji. Poochamin, who allowed us to use this painting by prior permission, has a website with many more examples of his work that you can access here. We recommend making time to visit.
Lady Snowblood, if you’ve never watched it, is a sword drama with Kaji, Toshio Kurosawa, and Masaaki Daimon, directed by Toshiya Fujita, and based on a manga series by Kazuo Koike and Kazuo Kamimura. It was the primary inspiration for Quentin Tarantino’s 2003 action movie Kill Bill. It’s set during Japan’s Meiji Era during the late 1800s. Kaji plays Yuki, born to a mother serving life in prison for killing one of the attackers who raped her, executed her husband, and murdered her son. She came into being because her mother seduced prison guards until conceiving a child, which she intended to be an instrument of pure vengeance. As an adult Kaji is exactly that, seeking to kill the remainder of those responsible for destroying her mother’s life.
That’s an intense premise for a movie, and true to the Japanese cinematic aesthetic of the era it’s handled with hyperviolence and soaring lyricism. Kaji’s mother had hoped to birth a boy who’d grow into a strong man. Instead she got Kaji, who grew to be more than strong—she’s also skillful, wily, tolerant of pain, mentally tough, and expert with the sword hidden in her wagasa—her Japanese parasol. She’s both underdog and wolf in sheep’s clothing. While strong, ass-kicking women in movies trigger screams of protest today from the American regressive crowd, Japanese filmmakers have celebrated them for more than half a century. Lady Snowblood is a prime example of Japanese cinema leading the way.
