"Syurayukihime," meaning Lady Snow of the Netherworlds, is not just the name of the vengeful beauty with the pallid cold face, serene demeanor and the magnificent skills to wield a sword in her luscious kimonos, but a paradox that runs throughout this highly entertaining film. Conceived with the intent to avenge the murderous gang members who killed her mother’s husband and son, she undergoes hard martial arts training from a Buddhist priest who instructs her to purge of all human emotions except for "vengeance." Upon the 20th anniversary of her mother who died during childbirth, she embarks on a full-fledged mission of revenge.
Based on the popular manga published by Kazuo Koike, this tale is set during the turbulent period of the Meiji era when Japan was accepting modernity and the West. This background gives reason to the lawlessness of the film’s social setting, and perhaps social commentary on its effects. This point is highlighted in her relationship between a pop journalist who publishes her story and helps her provoke the remaining gang members. And in the end when she goes after the ringleader, a shocking revelation and final action gives a finishing touch to the moral stance of this film.
But what give the film a richness is the last scene where all the collage and collisions of opposing axis as suggested in the title, the film ultimately presents Yuki who now has become victim to her own revenge, as nothing but a human being as she lays dying in the white snow, covered with blood, crying out supposedly purged emotions from the bottom of her soul. This film has recently received spotlight again for its inspiration to Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill in which Yuki played by Meiko Kaiji sings The Flower of Carnage, also the theme song of this film.