Seijun Suzuki, born Seitaro Suzuki, was a Japanese filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter. His films are known for their jarring visual style, irreverent humour, and entertainment-over-logic sensibility. He made 40 predominately B-movies for the Nikkatsu Company between 1956 and 1967, working most prolifically in the yakuza genre. His increasingly surreal style began to draw the ire of the studio in 1963 and culminated in his ultimate dismissal for what is now regarded as his magnum opus, Branded to Kill (1967), starring notable collaborator Joe Shishido. Suzuki successfully sued the studio for wrongful dismissal, but he was blacklisted for 10 years after that. As an independent filmmaker, he won critical acclaim and a Japanese Academy Award for his Taishō trilogy, Zigeunerweisen (1980), Kagero-za (1981) and Yumeji (1991).
Branded to Kill is a 1967 Japanese yakuza film directed by Seijun Suzuki and starring Joe Shishido, Koji Nanbara, Annu Mari and Mariko Ogawa. The story follows contract killer Goro Hanada as he is recruited by a mysterious woman named Misako for a seemingly impossible mission. When the mission fails, he is hunted by the phantom Number One Killer, whose methods threaten his life and sanity.
Tokyo Drifter is a 1966 yakuza film directed by Seijun Suzuki. The story follows Tetsuya Watari as the reformed yakuza hitman "Phoenix" Tetsu who is forced to roam Japan avoiding execution by rival gangs.
Gate of Flesh is a 1964 Japanese film based on a novel by Taijiro Tamura and directed by Seijun Suzuki.
Toshiya Fujita, also known as Shigeya Fujita, was a Japanese film director, film actor, and screenwriter. He is well-regarded in Japan for his youth films but is best known abroad for Lady Snowblood and Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance, films not typical of his usual style.
Sadao Yamanaka was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who directed 26 films between 1932 and 1938. He was a contemporary of Yasujirō Ozu, Mikio Naruse and Kenji Mizoguchi and one of the primary figures in the development of the jidaigeki, or historical film. Yamanaka died of dysentery in Manchuria after being drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army. He is the uncle of the Japanese film director Tai Kato, who wrote a book about Yamanaka, Eiga kantoku Yamanaka Sadao.
Zigeunerweisen is a 1980 independent Japanese film directed by Seijun Suzuki and based on Hyakken Uchida's novel, Disk of Sarasate. It takes its title from a gramophone recording of Pablo de Sarasate's violin composition, Zigeunerweisen, which features prominently in the story. The film makes the first part of Suzuki's Taishō Roman Trilogy, followed by Kagero-za (1981) and Yumeji (1991), surrealistic psychological dramas and ghost stories linked by style, themes and the Taishō period (1912-1926) setting. All three were produced by Genjiro Arato.
Yumeji is a 1991 independent Japanese film directed by Seijun Suzuki. It is a semi-fictional account of poet and painter Takehisa Yumeji. It also forms the final part of Suzuki's Taishō Roman Trilogy, preceded by Zigeunerweisen (1980) and Kagero-za (1981), surrealistic psychological dramas and ghost stories linked by style, themes and the Taishō period (1912-1926) setting. All three were produced by Genjiro Arato.
Zoom In: Rape Apartments is a 1980 violent pink film in Nikkatsu's Roman Porno series. It was director Naosuke Kurosawa's debut work.
Genjirō Arato was a Japanese film producer, actor and director.
Keisuke Kinoshita was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. While lesser-known internationally than contemporaries such as Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujirō Ozu, he was a household figure in his home country, beloved by both critics and audiences from the 1940s to the 1960s. Among his best known films are Carmen Comes Home (1951), Japan's first colour feature, Tragedy of Japan (1953), Twenty-Four Eyes (1954), You Were Like a Wild Chrysanthemum (1955), Times of Joy and Sorrow (1957), The Ballad of Narayama (1958), and The River Fuefuki (1960).
Everything Goes Wrong is a 1960 Japanese Sun Tribe film directed by Seijun Suzuki and starring Tamio Kawachi and Yoshiko Yatsu in her film debut. The story follows Jirō, a rebellious high schooler, in his sadomasochistic and criminal misadventures, specifically as they relate to his girlfriend, mother and her lover. The film was produced and distributed by the Nikkatsu Company. Kinema Junpo called it an early masterpiece in Suzuki's career.
Takeo Kimura was a Japanese art director, writer and film director. Beginning his career in 1945 he art-directed well over 200 films. He was one of Japan's best known art directors, most famously for his collaborations with cult director Seijun Suzuki through the 1960s at the Nikkatsu Company, exemplified by Tokyo Drifter (1966). Other directors with whom he frequently worked include Toshio Masuda, Kazuo Kuroki, Kei Kumai and Kaizo Hayashi. At age 90 he made his feature film directorial debut with Dreaming Awake (2008). He had also worked as a critic, writer, painter, photographer and teacher.
Fascination: Portrait of a Lady is a 1977 Japanese film in Nikkatsu's Roman porno series, directed by Kōyū Ohara and starring Naomi Tani. Known for an ability to direct well in many genres, it was the pop-art-influenced Ohara's first true S&M film.
Lady Black RoseakaMadame Black Rose is a 1978 Japanese film in Nikkatsu's Roman porno series, directed by Shōgorō Nishimura and starring Naomi Tani.
Retreat Through the Wet Wasteland is a 1973 Japanese film in Nikkatsu's Roman porno series, directed by Yukihiro Sawada and starring Yuri Yamashina and Takeo Chii.
Naked SevenakaSengoku Rock: Female WarriorsandWarring States Rock: Gale-Force Women is a 1972 Japanese film in Nikkatsu's Roman porno series, directed by Yasuharu Hasebe and starring Mari Tanaka.
Lusty SistersakaErotic Sisters is a 1972 Japanese film in Nikkatsu's Roman porno series, directed by Chūsei Sone and starring Keiko Tsuzuki and Akemi Nijō.
Take Aim at the Police Van is a 1960 Japanese film directed by Seijun Suzuki and starring Michitaro Mizushima.
Atsushi Yamatoya was a Japanese film director, screenwriter and actor. His son is a fellow screenwriter and race horse owner Akatsuki Yamatoya.
