Tokyo Drifter took pop art’s sly appetite for pastiche and appro­pri­ation and spun it into a cool web of subliminal associations, a flabbergasting assemblage of tough-guy kitsch, poetry, and self-mockery. 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. The plan was to make a straightforward drama about a young criminal's efforts to go straight and succeed romantically with his true love, a sensual but innocent nightclub singer. Tetsuya Hondo, known as Tetsu the Phoenix, plans to live the rest of his life as an average man. It is about a reformed killer named Tetsu who enters into a battle with a rival gang despite his intent to do otherwise. Otsuka sends his hitman "Viper" Tatsuzo to kill Tetsu, who evades him and Otsuka's hit squad a number of times with help from a former Otsuka gang member named Kenji. Tetsu later reaches the establishment of Kurata's ally Umetani, who reveals that Kurata joined forces with Otsuka and placed a bounty on Tetsu's head. Enemies old and new hunt a Japanese gangster who lives by an outdated code of ethics.
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 ...In this interview, recorded in July 2011, director Seijun Suzuki and assistant director Masami Kuzuu recall the production of TOKYO DRIFTER.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.

Honestly speaking, this movie lacks most of the basic aspects of what one could call a "plot." Tokyo Drifter Synopsis. Nikkatsu studios drastically reduced Tokyo Drifter's budget in a vain attempt to rein Suzuki in but this only caused him get even more creative. Tokyo Drifter stands with Branded to Kill as one of the best-known and most acclaimed films of Seijun Suzuki, one of Japan's most talented maverick directors. While Tokyo Drift may not have featured big-name stars like Vin Diesel or Paul Walker, it remains a favorite among devoted Fast & Furious fans. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is a 2006 action film directed by Justin Lin, with a screenplay by Chris Morgan.It is the third installment in the Fast & Furious franchise and stars Lucas Black, Sung Kang, Bow Wow, and Brian Tee.
A betrayed Tetsu returns to Tokyo for a final confrontation with Otsuka, killing everyone but his former girlfriend Chiharu, and Kurata takes his own life to redeem himself. Tokyo Drifter is a delirious highlight of the brilliantly excessive Japanese cinema of the sixties. TOKYO DRIFTER is a delirious highlight of the brilliantly excessive Japanese cinema of the sixties. Tokyo Drifter was conceived as a lightweight thriller to promote one of Nikkatsu's newest young discoveries, the handsome, boyish Tetsuya Watari. IN JAPANESE W/ ENGLISH SUBTITLES!!! Tetsu rejects Chiharu's plea for her to accompany him on his travels, explaining that he has dedicated himself to the wanderer lifestyle and could not abandon it for another's company.Because of budget limitations, Suzuki had to cut connecting shots out of many fights, leading to a need for more creative camera work.Suzuki displays common themes found in Yakuza films, particularly the theme of loyalty, in order to parody the message and presentation of traditional At times, the film draws a good deal of inspiration from Vryzidis claims that Suzuki's later films, once the studio gave him more freedom, never reached the same level of artistic quality as The film is considered ahead of its time, as it abandoned the themes of the The film has a recurrent appearance of Tetsu's girlfriend as a lounge singer repeating several times her signature song throughout the film. Tokyo Drifter is the second film by director Seijun Suzuki to be released to the Criterion Collection on DVD. Tokyo Drifter by ultragoji2. Rent $3.99 Buy $14.99