Tokyo Drifter (Suzuki Seijun, 1966, 35mm)

Film screening:

"Tokyo Drifter"
(SUZUKI Seijun, 1966, 89 min, Japan, Japanese w/ English subtitles, 35mm)

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 Suzuki Seijun'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. Rare 35mm print.

"A technicolor explosion of style akin to the Pop Art of the era, Suzuki and [art director] Kimura employ color in bold and unique ways, one sparkling cinemascope frame followed by another. 'A man's life bleeds away in crimson colors,' we're told. In this film, it does so, remarkably." - Fandor

Sponsored by Duke Cinematic Arts and the Asian/Pacific Studies Institute. Made possible by support from The Japan Foundation.

View trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgXmTOC8Gow

Series info: https://cinematicarts.duke.edu/suzuki-seijun-35mm-film-series-fall-2022

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