Tokyo Drifter

Tokyo Drifter

Directed by Seijun Suzuki • 1966 • Japan
Starring Tetsuya Watari, Chieko Matsubara, Tamio Kawaji

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.

Tokyo Drifter
  • Tokyo Drifter

    Directed by Seijun Suzuki • 1966 • Japan
    Starring Tetsuya Watari, Chieko Matsubara, Tamio Kawaji

    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 ...

Extras

  • Seijun Suzuki and Masami Kuzuu on TOKYO DRIFTER

    In this interview, recorded in July 2011, director Seijun Suzuki and assistant director Masami Kuzuu recall the production of TOKYO DRIFTER.

  • Seijun Suzuki, 1997

    The following interview with director Seijun Suzuki was recorded during a retrospective of his work by the Japan Foundation and Los Angeles Filmforum at the Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles in March 1997.