修罗雪姬

女人一发狠，男人坐不稳

内陆飞鱼

《杀死比尔》2004初就看过的了，喜出望外的是我看的第一集是全彩版。当时《看电影》等一些电影杂志，从头到尾深刻解读了这部电影，昆汀导演创作这部电影时的创意引擎，以及其中很多细节的拼贴来源。记得，其中该电影的故事来源之一，就是1973年日本电影《修罗雪姬》，这是昆汀在录象租赁伙计时看的众多日本片当中的一部，昨天刚好在碟店发现了简装D5，双碟装，就忙不迭地找回来看了。封套很日本，比较吸引人，印有“日本版的杀死比尔”几个蝇头小字。

看之前我翻开《日本电影100年》的相关章节，对照参阅，但没有该片的有关叙述，不过关于《修罗雪姬》导演藤田敏八，关于在1960-1970年代日本剑戟片，书里面是这样概述的，由于受电视的冲击，1960年代末传统田园牧歌、游侠式的剑戟片市场式微，东宝映画的藤田敏八一批人应时而动，对剑戟片进行了一些改良，加入了诸多现代视觉元素，呈现出阴森、暴烈、惊悚的风格。成为一个不小的流派。

题外话，也许潮流势不可挡，还是相互呼应，互为竞争，反观咱们香港的电影，电影大鳄“邵氏”旗下也正流行，以张彻导演为代表的常常有“盘肠大战”具有鲜明视觉风格，凌厉刚烈的古装武侠片，而“邵氏”的死对头“嘉禾”电影公司，也因为有李小龙，开创了风格独特的现代功夫片，此风波及东南亚各地，乃至遍布世界。

《修罗雪姬》改编自七十年代小池一夫及上村一夫风靡一时同名漫画。讲述的是明治初年（相当于我们晚清），西风渐进，变法维新势在必行，此时官僚、军阀、恶霸横行各地，他们互相勾结，苛捐杂税严重，民不聊生。雪的“父亲”是一个乡村教师，在带着母亲、哥哥去任职的路上，被一伙三男一女为首的恶霸误认为是其的敌对势力，“父亲”和哥哥当场被残忍杀害，柔弱的母亲被他们蹂躏三天三夜后，最后被其中一恶霸强占为妻，前往京都开店，她忍辱负重强颜欢笑，终于杀掉这个仇人，身陷囹圄，判为死缓。

为了给自己留下后代报仇，她在狱中放荡不羁四处勾引狱警和官府人员，终于怀孕，在一个大雪纷纷产下雪后安然死去，狱友出狱后把雪托付一老僧学习武艺。经过严格残酷的训练，20年后雪姬下山开始复仇之旅，武艺高超的“修罗雪姬”（修罗，梵名Asura 。略称修罗。为六道之一，八部众之一，十界之一。又作阿须罗、阿索罗、阿苏罗、阿素罗、阿素洛、阿须伦、阿须轮。意译为非天、非同类、不端正。阿修罗为印度最古诸神之一，系属于战斗一类之鬼神，经常被视为恶神，而与帝释天‘因陀罗神’争斗不休，以致出现了修罗场、修罗战等名词）的名声传开。

藤田敏八在这部电影中，依然继承了日本电影一贯的唯美风格，同时赋予了人物日本民族特有偏执性格，这些特质集中在一部以女性为主角的复仇电影里时，血雨腥风显得冷艳而哀伤。影片人物众多，性格分明，打斗场景无论室内室外，布置巧妙，剑法残忍利索，直取要害，镜头流转很有新意，故事节奏紧张，一波三折，精彩流畅。而雪姬，形象纯洁美丽，一袭白色和服一尘不染，象雪一样干净，但是一心复仇，面色无情，目光冷峻，手持一把油纸伞（伞柄就是利刃的柄）独行高山大海，村镇城市，总是步履匆匆。不过，她对仇人女儿的手下留情，和另一仇敌之子的短暂爱恋，使人物没流于脸谱化，也更有东方味道。演员梶芽衣子姣好的容颜，乍一看有些像朱茵。应该说，《修罗雪姬》算是一部比较成功的商业片

那么，昆汀在《杀死比尔》里都借用了《修罗雪姬》的那些桥段呢？我粗浅地看下来认为是：首先，是人物设置和故事结构，《修罗雪姬》按照剧情分为四个段落，每个均以章回体似的字幕说明，而且两部电影女主角都是复仇女神，用的都是日本刀，不过一个是贵重武士刀，一个普通的平口短刀，复仇意志一往无前，刀锋过处寸草不留，《杀》中实拍和漫画相结合，《修》中也有漫画说明；其次，镜头运用和打斗场面，单打独斗和一人敌百的场面，砍肢断臂，鲜血狂喷，从功夫套路，到镜头大同小异，比如180度凌空旋转，从敌人身后飞到眼前，比如屡见不鲜的血如喷泉般喷射，比如《杀》中新娘一直记得自己躺倒恶人脚下时，仇人们得意地围观俯视尸体，《修》中也一直强调雪姬父母死后四大恶人得意地围观，镜头朝上，是四个恶人的面部特写；再者，音乐，杀死比尔里新娘杀掉仇人后总有一段凄婉的日本女子唱的歌曲，歌曲叫《The Flowerof Carnage Lady》(杀戮之花)，曲子唯美空灵，歌词凄凉悲伤，衬托人物的孤独无助，很多搏杀场景，独特急促的日本音乐，也被昆汀学到家了，比如石井阿莲气势汹汹地带着手下一干人马，前往青叶屋决斗，和《修罗雪姬》中一般穿洋服的杀手穿过街道、天桥，去追捕报社记者的镜头、音乐，简直如出一辙。

最后要说的是，《修罗雪姬》还有下集，也就是这张DVD的第二面。第二集名称叫《修罗雪姬怨恨之恋》，讲述雪获死刑，被怪人所救，指派去监视刚刚萌芽的日本共产主义分子，原来这些怪人是政客和秘密警察。结果被共产主义者的言行感染，雪还开始有了一些爱国意识，倒戈相向。不过故事拖沓，雪的性格弱下来，中间有60、70分钟完全和武侠无关，后面完全是为打而打，加入了意识形态的东西，虽然有今后成为导演的著名电影人伊丹十三客串赤色分子，但还是不好看。把影片分为两集，难道这也是昆汀借鉴的方式之一？而且相同的是，下集都如此拖沓难看。

电影本身因为年代比较久，很多方面都不吐槽，而且浮夸也是中美嘛。倒是故事本身很值得借鉴。这是一个非常正统的传奇故事的写法，先是简短有力带点传奇色彩的源起，在第一个环节加入隐线作为最后反转的伏笔；第二个环节出现意外，故事进入低谷，并带出第三个故事的次要人物及第四个环节的主要反转；第三个故事以出乎意料的方式结束，由此引出第四个环节，最终所有埋伏的隐线一起发作，故事产生反转，结束。按照这样的布局写个小说，只要文笔不太差，剧情不太狗血都是很好看的，编剧不错呦。

Lady Snowblood (1973) Movie Review
By James Mudge on September 7, 2004 | Asian Movie Reviews, Japanese Movie Reviews, Reviews

“Lady Snowblood” was, until the recent “Kill Bill” by Tarantino, a relatively obscure 1973 female samurai revenge film. However, since the inclusion of the songs “Flower of Carnage” and “Urami-Bushi” (both sung by lead actress Meiko Kaji) on the soundtracks to both of Tarantino’s films, and his citing of it as one of his main influences, both the classic original and the slightly inferior sequel (“Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance”) have earned new releases and retrospectives.

Fans of modern Japanese cinema will be quite used to seeing sword-slinging female killers in films such as “Azumi” and “The Princess Blade”, though “Lady Snowblood” as both a film and a character is still very much the standard by which all others must be measured. Beautifully directed, action packed and very violent, it contains more memorable scenes and characters than most of its imitators put together. Hopefully, the success of “Kill Bill” will inspire viewers not only to watch “Lady Snowblood”, but to appreciate it not simply as a curio piece, but as an excellent, and indeed superior, film in its own right.

The plot, set during a historical period of political unrest in Japan, is revenge, pure and simple. After her husband is murdered, a woman is accused of being a spy and thrown into jail. Consumed by rage, she sleeps with every man she can, with the bloody-minded aim of producing a child who will enact her revenge. Dying in childbirth, the woman gives life to Yuki Kashima (Meiko Kaji), who becomes Lady Snowblood, the living embodiment of vengeance. Twenty years later, having dedicated her life to deadly martial arts training, Yuki sets forth on her quest, swearing that she will not rest until she has slaughtered the villains who wronged her mother.

Apart from the use of the theme song, the influence of “Lady Snowblood” on Tarantino’s revenge films is blatantly obvious, with similar training sequences, set pieces and even a voiceover-heavy narrative that is divided into chapters. This is fair enough. I have nothing at all against Tarantino or his films, and this is the only mention I’ll make on the subject of homage, inspiration, rip offs, or whatever.

Lady Snowblood herself is a fascinating character. Although purportedly an instrument of death and violence, the film gives her a welcome injection of personality and emotion, both of which serves to make her bloody quest more interesting. Though her background is tragic and traumatic, the film makes clear that it’s her dead mother’s revenge she is carrying out, and not her own, allowing for moments of self-doubt and uncertainty. Similarly, although she is a highly skilled killer, she is far from invincible, and this allows the viewer to sympathize with her, if not identify. It helps that Meiko Kaji is excellent, making the role her own with an intense performance that at times conveys a tangible sense of barely contained violence through the smallest of actions.

“Lady Snowblood” benefits from its historical setting and the attention paid to the political nuances of the time period. The film has a voiceover by a journalist named Ashio (Toshio Kurosawa, from the classic “Water Margin”), who is investigating Yuki, and he provides plenty of social commentary on the great changes that swept the country at the time. As well as giving the film an interesting and realistic grounding, this allows for a few moments of sly humor that lighten the mood somewhat. Since the film has a fairly slow pace between the fight scenes, this is very welcome and keeps things moving along nicely.

The direction by Toshiya Fujita (relatively unknown in the West apart from the “Lady Snowblood” films) is excellent and at times beautiful. The film boasts a rich color scheme, predominantly using deep red and cold white, usually in the form of the film’s common motifs of blood and snow. The cinematography is gorgeous, and although the film does at times look low budget, it provides an evocative and atmospheric look at ancient Japan.

The action scenes are excellent and well shot, relying on short bursts of swordplay rather than extended martial arts battles. The action is tense and exciting, and usually drenched in geysers of spraying red. “Lady Snowblood” is a very violent film, and there is a great deal of hacking, slashing and dismemberment, which is bound to please fans of the genre.

“Lady Snowblood” is a classic, and deserves to be recognized far beyond its value as an inspiration to the films of Tarantino. It offers fans of martial arts and samurai films plenty of action, a beautiful, tragic heroine, and a gripping tale of revenge, all set against a fascinating historical backdrop. Though I’m sure we will see countless more ‘female samurai’ films, I’m equally sure that “Lady Snowblood” will stand the test of time far better than any of them.

Toshiya Fujita (director) / Kazuo Uemura, Kazuo Koike (screenplay)
CAST: Meiko Kaji …. Yuki Kashima
Toshio Kurosawa …. Ryuurei Ashio
Miyoko Akaza …. Sayo Kashima
Masaaki Daimon …. Gou Kashima