Directed by Seijun Suzuki
"I need no dreams; if it's a flower, flowers scatter, dreams dissolve, the flower of man scatters after all; I threw away love, for honor... ah, Tokyo drifter"
I adore Seijun Suzuki’s take on the yakuza story. That powder blue suit that Tetsu “the Phoenix” wears gets me every time. He’s the hippest gangster ever to capture my adoration. Tokyo Drifter has been described as a Day-Glo noir hanging on a tenuous plot thread. Indeed, I could watch it without subtitles and enjoy it just as much. Except, I really love the song that returns throughout the movie and I think its lyrics are more important than following along with the gangster plot. Suzuki is a visionary director. This film is absurd; surreal. It is pop art; pop culture; candy. It’s a cartoon. It’s devastating when he walks away from Chiharu, the woman who wants to love him so desperately. Listen to the theme song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw2GvUvaDy4