Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance (1974), directed by Toshiya Fujita. This is the second of the Lady Snowblood films, and yes, we have seen the first one. The first one ends with what appears to be the demise of the intrepid lady, but she turns up again in the Love Song of Vengeance. This second feature begins with a reference to the end of the war between Russia and Japan. I am not sure what this historical setting is supposed to convey, although we also learn that Japan is now a capitalist state. Political allusions run through the film, mostly in the conflict between state authorities and revolutionary "anarchists." Lady Snowblood, threatened with execution for 37 murders, finds herself the agent of a corrupt government. Her mission is to acquire a document that has the power to bring the government down. The power of words! She finds herself drawn to the revolutionaries and their cause. And so we have a bit of mayhem. None of this is particularly clear. What makes the film worth watching are the sets, the locations, the costumes, and several of the compositions. The camera also has affection for Meiko Kaji who plays the indomitable Lady Snowblood. We have some set pieces in which the Lady dispatches numerous opponents, and the choreography in these scenes is adequate, but not as impressive as we might hope for. All in all, this is a B feature with aspirations.

 

House (Hausa, 1977), directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi. This film is a smorgasbord of delights, part horror story, part fairy tale, part absurdist fantasy, part exercise in surrealism, part comedy, part satire. In short, it is just plain weird. The colours and sets are surreal. The film seems to have something to do with Japan's experience in the Second World War; it seems to have something to do with cats; it seems to have something to do with gothic stories set in large mansions; it seems to have something to do with family relationships; it seems to have something to do with familiar fairy tale tropes such as stepmothers, children in the woods or in strange houses, and mysterious animals. The action is zany. Perhaps the most famous of its scenes has a grand piano eat a young girl. Need I say more? This film is possibly the most crazy film I have ever seen.