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For Yakuza Tetsu (Tetsuya Watari), loyalty to his boss Kurata (Ryuji
Kita) is everything, even after Kurata has decided to go legit ...
Of course, for Kurata it's once a Yakuza, always a Yakuza, and soon a
rival gang, led by Otsuka (Hideaki Esumi) wants to muscle in on his
(legal) deals. To that end, Otsuka's men take Tetsu prisoner, then turn
the pressure on Kurata ... but Tetsu can free himself, and is there in
time to save his boss - but of course, the whole situation culminates in a
shoot-out, at the end of which 2 people are killed ... and Tetsu agrees to
take the blame for his boss.
Kurata is very fond of Tetsu, in fact he even wants to marry him to his
own daughter Chiharu (Chieko Matusbara), so he helps him in hiding from
the law. First he sends Tetsu to Shonai, to lie low at hsi friend
Shimada's place ... but Shimada has a little turf war going on himself,
and even though he doesn't to participate, Tetsu gets drawn into the whole
affair, partly because Otsuka has sent the killer Viper (Tamio Kawaji)
after him, and it all culminates in a bloodbath, and Tetsu is only saved
by Ken (Hideaki Nitani), an ex-member of Otsuka's gang who has split ways
with his boss. And though Tetsu is grateful for Ken saving his life, he
also detests him for betraying his loyalty to his boss. But what's even
worse is that Ken suggests that Kurata might eventually betray Tetsu -
which is unthinkable for tetsu, but of course exactly what will happen.
So soon enough, Tetsu leaves Shonai for Kyushu. In Kyushu, Tetsu hides
at Kurata's good friend Minetani's place, where he also can finally get
rid of Viper (in an ironically directed barroom brawl), but he also meets
Ken again, whom he cannot forgive what he said about Kurata ... until
eventually, Tetsu finds Minetani's men - under Kurata's orders - turning
on him.
Of course he can shoot his way out, and he returns to Tokyo, where he
finds Kurata already striking a deal with Otsuka - who demanded Tetsu's
death in the first place, for this deal to happen at all ...
It all ends in another shoot-out, and only Chiharu entering the stage
can prevent Tetsu - who has shot all his other adversaries - from shooting
Kurata, her father, as well. But overcome with shame, Kurata commits
suicide by cutting his wrists ...
Having lost all he has ever lived for, Tetsu decides to move on.
Chiharu, who's in love with him, begs him to take her with him ... but a
drifter can have no woman ...
In print, Tokyo Drifter might sound like an average Yakuza
thriller with a tried-and-true story ... but director Seijun Suzuki has
turned the familiar plot into a highly stylized work of art, filmed in his
own way in consciously cheesy but often also expressionist sets, in
garish, glaring colours, and with a quite unique tongue-in-cheek pathos
which all make this a totally atypical genre masterpiece, that in scenes
has as much to do with Hollywood musicals as with hard-boiled Yakuza films
- and somehow this concept totally works.
Recommended.
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