Lady Snowblood (Toshiya Fujita, 1973)

Meiko Kaji in Lady Snowblood

Cast: Meiko Kaji, Toshio Kurosawa, Ko Nishimura, Masaaki Daimon, Miyoko Akaza, Eiji Okada,  Sanae Nakahara, Noboru Nakaya. Screenplay: Norio Osada, Kazuo Kamimura, Kazuo Koike. Cinematography: Masaki Tamura. Production design: Kazuo Satsuya. Film editing: Osamu Inoue. Music: Masaaki Hirao.

An often fascinating, often grisly tale, based on a popular manga, of a woman not only born but conceived to take revenge for her mother's rape and her family's murder. Among other things, it's an acknowledged source for Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003).