Tomorrow's screening, second film
Branded to Kill (Seijun Suzuki, 1967)
Western people don't really know Japanese films, particularly older ones. It's commonly believed that Japanese films were until recently invariably slowly paced "respectable" dramas like the many masterpieces of Kurosawa, Mizoguchi og Ozu. But this is totally wrong. What the people of Japan themselves flocked to see were low-budget B-movies, especially Yakuza flicks, which the studios churned out and made by contractually obligated directors who simply got a script on their desk to work from.
Seijun Suzuki did not like this setup but decided to use it to the limits. His films are stylistic masterworks full of funky types, excellent music, unbelievable compositions and an amazingly athmospheric mood. Mixing the sexual humour of Russ Meyer, the roughness and violence of Don Siegel and the eroticism of Nagisa Oshima you end up with Seijun Suzuki.
Few films are as original, disturbing and downright perverse. For some this film might be simply be too much but others discover a whole new world. Suzuki was basically on probation with Nikkatsu studios when he made this film and he was promptly fired after making it for not following instructions. He made no film for a decade but has since been very active and has just recently made a film.
Western people don't really know Japanese films, particularly older ones. It's commonly believed that Japanese films were until recently invariably slowly paced "respectable" dramas like the many masterpieces of Kurosawa, Mizoguchi og Ozu. But this is totally wrong. What the people of Japan themselves flocked to see were low-budget B-movies, especially Yakuza flicks, which the studios churned out and made by contractually obligated directors who simply got a script on their desk to work from.
Seijun Suzuki did not like this setup but decided to use it to the limits. His films are stylistic masterworks full of funky types, excellent music, unbelievable compositions and an amazingly athmospheric mood. Mixing the sexual humour of Russ Meyer, the roughness and violence of Don Siegel and the eroticism of Nagisa Oshima you end up with Seijun Suzuki.
Few films are as original, disturbing and downright perverse. For some this film might be simply be too much but others discover a whole new world. Suzuki was basically on probation with Nikkatsu studios when he made this film and he was promptly fired after making it for not following instructions. He made no film for a decade but has since been very active and has just recently made a film.
posted by Nafnlaus @ 6:57 e.h.
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