Tokyo Drifter (1966)

After his gang disbands, a yakuza enforcer looks forward to life outside of organized crime but soon must become a drifter after his old rivals attempt to assassinate him.

Director:

Seijun Suzuki

Writers:

Yasunori Kawauchi (author), Yasunori Kawauchi (screenplay)

Stars:

Tetsuya Watari, Chieko Matsubara, Hideaki Nitani

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tetsuya Watari	...	Tetsuya 'Phoenix Tetsu' Hondo
Chieko Matsubara	...	Chiharu
Hideaki Nitani	...	Kenji Aizawa
Tamio Kawaji	...	Tatsuzo, The Viper (as Tamio Kawachi)
Ryûji Kita	...	Kurata
Eiji Gô	...	Tanaka
Isao Tamagawa	...	Umetani
Eimei Esumi	...	Otsuka
Tomoko Hamakawa	...	Mutsuko
Tsuyoshi Yoshida	...	Keiichi
Michio Hino	...	Yoshii
Shuntarô Tamamura	...	Koyanagi
Hiroshi Midorikawa
Hiroshi Chô	...	Kumamoto
Akira Hisamatsu	...	(as Kosuke Hisamatsu)

Storyline

In Tokyo, the gangster Tetsu (Tetsuya Watari) regenerates when his yakuza boss Kurata (Ryuji Kita) decides to quit his criminal life. However, the mobster family leaded by Otsuka (Hideaki Esumi) threatens Kurata's legitimate business, and Tetsu decides to leave Kurata to relief the pressure on him. He leaves also his girlfriend Chiharu (Chieko Matsubara) and becomes a drifter moving to the country. When Tetsu is betrayed, he returns to Tokyo to resolve his situation.

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Plot Keywords:

yakuza | hitman | principled man | debt | loan | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The high-stylizing of the cinematography contrasting colorful background sets and costumes with gangster wearing sunglasses and guns will later influence the filming styles of Quentin Tarantino, Johnnie To and Takeshi Kitano.

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Quotes

Tetsuya 'Phoenix Tetsu' Hondo: A drifter needs no woman.

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Connections

Referenced in Blackmail Is My Life (1968)

User Reviews

He's a devil if he asks you twice...

In 1966 Nikkatsu, a Japanese studio, requested that one of their more "difficult" directors "calm down" on his next project. The director was Seijun Suzuki. The project was Tokyo Drifter. The result was anything but calm.

A film-noir shot through with moments of brilliant, lurid colour; the film defies all conventions be it genre, style or even something as mundane and unnecessary as narrative. One scene finds Tetsuya Watari's pouting yakuza in a tense showdown with his rival. Standing on train tracks, surrounded by clean, crisp snow the screen is split in two by a clearly visible dark blue line. The use of this visual effect is telling. It adds nothing to the story, to the characterisation, it simply looks good.

The closing sequence has to be seen to be believed. It is best described as the secret lovechild of a Gene Kelly musical and a John Woo action film. Amazing.

If for nothing else, Tokyo Drifter will long be remembered for the theme tune which hauntingly drifts through the entire film.

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese English

Release Date:

10 April 1966 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Tokyo Drifter

Filming Locations:

Akasaka, Minato, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nikkatsu

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1