Tokyo Drifter (Blu-Ray)

In this jazzy gangster film, reformed killer Phoenix Tetsu’s attempt to go straight is squashed when his former cohorts call him back to Tokyo to help battle a rival gang. This onslaught of stylized violence and trippy colours got director Seijun Suzuki (Branded to Kill) in trouble with Nikkatsu studio heads, who were put off by his anything-goes, in-your-face aesthetic, equal parts Russ Meyer, Samuel Fuller, and Nagisa Oshima. Tokyo Drifter is a delirious highlight of the brilliantly excessive Japanese cinema of the sixties.

Special features:
– New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
– Video piece featuring new interviews with director Seijun Suzuki and assistant director Masami Kuzuu
– Interview with Suzuki from 1997
– Original theatrical trailer
– New and improved English subtitle translation
– PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Howard Hampton