Tokyo drifter

The Tokyo drifter is Tetsu, a loyal hit man, given to wearing white suits, living out of his time. Tetsu is drawn by his former employer, now attempting to go straight, into a struggle with a rival gang. This is ostensibly a formula genre (yakuza) film transformed by Suzuki into an absurdist thriller by pushing iconography and conventions to hyperbolic extremes. Also pushed to extremes is the characterisation of the nihilistic hero of the yakuza film (a Japanese hero stripped of traditional codes and rituals) played here by a Japanese teenage idol. According to critic Tadao Sato, Suzuki’s farces have roots not only in early Japanese cinema but also in the comical literature of the Edo period (1765-1831). The stylised violence combines humour and aesthetics in the manner of 19th century kabuki ‘blood festivals’. Cast: Tetsuya Watari, Chieko Matsubara, Tamio Kawaji, Hideaki Nitani, Eiji Goh. In Japanese with English subtitles.