Fist of Fury + Lady Snowblood

Fist of Fury
Dir. Lo Wei. Hong Kong, 1972, 106 mins. With Bruce Lee, Tien Feng, Nora Miao. Elevating action star Lee to icon status, Fist of Fury is the perfect display of his virtuoso talents. He plays a martial arts student seeking revenge after his master is killed by a rival dojo. This simple plot is a mere framework for tightly shaped fight scenes in which he mostly uses just his deadly fists and an anti-colonialist commentary on the Japanese influence over Shanghai. It’s impossible to take your eyes off of Lee as he moves through throngs of fighters and proceeds on his mission. Rated: R

Lady Snowblood
Dir. Toshiya Fujita. Japan, 1973, 96 mins. With Meiko Kaji, Toshio Kurosawa, Shinichi Uchida. Yuki Kashima wants revenge for her family’s tragic deaths, and she has trained all of her life to get it. Charting this long journey for vengeance, Lady Snowblood contains elegantly choreographed fight scenes, beautiful set design, and a menacingly aloof performance by Kaji, one of the great Japanese action stars of her era. The influence on Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill trilogy is evident in every ferociously beautiful frame. Not Rated