Ive just got to say that All the covers are great but something about that American pycho cover just does it for me. Captures the feel of that movie perfectly. And whoever posted the onibaba cover…sorry but you cant beat the O.G. original cc cover.
I think theyre should be more crappy movies done with real arty covers, those are fun. Real creative bunch here, I need to master photoshop and then ill give ya’ll a real run for your money.
I know this site is mainly focused on the film director being the main creative force behind a movie but an interesting concept (i think) is the actor as the creative force. Obviously this is true for a actor/director but I think in a few rare instances the actor overshadows the director and tweeks his character so much that the film takes on his vision. James Cagney would be, in my opinion, a perfect example of this. Films were made specificly for his screen persona and so not to be stuck being the same gangster onscreen he would create little touches to make the movies uniqe. He’d be given by Warner Bros essentially the same character but would make each one, through ad libbing and different gestures etc, a completly new monster.
Jack nicholson too is a good example. I know of at least 3 movies that are elevated to classic just by his performance alone: five easy pieces, last detail, and cuckoos nest.
Dont know if anyone will be into this thread but…oh well
Well, i dont know if anybody else on here loves this movie but Butterfly Effect, to me, is about the shittiest movie ive ever seen. Ashton Kutcher is laughably bad as a dramatic actor, the concept is not as cool as people think and it’s just generaly a shitty movie. Everyone i seem to know LOVES the movie. I even heard one asshole actually say it was the best movie ever. c’mon!
I believe the emphasis by cinaphiles on the director as the end all be all of a film is warrented for the most part. Ageed that it’s ridiculous to discount the contributions of writers, editors, cinematographers, actors, soundmen, etc, etc. BUT the person who corrals these people together, recognizes their talent, uses them to illustrate their vision, and manages to mold all these elements into a cohesive whole within the film is the Director. All while retaining his particular vision and M.O. that manages to show up in numerous other works by said director. True that it was the contributions of Gregg Toland that many critics cite when listing why Citizen Kane revolutionizes filmmaking But Toland was experimenting with depth of focus in long voyage home and thats not considered the greatest film ever. It was the urging of Welles, recognizing what Toland was capable of in cinematography, that made Toland experiment so freely and create such a beautiful movie. As well as Welles’ using the uniqe gifts of mankiwitz writing and insider knowledge of Hearst to create such a great screenplay but the one common factor in all these parts of what make Citizen kane great is…Orson Welles. His vision, not tolands, not Manks and certainly not Bernard Herrman. This could apply for any other movie created by a “auteur”
Taxi Driver directed by Spielberg but with all other principal figures remaining aint the same film.
Directors use a set of tools to create an artistic vision that is thier own. I hate to refer to other genius’ in thier respective fields tools but thats what they are to the director who uses or collaborates if you will, with them
Wheter or not The “theory” that some guy came up with to explain how, despite the restrictive studio system of classic hollywood, certain directors were able to retain thier original vision doesnt seem applicable. The way I see it is, no, it’s not like writing a novel, thats because a film is a visual medium. You take a director with no budget (look who’s knocking on my door) versus the same a director with HUGE budget i.e. more collaborators (Gangs of New York) and the same underlying themes that fuel this directors art will remain. Same with any great auteur. Thire are of course holes in the original “auteur theory” but the reason films have come some such a long way in respect and recognition in the 20th century is the fact that they have been recognized as pieces of art you can hang up alongside the mona lisa and even the worst can be held up along side Warhol’s cans of soup. And what seperates these greats from the other run of the mill fare is the Auteur of the film. I would argue that auteur does not have the same definition as author. Film is just so different from all other forms of expression. To compare books and films doesnt work because they arent the same thing at all.
And just to throw it out some of the best auteurs are in the field of music, Elvis presley never wrote his own stuff but created something so new by using other peoples shit and making em gold. This is 50s elvis by the way
LOVE LOVE LOVE the nic cage 90’s blockbusters btw. also broken arrow was pretty kickass. poor christain slater. what happened. i had such big plans for you.
Manos done as Criterion. CLASSIC! It’d be like 40 dollars for the worst movie ever. But if one of the extras was the Mystery Science Theater 3000 rip I’d probably buy it. Great work. this thread could go on…FOREVER
@ Noel: True but ive seen some covers on here that give the originals a real run for their money. Great work tho. Im really gonna have to figure this out and do some meself
1.City of God———redefined the gangster genre or scorsese pic as a foreign film
2. Lord of the Rings -—EPIC in every way
3. Gladiator—-sorry but damn
4. Crouching tiger, hidden dragon——elevated the kung fu flick to high art
5. sin city——-wholly original
6.Royal tenenbaums
7.the proposition——best western of 2000s followed by jesse james
8.no country for old men
9.synecdoche, ny——zenith of greatest writer of 2000s
10.Gangs of new york——scorsese does it again
11. memento damn i wish i could fit it in.
12. ichi the killer——very influential (kill bill, horror porn)
13. house of 1000 corpses
Granted i kno my list is USA centric but im not as well schooled in foreign flicks of 2000 as i should be coming from Tennessee and all. We dont get the best movies from around the world round here
Oh man the Bulls/ Celtics series: we are witnessing the greatest playoff series ever. Too bad neither team will get through Lebron tho, that makes it sort of anti climactic
One of the greatest westerns ever. If you get away from just the aesthetic quality of it, which is outstanding, it is the most realistic western ever. I’m a huge old west fan and the way Dominik portrays this era and this man is so authentic, there’s not a touch of hollywood in it.I think thats why so many people focus on how slow it is . But it works so well with the subject,The sense of foreboding and dread that the film creates is…i dont know the words for it. Coming out at the same time as 410 2 Yuma it shows a great dichotomy of what a hollywood western is versus a true piece of artistry. And having Brad pitt play Jesse James is genius especially when your theme is the price of celebrity. Thank god Pitt broke out of the Oceans bullshit he was stuck in. Anyway Great Great Western. The ultimate in realistic revisionist Western
The good people at TCM are onto Suzuki, Theyre showing Tokyo drifter this month:
Sometimes a stunning cinematic style is all a movie has to offer but in the case of Seijun Suzuki’s Tokyo Drifter (1966), it is more than enough and becomes a celebration of the medium’s potential. Seen through his eyes, the gangster film genre becomes a point of departure in which anything goes, from interrupting the narrative for a wild, disorienting discotheque number to paying homage to the American western in an elaborate barroom brawl where prostitutes and yakuza rumble with U.S. sailors. The plot, which zigzags from Tokyo’s neon nightlife to snow-covered country vistas (and can seem quite incomprehensible on a first viewing), follows a recently paroled ex-con Tetsu (Tetsuya Watari) who tries to go straight but the odds are against him. Hounded every step of the way by former gang members, business rivals and cops, Tetsu follows his own code of honor which keeps him on the move, playing his enemies against each other while coming to the rescue of Chiharu, a victimized nightclub singer (played by real-life pop star Chieko Matsubara).
Like the protagonist of Tokyo Drifter, Suzuki was a maverick who went his own way after towing the line for years. In some ways, Tetsu’s defiant, self-destructive behavior in the film mirrors Suzuki’s own experiences in the Japanese film industry and is autobiographical in spirit. When he first went to work for Nikkatsu Studios in the late 50s (after leaving a lower-paid position at Shochiku Studios), it was a struggling film company specializing in genre films. But shortly after Suzuki’s arrival, Nikkatsu began to realize its biggest commercial successes were in the yakuza genre and Suzuki was responsible for some of the best. In an amazingly prolific seven years, he helmed more than 25 films and finally achieved critical acclaim with the breakout success of Yaju no Seishun (1963), considered by some to be the film that actually sparked the Japanese moviegoers’ craze for yakuza films. In time, Suzuki grew tired of the formula and the assembly-line production imposed on him by Nikkatsu (the average film shoot was 28 days). If he couldn’t choose his own assignments, he would push the boundaries of the yakuza film, experimenting with the look and style. It proved to be too much for Nikkatsu management who issued him a warning after viewing the delirious Tokyo Drifter. Suzuki, however, ignored their orders and produced two more stunning features, Fighting Elegy (1966) and Branded to Kill (1967), both among his greatest work – before being fired by the studio in 1967 for making “incomprehensive” movies. It would be more than ten years before he worked in the Japanese film industry again, making an artistic comeback with Zigeunerweisen (1980), the first in the well-regarded Tashio trilogy.
According to Suzuki in an interview on the Criterion DVD for Tokyo Drifter, he was ordered to make the film as a vehicle for Tetsuya Watari who Nikkatsu was grooming as a major star. But Watari, who would go on to become one of Japan’s most popular stars, was an inexperienced actor at the time and would freeze up, unable to deliver his lines whenever the camera was rolling. Seijun had to resort to prodding him with a broom or using other tricks to break Watari’s camera phobia so he could deliver his dialogue. When the director finally screened his film for his bosses, he was ordered to change the ending. In the original version, Tetsuya and Chiharu say goodbye to each other against a white wall under a green moon. Instead, Suzuki was ordered to shoot a less surreal ending and complied with one that concludes with Tetsuya wandering off and disappearing into the nighttime neon streets of Tokyo. An interesting side note: a sequel to Tokyo Drifter was produced but it was filmed by a different director at another studio as Nikkatsu refused to be further embarrassed by anything to do with Suzuki or his film.
Anyone viewing Tokyo Drifter for the first time will be struck by the dazzling visual look of the film. The plot becomes secondary to the beautifully designed set pieces which play on in your head long after the film has faded. Among the more outre highpoints are:
- The high contrast, black and white opening in which Tetsu’s individualist nature is revealed by the way he withstands the pain of numerous beatings by gangster thugs without breaking.
- The eclectic editing used in the sequence where Mutsuko, a gangster’s moll, is accidentally killed by a stray bullet; we view her collapse onto a white-ash colored carpet in an overhead shot followed by a horizontal widescreen view of her prone body against a glowing scarlet backdrop behind glass panels and then a close-up of blood trickling down her breast.
- The stylized pre-MTV music video look of the sequence where Tetsu wanders through the falling snow while singing the theme song to Tokyo Drifter.
- The climactic showdown in the nightclub with its stark white-on-white color schemes and iconic use of props recalls the ultra stylized look of such MGM films from the fifties as Nicholas Ray’s Party Girl (1958) or the Mickey Spillane musical homage in Vincente Minnelli’s The Band Wagon (1953).
Tokyo Drifter may have been unappreciated by Japanese critics and moviegoers at the time of its release but it has a fervent cult following today. Composer John Zorn, in his Criterion liner notes for Suzuki’s Branded to Kill, made the following observation about the director: "His nihilistic philosophy is quite apparent in his work – “Making things is not what counts: the power that destroys them is” – as a kind of playful irreverence that echoes the French Wave that influenced Suzuki and his contemporaries."
This sentiment was also echoed in The Overlook Film Encyclopedia: The Gangster Film (edited by Phil Hardy) which noted, “Suzuki’s films recall the best, corrosively anarchic work of a Frank Tashlin or Tex Avery and their celebration of cinema as aesthetic play. In this he not only preceded, but out-classed, Francis Ford Coppola’s One From the Heart (1982).” And finally one has to wonder if Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill (Part 1 & 2) would have existed if it hadn’t been for Tokyo Drifter. Just take a look at those two films and you can start checking off the homages to Suzuki from the manic gun battles to the duel in the snow. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery and Tarantino deserves credit for encouraging his fan base to go back and study the masters.
I think Ashby’s most personal film was probably Harold and Maude. My fav is Last Detail tho. Not just for Nicholson’s performance but for the way he edits it also. Makes it look very original. I heard that because of his editing on Coming Home during Voight’s famous speech, Voight won an Oscar. Before edit it was long winded and boring. Through Ashby editing genius, One of the best movie monolouges of the 70s. Bound for Glory is great but could have been a wee bit better, i dont kno, maybe not. love Being There.
Very underrated director possibly cause of a perceived lack of personal style but if their was a universal theme it may be his rebellious nature and not giving a fuck about the mainstream sensibilities like the best of the American New Wave.
The Dr. Dre Appreciation thread over 3 years ago
Did he die or something…?
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The Auteurs "Sight & Sound" Poll over 3 years ago
Im down, yo
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The Auteurs "Sight & Sound" Poll over 3 years ago
For the curious:
citizen kane
2001
birth of nation
seven samurai
wild bunch
pulp fiction
Raging Bull
The godfather
psycho
nosferatu- the silent one
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The Auteurs' Fake Criterion Covers about 3 years ago
Ive just got to say that All the covers are great but something about that American pycho cover just does it for me. Captures the feel of that movie perfectly. And whoever posted the onibaba cover…sorry but you cant beat the O.G. original cc cover.
I think theyre should be more crappy movies done with real arty covers, those are fun. Real creative bunch here, I need to master photoshop and then ill give ya’ll a real run for your money.
Go to Comment
The Actor as Auteur about 3 years ago
I know this site is mainly focused on the film director being the main creative force behind a movie but an interesting concept (i think) is the actor as the creative force. Obviously this is true for a actor/director but I think in a few rare instances the actor overshadows the director and tweeks his character so much that the film takes on his vision. James Cagney would be, in my opinion, a perfect example of this. Films were made specificly for his screen persona and so not to be stuck being the same gangster onscreen he would create little touches to make the movies uniqe. He’d be given by Warner Bros essentially the same character but would make each one, through ad libbing and different gestures etc, a completly new monster.
Jack nicholson too is a good example. I know of at least 3 movies that are elevated to classic just by his performance alone: five easy pieces, last detail, and cuckoos nest.
Dont know if anyone will be into this thread but…oh well
Any thoughts?
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Movies you hated that everyone else loves about 3 years ago
Well, i dont know if anybody else on here loves this movie but Butterfly Effect, to me, is about the shittiest movie ive ever seen. Ashton Kutcher is laughably bad as a dramatic actor, the concept is not as cool as people think and it’s just generaly a shitty movie. Everyone i seem to know LOVES the movie. I even heard one asshole actually say it was the best movie ever. c’mon!
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Movies you hated that everyone else loves about 3 years ago
Dude, Singin in the RAin Rules!!!
If only for the incredable “Make em Laugh” number
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GREAT SITE, BUT AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO'S NOT A BIG FAN OF AUTEUR THEORY about 3 years ago
I believe the emphasis by cinaphiles on the director as the end all be all of a film is warrented for the most part. Ageed that it’s ridiculous to discount the contributions of writers, editors, cinematographers, actors, soundmen, etc, etc. BUT the person who corrals these people together, recognizes their talent, uses them to illustrate their vision, and manages to mold all these elements into a cohesive whole within the film is the Director. All while retaining his particular vision and M.O. that manages to show up in numerous other works by said director. True that it was the contributions of Gregg Toland that many critics cite when listing why Citizen Kane revolutionizes filmmaking But Toland was experimenting with depth of focus in long voyage home and thats not considered the greatest film ever. It was the urging of Welles, recognizing what Toland was capable of in cinematography, that made Toland experiment so freely and create such a beautiful movie. As well as Welles’ using the uniqe gifts of mankiwitz writing and insider knowledge of Hearst to create such a great screenplay but the one common factor in all these parts of what make Citizen kane great is…Orson Welles. His vision, not tolands, not Manks and certainly not Bernard Herrman. This could apply for any other movie created by a “auteur”
Taxi Driver directed by Spielberg but with all other principal figures remaining aint the same film.
Directors use a set of tools to create an artistic vision that is thier own. I hate to refer to other genius’ in thier respective fields tools but thats what they are to the director who uses or collaborates if you will, with them
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GREAT SITE, BUT AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO'S NOT A BIG FAN OF AUTEUR THEORY about 3 years ago
Wheter or not The “theory” that some guy came up with to explain how, despite the restrictive studio system of classic hollywood, certain directors were able to retain thier original vision doesnt seem applicable. The way I see it is, no, it’s not like writing a novel, thats because a film is a visual medium. You take a director with no budget (look who’s knocking on my door) versus the same a director with HUGE budget i.e. more collaborators (Gangs of New York) and the same underlying themes that fuel this directors art will remain. Same with any great auteur. Thire are of course holes in the original “auteur theory” but the reason films have come some such a long way in respect and recognition in the 20th century is the fact that they have been recognized as pieces of art you can hang up alongside the mona lisa and even the worst can be held up along side Warhol’s cans of soup. And what seperates these greats from the other run of the mill fare is the Auteur of the film. I would argue that auteur does not have the same definition as author. Film is just so different from all other forms of expression. To compare books and films doesnt work because they arent the same thing at all.
And just to throw it out some of the best auteurs are in the field of music, Elvis presley never wrote his own stuff but created something so new by using other peoples shit and making em gold. This is 50s elvis by the way
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What are your "Guilty Pleasure" films? about 3 years ago
I don’t feel guilty for any of my pleasures.
Ya’ll should def check out RIVERS EDGE tho. Funniest flick ever,,,and it’s a drama
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What are your "Guilty Pleasure" films? about 3 years ago
LOVE LOVE LOVE the nic cage 90’s blockbusters btw. also broken arrow was pretty kickass. poor christain slater. what happened. i had such big plans for you.
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What Film Are You Most Looking Forward To In 2009? about 3 years ago
When the hell does the Mickey Rourke Diane lane movie come out. Ya Know the elmore leonard adaption
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The Greatest Film of the 2000s about 3 years ago
What is the ONE film from the Double Aughts that could go down as one of THE greatest of all time
I’ll just throw one out and say my choice would be City Of God outta Brazil. but im partial to gangsters and violence so….
Just ONE now dont cheat.
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What are your "Guilty Pleasure" films? about 3 years ago
Your MAD MAD MAD MAD MAD
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The Auteurs' Fake Criterion Covers about 3 years ago
Manos done as Criterion. CLASSIC! It’d be like 40 dollars for the worst movie ever. But if one of the extras was the Mystery Science Theater 3000 rip I’d probably buy it. Great work. this thread could go on…FOREVER
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The Auteurs' Fake Criterion Covers about 3 years ago
@ Noel: True but ive seen some covers on here that give the originals a real run for their money. Great work tho. Im really gonna have to figure this out and do some meself
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The Greatest Film of the 2000s about 3 years ago
Yall have all picked great movies BUT what ONE film from this era would you consider putting in your top ten list of all time
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TOP TEN 2000 - 2008 about 3 years ago
1.City of God———redefined the gangster genre or scorsese pic as a foreign film
2. Lord of the Rings
-—EPIC in every way3. Gladiator—-sorry but damn
4. Crouching tiger, hidden dragon——elevated the kung fu flick to high art
5. sin city——-wholly original
6.Royal tenenbaums
7.the proposition——best western of 2000s followed by jesse james
8.no country for old men
9.synecdoche, ny——zenith of greatest writer of 2000s
10.Gangs of new york——scorsese does it again
11. memento damn i wish i could fit it in.
12. ichi the killer——very influential (kill bill, horror porn)
13. house of 1000 corpses
Granted i kno my list is USA centric but im not as well schooled in foreign flicks of 2000 as i should be coming from Tennessee and all. We dont get the best movies from around the world round here
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The Greatest Film of the 2000s about 3 years ago
Yeah Gladiator, im riding the fence, to me it represents what Hollywood can do, and has been doing for decades, the best. Sand and sword epics!
I dont even own it but i feel like it could be one of the best of 2000s at least in a top ten
Chistopher, theres not ONE movie from this era you could consider in your top ten or maybe even top 15
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Chabrol,Godard,Rivette,Rohmer,Truffaut. Place your favourite priority?? about 3 years ago
Mos DEF Truffaut. Amazing. followed by Godard. but now adays i follow the work of Charbrol the most. He still makes some great damn movies
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Off-topic: Sport about 3 years ago
Oh man the Bulls/ Celtics series: we are witnessing the greatest playoff series ever. Too bad neither team will get through Lebron tho, that makes it sort of anti climactic
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The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, 2007 about 3 years ago
One of the greatest westerns ever. If you get away from just the aesthetic quality of it, which is outstanding, it is the most realistic western ever. I’m a huge old west fan and the way Dominik portrays this era and this man is so authentic, there’s not a touch of hollywood in it.I think thats why so many people focus on how slow it is . But it works so well with the subject,The sense of foreboding and dread that the film creates is…i dont know the words for it. Coming out at the same time as 410 2 Yuma it shows a great dichotomy of what a hollywood western is versus a true piece of artistry. And having Brad pitt play Jesse James is genius especially when your theme is the price of celebrity. Thank god Pitt broke out of the Oceans bullshit he was stuck in. Anyway Great Great Western. The ultimate in realistic revisionist Western
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MOST BEAUTIFUL FILMS IN COLOR about 3 years ago
Baraka
2001
Both visually stunning in 1080i HD
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Seijun Suzuki about 3 years ago
The good people at TCM are onto Suzuki, Theyre showing Tokyo drifter this month:
Sometimes a stunning cinematic style is all a movie has to offer but in the case of Seijun Suzuki’s Tokyo Drifter (1966), it is more than enough and becomes a celebration of the medium’s potential. Seen through his eyes, the gangster film genre becomes a point of departure in which anything goes, from interrupting the narrative for a wild, disorienting discotheque number to paying homage to the American western in an elaborate barroom brawl where prostitutes and yakuza rumble with U.S. sailors. The plot, which zigzags from Tokyo’s neon nightlife to snow-covered country vistas (and can seem quite incomprehensible on a first viewing), follows a recently paroled ex-con Tetsu (Tetsuya Watari) who tries to go straight but the odds are against him. Hounded every step of the way by former gang members, business rivals and cops, Tetsu follows his own code of honor which keeps him on the move, playing his enemies against each other while coming to the rescue of Chiharu, a victimized nightclub singer (played by real-life pop star Chieko Matsubara).
Like the protagonist of Tokyo Drifter, Suzuki was a maverick who went his own way after towing the line for years. In some ways, Tetsu’s defiant, self-destructive behavior in the film mirrors Suzuki’s own experiences in the Japanese film industry and is autobiographical in spirit. When he first went to work for Nikkatsu Studios in the late 50s (after leaving a lower-paid position at Shochiku Studios), it was a struggling film company specializing in genre films. But shortly after Suzuki’s arrival, Nikkatsu began to realize its biggest commercial successes were in the yakuza genre and Suzuki was responsible for some of the best. In an amazingly prolific seven years, he helmed more than 25 films and finally achieved critical acclaim with the breakout success of Yaju no Seishun (1963), considered by some to be the film that actually sparked the Japanese moviegoers’ craze for yakuza films. In time, Suzuki grew tired of the formula and the assembly-line production imposed on him by Nikkatsu (the average film shoot was 28 days). If he couldn’t choose his own assignments, he would push the boundaries of the yakuza film, experimenting with the look and style. It proved to be too much for Nikkatsu management who issued him a warning after viewing the delirious Tokyo Drifter. Suzuki, however, ignored their orders and produced two more stunning features, Fighting Elegy (1966) and Branded to Kill (1967), both among his greatest work – before being fired by the studio in 1967 for making “incomprehensive” movies. It would be more than ten years before he worked in the Japanese film industry again, making an artistic comeback with Zigeunerweisen (1980), the first in the well-regarded Tashio trilogy.
According to Suzuki in an interview on the Criterion DVD for Tokyo Drifter, he was ordered to make the film as a vehicle for Tetsuya Watari who Nikkatsu was grooming as a major star. But Watari, who would go on to become one of Japan’s most popular stars, was an inexperienced actor at the time and would freeze up, unable to deliver his lines whenever the camera was rolling. Seijun had to resort to prodding him with a broom or using other tricks to break Watari’s camera phobia so he could deliver his dialogue. When the director finally screened his film for his bosses, he was ordered to change the ending. In the original version, Tetsuya and Chiharu say goodbye to each other against a white wall under a green moon. Instead, Suzuki was ordered to shoot a less surreal ending and complied with one that concludes with Tetsuya wandering off and disappearing into the nighttime neon streets of Tokyo. An interesting side note: a sequel to Tokyo Drifter was produced but it was filmed by a different director at another studio as Nikkatsu refused to be further embarrassed by anything to do with Suzuki or his film.
Anyone viewing Tokyo Drifter for the first time will be struck by the dazzling visual look of the film. The plot becomes secondary to the beautifully designed set pieces which play on in your head long after the film has faded. Among the more outre highpoints are:
- The high contrast, black and white opening in which Tetsu’s individualist nature is revealed by the way he withstands the pain of numerous beatings by gangster thugs without breaking.
- The eclectic editing used in the sequence where Mutsuko, a gangster’s moll, is accidentally killed by a stray bullet; we view her collapse onto a white-ash colored carpet in an overhead shot followed by a horizontal widescreen view of her prone body against a glowing scarlet backdrop behind glass panels and then a close-up of blood trickling down her breast.
- The stylized pre-MTV music video look of the sequence where Tetsu wanders through the falling snow while singing the theme song to Tokyo Drifter.
- The climactic showdown in the nightclub with its stark white-on-white color schemes and iconic use of props recalls the ultra stylized look of such MGM films from the fifties as Nicholas Ray’s Party Girl (1958) or the Mickey Spillane musical homage in Vincente Minnelli’s The Band Wagon (1953).
Tokyo Drifter may have been unappreciated by Japanese critics and moviegoers at the time of its release but it has a fervent cult following today. Composer John Zorn, in his Criterion liner notes for Suzuki’s Branded to Kill, made the following observation about the director: "His nihilistic philosophy is quite apparent in his work – “Making things is not what counts: the power that destroys them is” – as a kind of playful irreverence that echoes the French Wave that influenced Suzuki and his contemporaries."
This sentiment was also echoed in The Overlook Film Encyclopedia: The Gangster Film (edited by Phil Hardy) which noted, “Suzuki’s films recall the best, corrosively anarchic work of a Frank Tashlin or Tex Avery and their celebration of cinema as aesthetic play. In this he not only preceded, but out-classed, Francis Ford Coppola’s One From the Heart (1982).” And finally one has to wonder if Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill (Part 1 & 2) would have existed if it hadn’t been for Tokyo Drifter. Just take a look at those two films and you can start checking off the homages to Suzuki from the manic gun battles to the duel in the snow. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery and Tarantino deserves credit for encouraging his fan base to go back and study the masters.
Producer: Tetsuro Nakagawa
Director: Seijun Suzuki
Screenplay: Yasunori Kawauchi
Cinematography: Shigeyoshi Mine
Film Editing: Shinya Inoue
Art Direction: Takeo Kimura
Music: Hajime Kaburagi
Cast: Tetsuya Watari (Tetsuya Hondo), Chieko Matsubara (Chiharu), Hideaki Nitani (Kenji Aizawa), Ryuji Kita (Kurata), Tsuyoshi Yoshida (Keiichi), Hideaki Esumi (Otsuka).
C-89m. Letterboxed.
by Jeff Stafford
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GREAT SITE, BUT AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO'S NOT A BIG FAN OF AUTEUR THEORY about 3 years ago
IMPRESARIO? I’m sorry but Thats about the last thing i’d ever call a Director. LONG LIVE THE AUTEUR!!!!!
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The Auteurs' Fake Criterion Covers about 3 years ago
Good Burger! Hilarious
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Last movie you saw and rate it about 3 years ago
The marseilles trilogy
10-10
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Fav Ashby? about 3 years ago
I think Ashby’s most personal film was probably Harold and Maude. My fav is Last Detail tho. Not just for Nicholson’s performance but for the way he edits it also. Makes it look very original. I heard that because of his editing on Coming Home during Voight’s famous speech, Voight won an Oscar. Before edit it was long winded and boring. Through Ashby editing genius, One of the best movie monolouges of the 70s. Bound for Glory is great but could have been a wee bit better, i dont kno, maybe not. love Being There.
Very underrated director possibly cause of a perceived lack of personal style but if their was a universal theme it may be his rebellious nature and not giving a fuck about the mainstream sensibilities like the best of the American New Wave.
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The Auteurs' Fake Criterion Covers about 3 years ago
@ Philip
Love your memento cover but it looks like it could be a gay porn
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The Actor as Auteur about 3 years ago
Nada?
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