Tokyo Drifter: Basic Facts Flashcards

Question	Answer
What year was "Tokyo Drifter" released?	1966 (April 10th 1966)
Who directed "Tokyo Drifter"?	Seijun Suzuki
Who produced and wrote the screenplay for this film?	Yasunori Kawauchi
Who composed the score for this film?	Hajime Kaburagi
Who coordinated the cinematography?	Shigeyoshi Mine
What was the company that distributed this film?	Nikkatsu (Nikkatsu Cooperation)
What was Nikkatsu known for distributing from 1960?	They were known for producing urban youth dramas such as, comedy, action and of cause, the yakuza genre with Tokyo Drifter and Branded to Kill.
What features can be seen as evidence of viewing Seijun Suzuki an auteur?	. Exploration into the "yakuza genre" . Use of symbolic colours . Abandonment of continuity editing . Subverting genre expectations . Targeting of the youth market
What other noteworthy films has Seijun Suzuki directed?	. Victory is Mine ("kayo eiga" or pop song film and also a B movie) (1956) . Underworld Beauty (Suzuki's first yakuzu film) (1958) . Youth of the Beast (considered a "breakthrough" by film scholars) (1963)
Who is leading actor who portrays Tetsuya Hondo (AKA Phoenix Tetsu)	Tetsuya Watari
Who portrays Chiharu (Tetsuya's former girlfriend whom he refuses at the end)	Chieko Matsubara
Who portrays Kenji Aizawa (AKA Shooting Star)?	Hideaki Nitani
Who portrays Kurata (Tetsu's former boss)?	Ryuji Kita
Who portrays Otsuka? (AKA The rival crime boss in the red suit)	Eimei Esumi
Who portrays Yoshii? (AKA Central figure in the property scam)	Michio Hino
Who portrays Tatsuzo The Viper?	Tamio Kawaji
What is the running time of this film?	83 Minutes
What is "Phoenix" Tetsu Hondo's primary motivation during the film?	He desires to live his own life in becoming a drifter by his own moral standards of Loyalty and Honour
What is Kurata's (Tetsu's former boss) primary conflict and what is his fate?	Phoenix Tetsu holds absolute loyalty towards him however, Kurata is forced to make the decision to join with Otsuka (A rival crime boss) to kill Tetsu leading to a misunderstood betrayal from Tetsu and Kurata killing himself
What is Tetsu Hondo's primary conflict throughout the film?	He gives up the life of a "yakuzu" gangster in order to become a "drifter" from the advice of Kurata (his former boss). However, he misunderstands Kurata's team-up of Otsuka (the main villain) as a betrayal leading to an eventual conflict between two former partners.
How is this different from other Nikkatsu-produced films?	As Nikkatsu produced youth dramas in the field of comedy and action, Tokyo Drifter is merely an auteur-based film as it: . Avoids the continuity of time and space . Uses bright vibrant colour such as, red and purple This ultimately led to Suzuki's firing from Nikkatsu as this strayed to far away from what they planned.
Who edited this film?	Shinya Inoue
What key aspect in this film demonstrates the "kayo eiga" (pop song film which promotes a pop star) genre?	Tetsuya Watari's Tokyo Drifter Theme Song (AKA, Tokyo Nagaremono)
What key lyrics convey the film's themes?	."I threw away love, for honour" ."A man's life scattered in red" ."Embarking on a journey that flows without end"
How does this compare with Italian Neo-realism?	Unlike When A Woman Ascends the Stairs, this film does not share any traits of this movement as this film implements artificial cinematography and has a "style-over-substance" focus to the narrative.
How does this link towards the French New Wave Movement?	Tokyo Drifter also implements a radical style of filmmaking with its ignoring of "continuity of time and space" and its use of vibrant colours.
What are the key themes of this film?	. Loyalty . Honour . Betrayal
What was the budget for this film?	$20 Million (roughly 2,180,000,000.000 yen)

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Tokyo Drifter: Basic Facts Flashcards

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	Created by Ethan Soffe over 8 years ago