During the 1960’s, Japan’s Nikkatsu Studios hired Seijin Suzuki to film a series of crime melodramas that were to play on the bottom-half of double feature theater showings. Because these were low-budget productions shot within a thirty day time period, Nikkatsu allowed the directors free reign as long as the bottom line (violence and gun fights) were met. Suzuki was the only director to truly take advantage of this, and he fused artistic merit into his gangster B-pictures, creating a unique series of films of that influenced contemporary filmmakers such as John Woo, Beat Takeshi, and Quentin Tarentino. One of his films, BRANDED TO KILL (1967) got him in hot water with Nikkatsu, and they promptly fired him--even though that film is regarded as a masterpiece of world cinema today. Like that infamous movie that got Suzuki blackballed for 10 years, TOKYO DRIFTER went mainly unheralded during its initial release. But the years have been kind to TOKYO DRIFTER, and it is now required viewing for young filmmakers going through film school. Usually when a company like Criterion releases a particular title, it signifies the film’s importance. Their Seijin Suzuki DVDS are quite popular, secondary only to their Kurosawa classics.

Tetsu gets beat up by rivals on the Japanese docks, because he refuses to join Otsuka’s gang. Tetsu stays loyal to his father figure gang leader, Kurata. Both Tetsu and Kurata want to break ties with the criminal element. Otsuka and his men believe that getting Tetsu out of the picture will force Kurata to succumb to their authority. Kurata’s other gang members have abandoned him, because they do not respect working for someone who is leaving the business. Kurata has gone into debt while purchasing an apartment building so he can go straight. The money lender backing Kurata in his new venture is Mr. Yoshi. Meanwhile, Otsuka’s gang kidnaps Tetsu’s girlfriend, Chiharu from the lounge where she sings at. The crooks don’t know that Tetsu himself has commandeered the getaway car!

After punishing the kidnappers and returning Chiharu to safety, Tetsu heads to Kurata’s office to celebrate his new business venture. But Otsuka continues to scheme Kurata out of his new building. He and his men go to Mr. Yoshi’s office and begin strong-arming him. At gunpoint, Mr. Yoshi hands over the deed, and he is killed for his troubles. Tetsu breaks up the fracas and attacks the gang, but stumbles into an elevator shaft and is knocked out. Otsuka, the new owner of the building, travels to Kurata’s office to humiliate him, and force him to turn over his seal. Naturally, Kurata refuses and gets into a shoot-out with his rivals. Tetsu arrives to save the day. One of Otsuka’s thugs, Viper, offers to assassinate their rival, Tetsu. However, one again Tetsu outsmarts his opponents, and Viper ends up with a badly-scarred face.

Tetsu volunteers to leave Tokyo and the crime business, to take the heat off the volatile situation. Kurata informs Tetsu that his man Umitani in Kyushu will look out for him. Tetsu leaves Tokyo and heads north, without telling his girlfriend, Chiharu. Later, he is arrested by a police detective on the train tracks, but he is liberated by members of a South group friendly with Kurata. Tetsu gets caught up in a power struggle between the South Group and the North Group. Meanwhile, Viper and his men catch up with Tetsu and shoot him. He is saved by Kenji, a tough ex-hitman from Otsuka’s gang. Tetsu owes Kenji his life but does not respect him because he has no loyalty. Kenji feels that Tetsu’s creed of intense loyalty will burn him some day.

Tetsu soon recovers from his wound, and ends up working for Kurata’s man, Umitani. Umitani runs a Western Saloon-type of underworld club. Viper shows up looking to take out Tetsu, and their presence triggers an all-out saloon brawl. Kenji shows up to help Umitani ‘clean up’ the mess. The jackal-like Viper tries to draw to bead on Tetsu in the fracas, but Kenji shoots the Viper before he can claim his revenge. Meanwhile, back in Tokyo, Otsuka schemes his way into forcing an alliance with Kurata. Their first agenda is to rub out Tetsu. Kurata calls Umitani and orders him to shoot Tetsu. Kenji suspects Umitani is up to no good, and tips off Tetsu--but this loyal enforcer does not believe his father figure has betrayed him. When Umitani attempts to kill him, Tetsu finally sees the light and agrees with Kenji’s perspective. Otsuka and Kurata head for the lounge, and abduct Chiharu to use against him. But Tetsu always stays one step ahead of his rivals--and arrives to face down his bitter rival Otsuki and his former mentor Kurata!

TOKYO DRIFTER has a serene feel about it, that quickly turns to violence when the narrative calls for it. All the while, the violent action takes place on lush, art deco sets that are right out of a Hollywood musical. The story follows the trials and tribulations of Tetsu, the contemporary lone samurai. He wrestles with his inner conflicts of honor and loyalty. He wants to reform and leave ‘the charmed life’ that everyone thinks he leads. But he is bound by his honor and loyalty and is ready to die for the Yakuza. TOKYO DRIFTER explores Tetsu’s journey, and in the process, takes the viewer from one bizarre setpiece to another. Logic takes a back seat to the violence and Suzuki’s sublime visual style. 

Like Samurai films, TOKYO DRIFTER explores powerful themes of loyalty and responsibility along with the shoot-outs and scenes of violence. Suzuki films the action scenes with a sense of the surreal; yet they are very deliberate and realistic. In the extraordinary snow country sequence, Suzuki stages both gunfights and samurai swordfights to accentuate the bloody nature of the gang conflicts. This sequence is also symbolic of how the codes of honor clash with dishonor. Suzuki’s gangsters are all expert marksmen who can shoot the guns out of their opponent’s hands. The only scene where the action fails is the saloon brawl. Everyone is throwing punches, but it’s obvious they do not connect.

Suzuki treats this movie with class, but he knows its still a glorified B-movie, so he includes well-placed touches of counterculture humor that lighten some of the darker moments of TOKYO DRIFTER. Despite the narrative sometimes bordering on comedy and even a musical, Suzuki maintains the stark gangster atmosphere. The Yakuza storyline is typical of the genre, except for Suzuki’s moments of sublime satire. You will enjoy the satirical moments even more if you are familiar with the overly dramatic Yakuza movies. For instance, Tetsu wears a ridiculous powder blue suit throughout the entire movie, changing only once to a white suit in the conclusion. On one level, Suzuki crafts his own over-stylized crime thriller, but on another level TOKYO DRIFTER is a complete deconstruction of the Yakuza genre.

Suzuki depicts the influence of Western culture by showing teenagers dancing to hipster music. Then he uses the song, Ballad of the Tokyo Drifter to accompany Tetsu as the character leaps into action. In one scene Tetsu is clearly shown singing along with the ballad. In the barroom brawl sequence, Suzuki makes another statement about Western culture. While people are thrashing about, Suzuki takes the opportunity to saturate the scenes with wild color schemes and artistic camera angles. The sequence culminates with the literal collapse of the saloon, and Suzuki foreshadows the inevitable fall of Western culture.

Suzuki masterfully manipulates the composition within the scoped frame. Using his artistic ability and knowledge of photography, Suzuki solidifies the film’s status as a work of art. He is a master of the fractured narrative Noir style, exploring alleyways and landscapes. TOKYO DRIFTER is an urban myth set before its time. For instance, during the first confrontation between Tetsu and Viper, the camera follows a trashed automobile as it is sent into a compactor and mangled in a very artistic manner. Another scene has Tetsu clad in white, marching down the white halls of his girlfriend’s nightclub. This surreal bit conjures religious imagery more than anything. Suzuki is a maverick who subverts the studio system by personally reinventing or restructuring the conventions of cinema.

The only extra is a fascinating 1997 interview with Seijin Suzuki conducted by Criterion’s Mark Rance. He discusses his start at Shochiku to his migration to Nikkatsu. He reveals how he reworks scripts to the best of his ability, and that he actually turned down several films that he felt would not turn a profit for the studio. He discusses actors and how to motivate them. And in the best part, he openly discusses the circumstances that got him booted from Nikkatsu and blacklisted for 10 years. The documentary is full frame, mono, and runs 20:09.

- Tony Mustafa