Tokyo Drifter: Catch My Drift
By December 13, 2011
Just what is it that makes Seijun Suzuki’s Tokyo Drifter (1966) so different, so appealing? The cherubic hero in the neat powder blue suit, who looks like he was torn out of a yakuza pop-up book?
SYNOPSIS: In this jazzy gangster film, reformed killer Tetsu’s attempt to go straight is thwarted when his former cohorts call him back to Tokyo to help battle a rival gang. Director Seijun Suzuki’s onslaught of stylized violence and trippy colors is equal parts Russ Meyer, Samuel Fuller, and Nagisa Oshima—an anything-goes, in-your-face rampage. Tokyo Drifter is a delirious highlight of the brilliantly excessive Japanese cinema of the sixties.
| Tetsuya Hondo | Tetsuya Watari |
| Chiharu | Chieko Matsubara |
| Tatsuzo | Tamio Kawaji |
| Kurata | Ryuji Kita |
| Kenji Aizawa | Hideaki Nitani |
| Tanaka | Eiji Go |
| Mutsuko | Tomoko Hamakawa |
| Keiichi | Takeshi Yoshida |
| Umetani | Isao Tamagawa |
| Director | Seijun Suzuki |
| Producer | Tetsuro Nakagawa |
| Assistant director | Masami Kuzuu |
| Original story and screenplay | Kouhan Kawauchi |
| Cinematography | Shigeyoshi Mine |
| Editing | Chikaya Inoue |
| Production design | Takeo Kimura |
| Music | Hajime Kaburagi |
| Theme song by | Tetsuya Watari |
By December 13, 2011
Just what is it that makes Seijun Suzuki’s Tokyo Drifter (1966) so different, so appealing? The cherubic hero in the neat powder blue suit, who looks like he was torn out of a yakuza pop-up book?
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