- Seijun Suzuki's Tokyo Drifter is a memorably bizarre combination of Yakuza crime films, samurai flicks, and American westerns. Its hero, Tetsu Hondo (Tetsuya Watari), finds himself perpetually at the center of conflict, initially between his reform-inclined boss, Kurata (Ryūji Kita), and rival crime lord Otsuka (Eimei Esumi) and his gang (Tamio Kawaji, Eiji Gô). After a financier (Michio Hino) and a manga-entertained informant (Tomoko Hamakawa) are both killed, Tetsu tries to keep the peace by fleeing Tokyo, only to wander into various problems, including an extended bar fight at an establishment run by Kurata's ally (Isao Tamagawa). As a fellow drifter (Hideaki Nitani) informs him, it's just a matter of time before Kurata's name will be added to Tetsu's list of betrayers.
- Whatever else it may be, Tokyo Drifter is certainly an impressively strange-looking film. A nightclub features a dance floor that can be seen from all angles and a neon-drenched back room. Tetsu's nominal girlfriend Chiharu (Chieko Matsubara) sings in an expansive white hall containing little more than a piano and a statue. The western-style bar, which looks like a leftover set from a different movie, has columns that collapse as its patrons brawl. I'm not sure there's anything particularly profound about the film's themes, the most prominent of which seems to be “Keep to yourself,” but at least the film has fun looking like it has something interesting to say.
