Review of Tokyo Drifter (1966) by Al M — 02 Apr 2009
From my limited experience, Suzuki's films privilege style over content, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I really enjoyed Branded to Kill, but it silmutaneously made its b-movie material comedic as well as elevating it stylistically.
Tokyo Drifter takes this stylistic elevation even further and does play upon the ironic concept of an artistic b-movie with its music and scenes that evoke western motifs amidst a film noir, gangster film.
But Tokyo Drifter loses the comedic moments that made Branded to Kill so enjoyable to watch. Throughout the film, the shots are beautiful, but they are also forced--they do not emerge organically from the film's plot and they often make little to no sense.
If it was a surrealistic film, this would be a matter of little consequence, but they do not quite jive fully with the genre Suzuki has chosen in this film. Still beautiful to watch, but sometimes a bit boring.
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This review of Tokyo Drifter (1966) was written by Al M on 02 Apr 2009.
Tokyo Drifter has generally received positive reviews.
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