The Complete Lady Snowblood (Criterion Collection)

A young woman (Meiko Kaji), trained from childhood as an assassin and hell-bent on revenge for the murders of her father and brother and the rape of her mother, hacks and slashes her way to gory satisfaction in turn-of-the-twentieth-century Japan. Rampantwith inventive violence and spectacularly choreographed swordplay, Toshiya Fujitas pair of influential cult classics Lady Snowblood and Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance are bloody, beautiful extravaganzas composed of one elegant widescreen composition after another. The first Lady Snowblood was a major inspiration for Quentin Tarantinos Kill Bill saga, and both of Fujitas films remain cornerstones of Asian action cinema.