Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Kill Bill’ Was Inspired By This Japanese Actress 5o1943

The Big Picture o4q5z

• Meiko Kaji, a talented actress and singer, starred in iconic Japanese films like
  Lady Snowblood
  and
  Female Prisoner Scorpion
  .
• Her impact on cinema can be seen in Quentin Tarantino’s
  Kill Bill
  , which pays homage to Kaji’s work through narrative and style.
• Despite challenges, Kaji’s legacy is being preserved by dedicated fans and film preservationists for future generations to appreciate.

If you are a fan of Kill Bill, the two-part martial arts revenge epic from director Quentin Tarantino, you may not recognize the name Meiko Kaji, but you have heard her voice. Near the end of the climactic fight between The Bride, played by Uma Thurman, and Lucy Liu’s deadly O-Ren Ishii, a song begins to play. This song is the theme from Toshiya Fujita‘s Lady Snowblood, a 1973 Japanese revenge film starring Kaji. She performs the theme herself, as Kaji is a talented singer in addition to her ability as an actress. The influence of Kaji’s work in Lady Snowblood can be traced directly to Kill Bill, which has overt musical and visually stylistic homages to the film, as well as a narrative that is strikingly similar. So who is Meiko Kaji in the larger context of Japanese cinema?

She may not be a household name in America, but beginning with her first lead role in Blind Woman’s Curse, Kaji starred in sixteen movies from 1970 to 1974. Among these were two Lady Snowblood features, four in the Female Prisoner Scorpion franchise, and five entries in a series called Stray Cat Rock. These are movies that were popular among younger audiences in Japan at the time, and they continue to find new life in America through artists like Tarantino shining a light on their legacy.

Meiko Kaji Slashed Her Way to Stardom a12c

Before Lady Snowblood, Kaji made waves in the exploitation genre through her work in Stray Cat Rock and Female Prisoner Scorpion. Stray Cat Rock contained five films (two of which share the same director as Lady Snowblood) which followed young women experiencing night-life in Japan, getting into conflict with street gangs, and engaging in criminal activity intended to disrupt the political or social status quo. The series was first intended to be a starring vehicle for singer Akiko Wada, but Kaji’s character was so beloved that in every film after the original that Kaji held the lead role and was the primary focus of the marketing. These movies have a punk sensibility and a vibrant style which makes them fun and exciting to watch. Kaji leads a rotating cast of young women in fights against bikers, racist gangs, and oppressive law enforcement officers. They feature many montages dedicated to underground Japanese culture, showcasing live music, and performance art from a variety of talented young artists.

Female Prisoner Scorpion began while Stray Cat Rock was still an ongoing series, and follows Kaji over four films as a revolutionary figure disrupting an abusive prison system. The Female Prisoner Scorpion series almost plays out like a hard, brutal R-rated version of Paul Newman‘s Cool Hand Luke, as Kaji inspires her fellow prisoners to challenge the system and fight for their rights. These films are quite violent, and occasionally feature content relating to sexual crimes, so they are certainly not for everyone, but Kaji’s strong resolve and brutal dispatching of anyone who has ever stood in her way or brought her harm is empowering, and the films are beautifully constructed.

Quentin Tarantino Honors Meiko Kaji With ‘Kill Bill’ 38d6b

The similarities between Lady Snowblood and Kill Bill are easy to spot with only a fraction of familiarity with each movie. Both follow a scorned assassin seeking revenge against criminals who are at the center of a brutal trauma the protagonist must reckon with. Tarantino’s film cribs lovingly from many classic tropes of old martial arts and samurai films, and Lady Snowblood is a perfect exemple of the strength of this kind of movie. Lucy Liu’s character in Kill Bill Vol. 1 sports a similar aesthetic in of wardrobe and weaponry, while Uma Thurman‘s character has a plot line that creates many clear parallels between herself and the character of Lady Snowblood. Tarantino has been on the record about how his influences are overtly seen through direct references in his work, and when interviewed for Screenwriter’s Monthly while promoting Kill Bill Vol. 2, he spoke about Kaji’s influence, specifically citing Female Prisoner Scorpion and Lady Snowblood since both feature « hell-bent for revenge characters. »

The unfortunate reality for the longevity of films like Kaji’s in the modern era is that many audiences still will not give foreign or subtitled films much of a chance, and on top of that, they can be difficult to find. Luckily the Stray Cat Rock and Female Prisoner Scorpion films have all been restored and released on physical media by Arrow Video, while the two Lady Snowblood movies are available together on DVD and Blu-Ray in the Criterion Collection. The efforts of film preservationists and super fans like Tarantino have allowed for an actress like Kaji to live on in an iconic cult status. However, there is something bittersweet about how Kill Bill, the story which takes so much inspiration from her work, is known by so many more people than the stylish and beautiful films which paved the way for Tarantino’s work to become a massive success.

Kaji is still active in the acting community, with many TV credits over the last decade including a ing performance in the acclaimed 2020 drama Under the Open Sky and 2023’s YuYu Hakusho live-action adaptaion. Much of her work is worth visiting, but anyone who loves Tarantino’s films owes it to themselves to become acquainted with the period of her career that spanned Stray Cat Rock‘s first entry to Lady Snowblood‘s sequel, Love Song of Vengeance. The stardom Kaji achieved in Japan is hard to see replicated in America, where action films are still primarily male-dominated. Kaji showed no mercy on the screen and portrayed a variety of distinguishable, strong female protagonists who took their agency and their fate into their own hands. It is no wonder she will remain an icon of Japanese cinema for as long as people have access to her work, which is hopefully forever.

Kill Bill: Volume 1 is currently streaming on Netflix in the U.S.

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