Tokyo Drifter
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| Tokyo Drifter | |
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 Theatrical Poster |
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| Directed by | Seijun Suzuki |
| Produced by | Tetsuro Nakagawa |
| Written by | Yasunori Kawauchi |
| Starring | Tetsuya Watari Chieko Matsubara Hideaki Nitani |
| Music by | So Kaburagi |
| Cinematography | Shigeyoshi Mine |
| Editing by | Shinya Inoue |
| Distributed by | Nikkatsu |
| Release date(s) | April 10, 1966 |
| Running time | 83 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Tokyo Drifter (東京流れ者 Tōkyō nagaremono?) is a 1966 yakuza action film directed by Seijun Suzuki. The story follows Tetsuya Watari as the reformed yakuza hitman "Phoenix" Tetsu who is forced to roam Japan awaiting his imminent execution by rival gangs.[1]
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[edit] Synopsis
After the disbandment of the Kurata syndicate Tetsu is sought out by rival yakuza clan boss Otsuka. He attempts to enlist Tetsu into his gang but fails. Fearing that Tetsu will upset a real estate scam in the making Otsuka decides to have him eliminated. Sensing this Tetsu leaves Tokyo.
Otsuka assigns his number one hitman, "Viper", to kill him. Tetsu evades Viper and his hit squad a number of times and arrives at the establishment of Umetani, an ally of boss Kurata.
However, Kurata, coerced by Otsuka, has betrayed Tetsu and ordered Umetani to kill him. With help from one of Otsuka's former men, "Shooting Star" Kenji, Tetsu is able to defeat Viper and escape. Tetsu then returns to Tokyo and confronts his former boss. The movie ends with Kurata committing suicide and Tetsu leaving his fiancee to travel the life of a loner across Japan.
[edit] Production
Nikkatsu bosses had been warning Suzuki to tone down his bizarre visual style for years and drastically reduced Tokyo Drifter's budget in hopes of getting results. This had the opposite effect in that Suzuki and art director Takeo Kimura pushed themselves to new heights of surrealism and absurdity. The studio's next move was to impose the further restriction of filming in black and white on his next films, which again Suzuki met with even greater bizarreness culminating in his dismissal for "incomprehensibility".[2]
[edit] Cast
- Tetsuya Watari as Tetsuya "Phoenix Tetsu" Hondo
- Chieko Matsubara as Chiharu
- Hideaki Nitani as Kenji Aizawa
- Tamio Kawaji as Tatsuzo The Viper
- Tsuyoshi Yoshida as Keiichi
- Ryuji Kita as Kurata
- Hideaki Esumi as Otsuka
- Eiji Go as Tanaka
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Tokyo Drifter at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ D., Chris (2005). Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film. I.B. Tauris, pp. 136-149. ISBN 1-84511-086-2.
[edit] References
- Thompson, Nathaniel [2002]. DVD Delirium: The International Guide to Weird and Wonderful Films on DVD; Volume 1 Redux. Godalming, England: FAB Press, pp.698-699. ISBN 1-903254-39-6.
[edit] External links
- Tokyo Drifter at the Internet Movie Database.
- Tokyo Drifter essay at the Criterion Collection by Manohla Dargis.
- Tokyo Drifter at the Japanese Movie Database (Japanese).
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