|
Best known in the
West for slashing her way through Toshiya Fujita's
period revenge flick and Kazuo Koike manga adaptation Lady
Snowblood (1973) and it's sequel Lady
Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance (1974)
and possessing a unique beauty and grace that
has garnered her numerous fans in both the East
and West, Meiko Kaji has had a very illustrious
film career despite the hyper violence and sexual
content of many of the films she's appeared in.
Born Masako Ota in 1947, Meiko Kaji joined Nikkatsu
Studios while still in her teens, appearing in
many films for the company before appearing in
such films as two episode of the Stray Cat
Rock series and Teruo Ishii's Blind Woman's
Curse, both of which would garner her some
fame. After Nikkatsu switched almost exclusively
to making roman porno and pinku eiga flicks, Kaji
did not want to become a star of pornographic
films and thus left the studio before appearing
in such films for Toei Studios as the Ginjo series and the Female Convict Scorpion films (the second of which in particular, Jailhouse
41, is now something of a cult classic), in which
she appears as Nami Matsushima, nickname Sasori
(Scorpion), a tough as nails, silent and unblinking
beauty in brutal captivity after being betrayed
by her boyfriend. 1973 in particular was big year
for Meiko Kaji, aside from appearing in the last
two Female Convict Scorpion films, she
also appeared in Lady
Snowblood for Tokyo Eiga in what would
end up being her most famous role, where she plays
Yuki, a young woman out to avenge her's parents'
deaths by hunting down and killing the four surviving
monsters responsible. It is now quite the cult
classic thanks to Quentin Tarantino's use of not
only the song Flower of Carnage but also
several plot elements for his epic grindhouse
tribute Kill Bill. That same year, she also appeared
in the second installment of Kinji
Fukasaku's famous Battles Without Honor
and Humanity series, Deadly Fight in
Hiroshima.
After appearing in a few of director
Yasuzo Masumura's later works, she put her career
somewhat on a hiatus, though to this day she still
stars in the occasional role, mainly for television.
Recently none other than Quentin Tarantino himself
has expressed strong interest in casting her in
one of his future films. |
