Mother-Daughter Identity Constructs in "Lady Snowblood" and "Carrie"

Abstract

Both Carrie (1976) and Lady Snowblood (1973) have each received significant attention in critical film theory and philosophical works. However, when considered with the aim of drawing comparisons rather than focusing on established theoretical concerns that prevent or at least obfuscate such a pairing, both films betray the same approach to identity construction with respect to the main female characters. This approach involves the reliance on a narrative construct in which a repressive condition is placed upon the leading women in these films, a condition that, when critically evaluated, may have more widespread implications for how we ought to represent women in film in general. While the interpretations presented here and the value that they hold may overlap with claims already made about such films in non-comparative contexts, the analysis here may serve to foreground certain structural features that make these films warrant renewed attention due to the underlying assumptions implicit in their development about the critical role of a mother with respect to how a daughter defines her own identity.