Seijun Suzuki
Seijun Suzuki (鈴木 清順 Suzuki Seijun, born 24 May 1923 in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese film director. Working for the Nikkatsu studio, he made over 40 B-movies between 1956 and 1967.
Suzuki's style grew more eccentric over time, particularly from 1963 onwards, and his most famous works – including the yakuza thrillers Tokyo Drifter (1966) and Branded to Kill (1967) – are known for their surrealistic irreverence. After Branded to Kill, however, Nikkatsu President Kyusaku Hori fired him for "making films that didn't make any sense and didn't make any money." Despite the support of younger directors and successfully suing the studio over his dismissal, Suzuki was effectively blacklisted from making films in Japan for ten years.
Suzuki later directed Yumeji (1991), and recently remade/parodied Branded to Kill as Pistol Opera (2001), with Esumi Makiko replacing Shishido Jo as the number 3 killer. In 2005, he directed Princess Raccoon a musical love story.
Further Reading
- Tom Mes and Jasper Sharp. The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film. Stone Bridge Press, 2004. ISBN 1880656892
External links
- Seijun Suzuki at IMDb
- Seijun Suzuki's JMDb Listing (in Japanese)
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