MORE DIRECTORS CHECKLIST SERIES - Volume #225 - THE FILMS OF SEIJUN SUZUKI

Seijun Suzuki was a Nikkatsu 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 fueled 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. Detective Bureau 2-3: Go To Hell Bastards! - B+
8. Take Aim at the Police Van - B
9. 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)
10. Gate of Flesh - B
11. 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)

12. Princess Raccoon - C+
13. 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