Tokyo Drifter (Tokyo nagaremono)
Directed by Seijun Suzuki
Written by Yasunori Kawauchi
1966/Japan
Nikkatsu
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Tetsuya ‘Phoenix Tetsu’ Hondo: A drifter needs no woman.[/box]
This film is a feast for the eyes. Not so much for the mind or heart.
Tetsuya Hondo is the right hand man to yakusa boss Kurata. He follows Kurata in an attempt to go straight. A rival gang tries to muscle in on Kurata’s legitimate business and Hondo decides to become a drifter to take the heat off.
Naturally, this doesn’t work and we follow the gunshots as they follow Hondo throughout Japan.
If it weren’t for IMDb I don’t know if I could have explained the plot. This is all style and no substance. The use of color is amazing. Suzuki keeps the mood playful rather than pretentious so it went down easily.
I lost track of how many times this song is performed in the film. Easily in the two figures.
“become a ‘drifter’ to take the heat off”………”drifter” ie he drifts from town to town, a gun for hire so to speak, no longer supporting his (yakuza) gang boss. This supposedly reduces the threat and effectiveness of said gang boss in the eyes of those who want the boss’s territory, allowing the boss the chance to retire alive.
Totally agree with review – a bucket load of style but the plotting, while OK, is not exceptional for a Yakuza genre film.
However it must be noted that director Suzuki was at this time “at war” with his studio, Nikkatsu, which wanted (high box office) conventional Yakuza flicks, not stylized in any way, and as such the studio was progressively reducing the finances for Suzuki films.
The Wikipedia article on Suzuki, who would become a “rebel with a cause” next year, 1967, when the studio dismissed him, triggering landmark legal proceedings is suggested reading esp for those interested in Japanese film.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seijun_Suzuki
Yes, guess we’ll say goodbye to Suzuki next “year” with the truly weird “Branded to Kill”. Saw that one but only remember Jo Shidido and his fetish with the smell of cooking rice.
Wouldn’t say “truly weird ” personally as that puts it (for me) in the experimental/unwatchable class (eg Big Man Japan is one personally along with The Happiness of the Katakuris) For me, it is, much like Tokyo Drifter, an overrated because of style, Yakuza flick.
“Unusual” I’d rate it, but it must have had some impact as your memory is spot on!
Suzuki’s films may be “unusual” but are definitely unforgettable. I felt the same way about him before but now I have kind of surrendered to the madness.