Tokyo Drifter on TCM
Cool movie alert! Turner Classic Movies will be broadcasting director Seijun Suzuki’s 1966 film Tokyo Drifter late Friday night. I would describe this film as a nihilistic gangster tale with a groovy use of color and the occasional weird song. Hunky Tetsuya Watari plays Tetsu, an ex-con who tries to go straight but finds himself up against his former colleagues and assorted meanies in stylish ’60s Tokyo. Tetsu also gets to sing the title theme (a twangy, Gene Pitney sorta thing) and shoots at gangsters in the film’s unforgettable climax set at an empty but stylishly designed nightclub. Some of the film admittedly is pretty standard, but you can always sense director Suzuki pushing the envelope with the wild colors, music and energy.
July 10th, 2006 at 10:03 am
The best thing in the movie the slapstick fighting scenes, quite bizarre.
July 10th, 2006 at 6:22 pm
That was indeed weird. I almost forgot about that Old West-themed bar!