Tokyo Drifter (1966, Japan)
Before watchingĀ Tokyo Drifter for the first time, I had rewatched the Humphrey Bogart-Lauren Bacall pictureĀ The Big Sleep and again was confounded by the latterās plot (but who doesnāt enjoy the dialogue to it)? And just likeĀ The Big Sleep, the plot is secondary, style is most important. Seijun Suzukiās film is the antithesis of subtlety and his film - which continues to divide audiences - has become, at least, a cult classic. From the dapper suits, the colorful art direction that seems to have been airlifted from one of the more abstract scenes in a Gene Kelly musical, a brief Kurosawa-like jidaigeki scene, fragmented editing,Ā and the Western-inspired shootouts that almost play as parody,Tokyo Drifter is one of the bizarrest films Iāve ever witnessed. And Iām not sure what to make of it.
In brief, Tetsuya Watari plays Tetsu, a reformedĀ yakuza hitman who is distant and relatively from all others as he is being targeted by rival gangs. Because of that targeting and his old bossās (Ryuji Kita) refusal to succumb to old ways, he becomes a drifter from Tokyo as new gangs are on the rise. He conducts himself with an outdated code of ethics - an offshoot of Sam Peckinpahās examination of cowboys in a more industrialized West around this time in film history. To ask me to explain the plot from here on out would be useless because - on my first viewing - I was never exactly sure what was going on.
Again, plot is unimportant and one should concentrate on the filmās unforgettable aesthetic. The film begins with an overexposed black-and-white depicting a vicious beating on the Tokyo waterfront. Then boom - Technicolor seeps onto the screen (reportedly, signifying the aftermath of the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo).
The film is filled to the brim with fisticuffs and gunplay and if the artistic style was played straight,Ā Tokyo Drifter would just be another Japanese B-movie. The fights are physically improbable and there is a truly bad case of the Stormtrooper Effect for the bad guys. Itās absurd. Case in point: one firefight that results in a standoff between Tetsu and anotherĀ yakuza. His enemy tells him to surrender the gun, but you know what Tetsu does instead? He flips the gun over his head, confusing his would-be killer, catches it a few feet before it hits the ground, and fires it the moment the gun is back in his hands. I just wonder if The Man with No Name could pull off a stunt like that!
Ā There is almost no blood and gore in the film - one major exception is when a mobsterās manga-reading girlfriend is killed by a stray bullet in a firefight early on (pictured). How that scene is shot is remarkable and the cinematography endows the moment with the poignancy needed to lead Tetsuya to drift around Japan.
After this moment, the colors become garish and distracting, as if Suzuki has pillaged the storage facilities of MGM to infuse his yakuza film with a sense of a Golden Age musical. Speaking of which, thereās a theme song to the Tokyo Drifter that Watari sings before and in the middle of the film. For those with an affinity for Andy Warhol-like pop art, Tokyo Drifter is highly recommended for its electric yellows, its brooding reds, and one special case of the blues. I would be insulting art lovers with my ignorance if I were to write any more on the art direction. Lastly, there are some lighting changes mid-scene during battles as Tetsuya enters the frame of the shot which makes everything obvious. But again, this givesĀ Tokyo Drifter its unique visual style - one that would be emulated many years later inĀ Kill Bill.Ā
Tokyo Drifter is, in a sense, a part autobiographical film on the part of director Seijun Suzuki. Suzuki was considered a maverick film director at Nikkatsu (the oldest and one of the major film studios in Japan) after leaving Shochiku (the home of Mizoguchi and Ozu). Nikkatsu at this time was struggling financially and Suzuki was put to work on an astounding twenty-five films in seven years in order to make up the difference. However, he was increasingly frustrated by Nikkatsuās prescribed assembly line-like production towards their films and wanted to create something completely on his own artistic vision and volition. That desire was channeled intoĀ Tokyo Drifter - now hailed as a radical departure from the hordes ofĀ yakuza films being released by Japanese film studios at this time.
The film would prove to be too radical for Nikkatsu, Japanese film critics, and general audiences alike and Suzuki was let go by the studio - its executives too humiliated to even be associated with him. Decades on,Ā Tokyo Drifter is now being acknowledged as being a stylistic triumph for Suzuki and for embodying Cool - even if we donāt fully understand the plot behind this Cool. It is an acid trip worthy of the 1960s - political incorrectness, filmic corniness, and jarring art direction and colors are all present.
I, for one, donāt believe it to be the minor masterpiece many say it is. Perhaps on a second viewing I will be more appreciative of its homages and camp value. Nevertheless,Ā Tokyo Drifter is a triumph just for revelling in its difference, if you get my drift.
^ Based on my personal imdb rating. Half-points are always rounded down.
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