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07-28-2005, 01:08 PM
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#1 of 21 
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Location: St. Louis, MO
Join Date: Feb 2000
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MORE DIRECTORS CHECKLIST SERIES - Volume #225 - THE FILMS OF SEIJUN SUZUKI
Rate 'em, Rank 'em, Review 'em, whatever
Volume #225 - Seijun Suzuki
Operetta tanuki goten (2005)
... aka Princess Raccoon
Pistol Opera (2001)
Kekkon (1993)
Yumeji (1991)
Lupin III: The Golden Legend of Babylon (1985) (as Kiyoshi Suzuki)
... aka Rupan III: Legend of the Gold of Babylon (USA: video title)
Capone Cries a Lot (1985)
Lupin III, Part III (1984) TV Series
Heat-Haze Theatre (1981)
... aka Heat Shimmer Theater
Zigeunerweisen (1980)
The Fang in the Hole (1979)
A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness (1977)
A Mummy's Love (1970) (TV)
There's a Bird Inside a Man (1969)
Good Evening Dear Husband: A Duel (1968) (TV)
Branded to Kill (1967)
Fighting Elegy (1966)
Tokyo Drifter (1966)
Carmen from Kawachi (1966)
Story of a Prostitute (1965)
Stories of Bastards: Born Under a Bad Star (1965)
Tattooed Life (1965)
Gate of Flesh (1964)
The Flower and the Angry Waves (1964)
Our Blood Will Not Forgive (1964)
... aka Our Blood Won't Allow It
The Bastard (1963)
Kanto Wanderer(1963)
Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards (1963)
Youth of the Beast (1963)
High-Teen Yakuza (1962)
The Guys Who Put Money on Me (1962)
Blood-Red Water in the Channel (1961)
A Hell of a Guy (1961)
Million Dollar Smash-and-Grab (1961)
Muteppo-daisho (1961)
The Man with a Shotgun (1961)
The Wind-of-Youth Group Crosses the Mountain Pass (1961)
Tokyo Knights (1961)
Clandestine Zero Line (1960)
Aim at the Police Van (1960)
Sleep of the Beast (1960)
Fighting Delinquents (1960)
Everything Goes Wrong (1960)
Age of Nudity (1959)
Passport to Darkness (1959)
Humihazushita haru: Aoi chibusa II (1959)
Love Letter (1959)
Underworld Beauty (1958)
Young Breasts (1958)
The Boy Who Came Back (1958)
... aka The Spring That Didn't Come
Voice Without a Shadow (1958)
Eight Hours of Terror (1957)
The Naked Woman and the Gun (1957)
Inn of the Floating Weeds (1957)
Satan's Town (1956) (as Seitaro Suzuki)
Pure Emotions of the Sea (1956)
Harbour Toast: Victory Is in Our Grasp (1956)
Yes, Captain Hammer's here, hair blowing in the breeze. The day needs my saving expertise! - Captain Hammer, Corporate Tool
2002 Sight & Sound Challenge: 314 Last Watched: An Autumn Afternoon
Last 10 Films Watched:
Mon Oncle Antoine - B / Late Autumn - A-
Paranoid Park - B / An Autumn Afternoon - A
Forgetting Sarah Marshall - B / Run, Fatboy, Run - B
Get Smart - C- / Rendition - B-
Springtime in a Small Town - B+ / Evan Almighty - C
DVD BEAVER My Collection
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07-28-2005, 01:29 PM
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#2 of 21
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Join Date: Mar 2001
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I've heard of his motorcycles  , but none of these films.
"Movies should be like amusement parks. People should go to them to have fun." - Billy Wilder
"Subtitles good. Hollywood bad." - Tarzan, Sight & Sound 2012 voter.
"My films are not slices of life, they are pieces of cake." - Alfred Hitchcock
"My great humility is just one of the many reasons that I am vastly superior to everyone else." - Ramrod Clerk
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07-28-2005, 01:39 PM
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#3 of 21
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Member
Location: St. Louis, MO
Join Date: Feb 2000
Local Time: 11:18 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 10,460
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Seijun Suzuki was a studio contract director in the B-movie unit, tasked with turning out several crime/Yakuza films a year. After a few of these he begain elevating the cliche scripts through the use of his own unique style. Fluid, moving camerawork, hyper-stylized action sequences, a wild and lurid use of color - often with color filtered lighting or colorfully lit backdrops, and infusions of jazz became Suzuki's trademarks. His films rose from the dime-a-dozen Yakuza bin to become experiences unlike any other director.
Still making films into his 80's, his latest, Princess Racoon starring Zhang Ziyi, has been making the festival rounds.
1. Fighting Elegy - A (A hysterical spoof of Japanese militarism set during the 30's, it tells the story of a sexually frustrated youth who joins a violent gang. With laughs around every corner, Suzuki takes a similar path to Kubrick in portraying the militarism and machismo inherent in Japanese traditions as, at least in part, being fuelled by sexual frustration and inadequacy.)
2. Tokyo Drifter - A (Sukzuki takes this story of a lone assassin into an indescribable world of jazz-art)
3. Youth of the Beast - A- (Thrilling camera-work here as Suzuki weaves a story about a Yakuza playing crime bosses off each other almost Yojimbo style)
4. Underworld Beauty - B+
5. Kanto Wanderer - B+ (Young Yakuza's in love as this movie weaves stories of doomed romance against a backdrop of Yakuza families vying for control of gambling and government contracts. Other than his use of editing and closeups, this is a more straightforward film until the finale when Suzuki lays all his stylistic cards on the table.)
6. Tatooed Life - B+ (A Yakuza and his younger brother flee the law by getting construction jobs in a backwater town until they can save money for passage to Manchuria. This again weaves doomed love stories with competing construction firms until a blowout finale. The story was a bit less interesting than Kanto, but the last 15 minutes are jaw-dropping)
7. Story of a Prostitute - B (Beautiful b&w cinematography and some dazzling camera effects, but the characterizations lack enough weight to support the story of tragic romance. The military sections are trite and suck much away much of the intended power of the anti-military theme)
8. Gate of Flesh - B
9. Branded To Kill - B- (The film that got Suzuki fired from the studio is so infused with style that the story becomes almost irrelevant. I didn't care nearly as much for this film, though I should probably give it another chance)
10. Pistol Opera - D (This is something of a reworking of Branded to Kill but with a female protagonist. I didn't think this worked at all as once again, character as such is nearly buried and I found the lead actress grating. Towards the end as notions of reality are combined into both fantasy and some sort of play, I just about stopped caring.)
Own: 2
Would like to see more of his films. Who wouldn't want to see a film called Detective Bureau 2-3: Go To Hell Bastards? I've also heard Zigeunerweisen is a standout.
Yes, Captain Hammer's here, hair blowing in the breeze. The day needs my saving expertise! - Captain Hammer, Corporate Tool
2002 Sight & Sound Challenge: 314 Last Watched: An Autumn Afternoon
Last 10 Films Watched:
Mon Oncle Antoine - B / Late Autumn - A-
Paranoid Park - B / An Autumn Afternoon - A
Forgetting Sarah Marshall - B / Run, Fatboy, Run - B
Get Smart - C- / Rendition - B-
Springtime in a Small Town - B+ / Evan Almighty - C
DVD BEAVER My Collection
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07-28-2005, 01:43 PM
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#4 of 21
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Member
Location: St. Louis, MO
Join Date: Feb 2000
Local Time: 11:18 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 10,460
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I thought you had seen Branded to Kill and Tokyo Drifter George? They are old Criterion releases, in the first 30-40 spine numbers. Not sure if you're using any order as you go through the Criterions, but I figured you would have gotten to these by now.
Yes, Captain Hammer's here, hair blowing in the breeze. The day needs my saving expertise! - Captain Hammer, Corporate Tool
2002 Sight & Sound Challenge: 314 Last Watched: An Autumn Afternoon
Last 10 Films Watched:
Mon Oncle Antoine - B / Late Autumn - A-
Paranoid Park - B / An Autumn Afternoon - A
Forgetting Sarah Marshall - B / Run, Fatboy, Run - B
Get Smart - C- / Rendition - B-
Springtime in a Small Town - B+ / Evan Almighty - C
DVD BEAVER My Collection
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07-28-2005, 05:23 PM
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#5 of 21
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Member
Join Date: Apr 2000
Local Time: 05:18 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 8,528
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Seen 9
Own 0
Operetta tanuki goten (2005)
Pistol Opera (2001)
Kekkon (1993)
Yumeji (1991)
Lupin III: The Golden Legend of Babylon (1985)
Capone Cries a Lot (1985)
Heat-Haze Theatre (1981)
Zigeunerweisen (1980)
The Fang in the Hole (1979)
A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness (1977)
A Mummy's Love (1970) (TV)
There's a Bird Inside a Man (1969)
Good Evening Dear Husband: A Duel (1968) (TV)
Branded to Kill (1967) 
Fighting Elegy (1966)
Tokyo Drifter (1966) 
Carmen from Kawachi (1966)
Story of a Prostitute (1965)
Stories of Bastards: Born Under a Bad Star (1965)
Tattooed Life (1965)
Gate of Flesh (1964)
The Flower and the Angry Waves (1964)
Our Blood Will Not Forgive (1964)
The Bastard (1963)
Kanto Wanderer (1963)
Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards (1963)
Youth of the Beast (1963)
High-Teen Yakuza (1962)
The Guys Who Put Money on Me (1962)
Blood-Red Water in the Channel (1961)
A Hell of a Guy (1961)
Million Dollar Smash-and-Grab (1961)
Muteppo-daisho (1961)
The Man with a Shotgun (1961)
The Wind-of-Youth Group Crosses the Mountain Pass (1961)
Tokyo Knights (1961)
Clandestine Zero Line (1960)
Aim at the Police Van (1960)
Sleep of the Beast (1960)
Fighting Delinquents (1960)
Everything Goes Wrong (1960)
Age of Nudity (1959)
Passport to Darkness (1959)
Humihazushita haru: Aoi chibusa II (1959)
Love Letter (1959)
Underworld Beauty (1958)
Young Breasts (1958)
The Boy Who Came Back (1958)
Voice Without a Shadow (1958)
Eight Hours of Terror (1957)
The Naked Woman and the Gun (1957)
Inn of the Floating Weeds (1957)
Satan's Town (1956)
Pure Emotions of the Sea (1956)
Harbour Toast: Victory Is in Our Grasp (1956)
The Collection (Blu-Ray High Definition/DVD)
Pre-orders - BLU-RAY: Akira, The Dark Knight, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Death Proof, King Kong, La Femme Nikita, Planet Terror, Raging Bull, Ronin, The Third Man DVD: .................
Last edited by Jim_K : 06-24-2006 at 09:59 AM.
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07-28-2005, 06:39 PM
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#6 of 21
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Member
Location: Hamilton, ON Canada
Join Date: Oct 2000
Local Time: 06:18 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 5,512
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Rated from to
Titles in RED are theatrical screenings
Seijun Suzuki
May 24, 1923 -
Princess Raccoon (2005)
Pistol Opera (2001) (Own the DVD, haven't watched it yet)
Kekkon (1993)
Yumeji (1991)
Lupin III: The Golden Legend of Babylon (1985)
Capone Cries a Lot (1985)
Lupin III, Part III (1984) TV Series
Kagero-za (1981)
Zigeunerweisen (1980)
The Fang in the Hole (1979)
A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness (1977)
A Mummy's Love (1970) (TV)
There's a Bird Inside a Man (1969)
Good Evening Dear Husband: A Duel (1968) (TV)
Branded to Kill (1967) (Own the DVD)
Fighting Elegy (1966) (Own the DVD, haven't watched it yet)
Tokyo Drifter (1966) (Own the DVD)
Carmen from Kawachi (1966)
Story of a Prostitute (1965) (Own the DVD, haven't watched it yet)
Stories of Bastards: Born Under a Bad Star (1965)
Tattooed Life (1965) (Own the DVD)
Gate of Flesh (1964) (Own the DVD, haven't watched it yet)
The Flower and the Angry Waves (1964)
Our Blood Will Not Forgive (1964)
The Bastard (1963)
Kanto Wanderer (1963) (Own the DVD, haven't watched it yet)
Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards (1963)
Youth of the Beast (1963) (Own the DVD, haven't watched it yet)
High-Teen Yakuza (1962)
The Guys Who Put Money on Me (1962)
Blood-Red Water in the Channel (1961)
A Hell of a Guy (1961)
Million Dollar Smash-and-Grab (1961)
Muteppo-daisho (1961)
The Man with a Shotgun (1961)
The Wind-of-Youth Group Crosses the Mountain Pass (1961)
Tokyo Knights (1961)
Clandestine Zero Line (1960)
Aim at the Police Van (1960)
Sleep of the Beast (1960)
Fighting Delinquents (1960)
Everything Goes Wrong (1960)
Age of Nudity (1959)
Passport to Darkness (1959)
Humihazushita haru: Aoi chibusa II (1959)
Love Letter (1959)
Underworld Beauty (1958) (Own the DVD)
Young Breasts (1958)
The Boy Who Came Back (1958)
Voice Without a Shadow (1958)
Eight Hours of Terror (1957)
The Naked Woman and the Gun (1957)
Inn of the Floating Weeds (1957)
Satan's Town (1956)
Pure Emotions of the Sea (1956)
Harbour Toast: Victory Is in Our Grasp (1956)
Seen 7
Own 10
My DVD Collection Film Lists: 2001 (416), 2002 (412), 2003 (374), 2004 (346), 2005 (302), 2006 (221) Film Tracking 2005 (862), 2006 (852) Last 15 Watched: Pulse (2006,Jim Sonzero) 2/5, In the Realm of the Senses (1976,Nagisa Oshima) 4/5, Sing a Song of Sex (1967,Nagisa Oshima) 2/5, The Passionate Friends (1949,David Lean) 3/5, Band of Ninja (1967,Nagisa Oshima) 1/5, Saw V (2008,David Hackl) 3/5, Quantum of Solace (2008,Marc Forster) 2/5, Role Models (2008,David Wain) 3/5, Dorm (2006,Songyos Sugmakanan) 3/5, Candy (2006,Neil Armfield) 3/5, Shutter (2004,Banjong Pisanthanakun, Parkpoom Wongpoom) 1/5, Skinwalkers (2006,Jim Isaac) 2/5, Out of Season (1998,Jeanette L. Buck) 2/5, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983,Nagisa Oshima) 5/5, The Catch (1961,Nagisa Oshima) 3/5
Last edited by Bill McA : 09-03-2007 at 09:57 PM.
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07-28-2005, 07:01 PM
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#7 of 21
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Member
Join Date: Mar 2001
Local Time: 05:18 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 14,313
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| I thought you had seen Branded to Kill and Tokyo Drifter George? They are old Criterion releases, in the first 30-40 spine numbers. Not sure if you're using any order as you go through the Criterions, but I figured you would have gotten to these by now. |
Nope, haven't gotten to those yet. I am going through the Criterions in order, though many of the Criterions I see come from other lists I'm going through (e.g., S&S). As far as the Criterion collection itself, I'm only up to #24, High & Low, though of course, I've seen many after that. Looking at my rental queue, I actually have Au Hazard Balthazar higher on the list, due to it's being next on the S&S list for me.
"Movies should be like amusement parks. People should go to them to have fun." - Billy Wilder
"Subtitles good. Hollywood bad." - Tarzan, Sight & Sound 2012 voter.
"My films are not slices of life, they are pieces of cake." - Alfred Hitchcock
"My great humility is just one of the many reasons that I am vastly superior to everyone else." - Ramrod Clerk
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07-28-2005, 11:08 PM
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#8 of 21
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2000
Local Time: 06:18 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 12,549
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Haven't seen any yet, but the Criterions are on my to-see list.
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