In this jazzy gangster film, reformed killer Tetsu’s attempt to go straight is thwarted when his former cohorts call him back to Tokyo to help battle a rival gang.
Director Seijun Suzuki’s onslaught of stylized violence and trippy colours is equal parts Russ Meyer, Samuel Fuller, and Nagisa Oshima – an anything-goes, in-your-face rampage. Tokyo Drifter is a delirious highlight of the brilliantly excessive Japanese cinema of the sixties.
Extras
New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
Programme from 2011 featuring interviews with director Seijun Suzuki and assistant
director Masami Kuzuu
Interview with Suzuki from 1997
Trailer
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Howard Hampton