(2000)
REVIEWED BY-STEVE GENIER DIRECTED BY-MITSURU MEIKE CAST-YOTA KAWASE, KIYOMI ITO, SHIRO SHIMONOMOTO, KIKUO HONDA and SHIORI KURODA. SOURCE-REDEMPTION/SALVATION/SACRAMENT DVD PAL REGION 2A
man awaits for his female lover to arrive at his cabin high up in the mountains. When a fierce snow storm begins to cover the cabin, his married love doesn’t show. Days have gone by, but he still believes that she will come. As time goes and the cabin begins to grow cold, his thoughts begin to race. Eventually those very thoughts begin to expand into running fantasies about this lover. Still, there is no sign of her, and his body begins to slow down with the frigid cold. His mind begins to struggle between reality and his sexual daydreams. With swift just, his thoughts become his sole companion as they take over. Has he killed his lover's husband, has she come for him and has hey escaped the coldness or is this just his mind playing tricks?
SNOW WOMAN is apart of the revamped line of titles Salvation has just recently released, armed with new covers and more extras. This title is apart of their highly anticipated line of Japanese "Pink" films called Sacrament. Films that rocked Japan’s cash strapped film industry starting in the 60's. A cross over of erotic themes and regular genre situations, these films saved the then decrepit industry. SNOW WOMAN is a later take on where the industry was at the turn of the millennium. Very raw and realistic in many terms, this Mitsuru Meike directed film is very slow and stagnate. Though I mean this in a very positive way, simply there is no other route to be taken in telling this very boxed in story. Think of Jack Nicholson’s protrayal of stir crazy Jack Torrance, up there trapped in the haunted Overlook Hotel. Now, take away the big budget, the hotel and the highly annoying acting job done by Shelley Duvall. You have another situation of a human being trapped in the snow, but in this case not only just by the snow, but trapped by his brain’s will.
Often very dark and bleak, SNOW WOMAN show cases some very interesting sexual situations and love scenes. Coupled with very well performed acting by the two leads. The film gives off a genuine feel for claustrophobia, one’s yearning for a female’s warm touch and yet to be shunned or abandoned in the same frame. This is why the often dark scenes work to the directors advantage. Yet, most of the sex scenes were in warm lighting, a sign of hope, a sign that his love will soon be there. Quickly squished by the over powering darkness of reality. This is truly a mind numbing 60 minutes that any fans of this unique Japanese genre must see.
This new Sacrament DVD is presented in anamorphic widescreen with a Digital Dolby track. Both picture and audio are very good, both very clean. Audio is in Japanese with English subtitles. There are several extras with the disc, first off the extras pertaining to the film itself are a gallery and a short introduction into the history of "Pink" cinema. There is also a short film called BLOOD, a tale of a female who’s lust for blood to survive leads her to track down a helpless victim and feasts on her. A nice addition to this DVD, one that will surely attract many more viewers to this line from Salvation Films. Lastly, there is a music video that ends out the DVD, a video entitled "WHITE SLAVE" performed by THE NUNS. It’s apart of the new music label from Salvation called Triple Silence.
STORY-3 BITCH SLAPS PICUTRE-3 BITCH SLAPS AUDIO-2.5 BITCH SLAPS EXTRAS-4 BITCH SLAPS OVERALL DVD-3 BITCH SLAPS
