Tokyo Drifter
(1966)
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Tokyo Drifter
(1966)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
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Tetsuya Watari | ... |
Tetsuya 'Phoenix Tetsu' Hondo
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Chieko Matsubara | ... |
Chiharu
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Hideaki Nitani | ... |
Kenji Aizawa
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Ryûji Kita | ... |
Kurata
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Tsuyoshi Yoshida | ... |
Keiichi
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Eimei Esumi | ... |
Otsuka
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Tamio Kawaji | ... |
Tatsuzo, The Viper
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Eiji Gô | ... |
Tanaka
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Tomoko Hamakawa | ... |
Mutsuko
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Isao Tamagawa | ... |
Umetani
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Michio Hino | ... |
Yoshii
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Shuntaro Tamamura | ... |
Koyanagi
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Hiroshi Midorikawa |
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Hiroshi Chô | ... |
Kumamoto
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Akira Hisamatsu | ... |
(as Kosuke Hisamatsu)
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Tetsu has joined his yakuza boss in going straight, but when a rival gang threatens to bring them back into the gang wars, Tetsu must become a drifter to keep the pressure off his old boss. Written by Erik Gregersen <erik@astro.as.utexas.edu>
I will argue until my death that TOKYO DRIFTER is superior to BRANDED TO KILL, but that's for another time...
I am amazed every time I see this film that Suzuki could take such an obviously inferior product -- as Nikkatsu Studios was churning out at an obscene rate in those days, giving directors a script and saying "Shoot it fast and cheap so we can give you your next job" -- and turn it into one of the most beautiful and intriguing films I've ever seen.
Best plot ever? No. Easy to follow? Yes. Beautiful? Yes. And that theme...I could never forget that theme if I tried, even after my first viewing.
I'd ramble on about history and plot and so on, but so many others have, I'll just leave it at this: TOKYO DRIFTER makes me happy every time I see it.