Movie

Tokyo Drifter

1966 · 83 min

A stylised, pop-art yakuza chase that feels like a feverish dream of loyalty and exile, cool and oddly playful.

Overview: After yakuza boss Kurata dissolves his own criminal empire, a rival kingpin offers a position to Kurata's top operative, Tetsuya "Phoenix Tetsu" Hondo. When the fiercely loyal Tetsu declines, Otsuka taps unstoppable Tatsuzo the "Viper", a ruthless gun-for-hire, to assassinate him. As the Viper trails his target through the countryside, the agile Phoenix Tetsu grows concerned that one of his former associates has betrayed him.

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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone: darkstrength 2 of 3
melancholicstrength 2 of 3
absurdstrength 2 of 3
campystrength 2 of 3
Pacing: brisk, 3 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: loyalty
betrayal
revenge
isolation
crime
Places: big city
countryside
workplace
Era: contemporary
Audience: adult
Form: nonlinear
serialised
Content intensity: Gore mild
Language mild
Violence strong
Sex mild

All scales, 0 to 10

Scales, 0 to 10
Scale	Value	0 to 10
Action	7
Horror	2
Humour	4
Realism	5
Romance	4
Tension	6
Darkness	6
Complexity	6
Emotional weight	5

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Where to watch in the UK

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Details

Genres: thriller, crime, action
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
Written by: Kōhan Kawauchi
Starring: Tetsuya Watari, Chieko Matsubara, Hideaki Nitani, Tamio Kawachi, Eiji Gō, Tomoko Hamakawa, Takeshi Yoshida, Isao Tamagawa
Music: Hajime Kaburagi
Cinematography: Shigeyoshi Mine
Runtime: 83 min
Country: Japan
Languages: English, Japanese

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Tokyo Drifter

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