With Dada Chen at NYAFF 2013

With Dada Chen at NYAFF 2013
With Dada Chen at NYAFF 2013

Sunday, April 04, 2010

ACF 524: Two more Meiko Kaji films at Japan Society today, Sunday, April 4th

Japan Society's Mad, Bad.... & Dangerous to Know series continues this afternoon with the last two of the films starring Meiko Kaji. Info and links below.

Image copyright Toho Co., Ltd

Lady Snowblood: Love Song Of Vengeance
Directed by Toshiya Fujita
Japan, 1974, color 97 min.
Print courtesy of Toho Co., Ltd
Showtime 3:00 PM

This sequel to Lady Snowblood, fuelled by the sheer force of overkill—the disturbingly joyful violence and the stylized application of physical power—finds the iconic killing machine / smooth-skinned beauty, Yuki “Snowblood” Kashima (Meiko Kaji) imprisoned for the ghastly vengeance she waged on her family's behalf. She has sent 37 people to hell and though most of them were hardened criminals and cold-blooded murderers, that simply cuts no ice with the judge: she is sentenced to death.

While waiting her turn to the gallows pole, a white-gloved secret agent makes Yuki an offer she cannot refuse: assassinate an enemy of the state (who is also a friend to the common people) in exchange for her pardon. Can the “child of the netherworld” see her sins redeemed at the cost of her life, or will she ignore the plight of the powerless—at the cost of her conscience? A sequel that offers both the savage amusement of foul violence and a razor-sharp political edge.

18+
This film is unrated, but may only be viewed by persons 18 years of age or older.

Info and online ticket purchasing here.

Image copyright Toei Co., Ltd

Female Convict Scorpion Jailhouse 41
Directed by Shunya Ito
Japan, 1972, color, 90 min.
Showtime 5:00

“One of the most jaw-droppingly over-the-top viewing experiences in film history.”
– Superheroeslive.com

“An absolutely phenomenal surrealist-cum-exploitation picture...one of the truly genuine masterpieces of violent 1970's cinema"
– Phillyfests.com

Jailhouse 41 finds the deadly Matsu, better known as “Sasori” (Scorpion) in a realm shut off from all hope and goodness: the darkest depths of a maximum-security prison, where God Himself dares not peek—or so it would seem. Taking her first chance at escape, she and six other female prisoners embark on a crazed rampage through a ghost town. The battered past of the women is revealed through a pop-art prism of kabuki theatre influences and frenzied baroque camerawork, as they trade surreal acts of sadistic vengeance with their pursuers and the men who fall in their path.

Highly stylized even for the standards of this exceptional franchise, Shunya Ito gives free reign to his experimental tendencies in this sequel to Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion, offering a brutally compelling film, haunting and intoxicating in equal measure.

18+
This film is unrated, but may only be viewed by persons 18 years of age or older.

Info and online ticket purchasing here.

The last segment of the series is entitled MARIKO OKADA: THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE ADULTERESS. It will feature four of her films and will run from Wednesday, April 14th through Sunday, April 18th.

The film series Mad, Bad… & Dangerous to Know: Three Untamed Beauties is made possible through the generous support of The Globus Family.

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