An ordinary director would say, "This isn't realistic. It's absurd." With him, though, even if I presented a somewhat unusual idea, he'd take it apart and put it back together in an interesting way.
Production designer Takeo Kimura about director Seijun Suzuki when discussing his 1964 film "Gate Of Flesh".
How do you not love this guy?
2 comments:
Oh my what beautiful shots! Makes me want to see it! So far the only Suzuki I've seen is YOUTH OF THE BEAST, which I believe is considered his most conventional film, right? I want to check out his weirder stuff, maybe I'll start with this.
Hmmm, I wouldn't quite say "conventional" when discussing Youth Of The Beast. However, it is a fine place to start. It has chubby-cheeked Jo Shishido, yakuzas, a fun story and some wickedly cool looking scenes. Gate Of Flesh isn't conventional either (it's set design alone always makes it feel a bit off kilter), so you might like them both. Of course Branded To Kill and Tokyo Drifter are top notch from a style perspective and, in my opinion, heaps of fun. And if you want to lose touch with reality - go to his later work. His Taisho trilogy (Zigeunerweisen, Kagero-za, Yumeji), Pistol Opera (a remake of sorts of Branded To Kill) and Princess Raccoon are beyond surreal - they're bonkers. And I love 'em.
Let me know what you think when you dig into his stuff.
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