Seijun Suzuki

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Seijun Suzuki

Seijun Suzuki ( 鈴木 清 順 Suzuki Seijun , * May 24, 1923 in Tokyo as Seitaro Suzuki ; † February 13, 2017 there ) was a Japanese film director , screenwriter and actor .

life and career

After serving as a soldier in World War II , Suzuki began his film career as an assistant director before becoming a director. Between 1956 and 1967 he made over forty B-movies for the Nikkatsu film company , most of which became famous for his yakuza films, which were influenced by pop art and film noir . He himself explained that the constantly identical plot constructions of the assembly line-like B-films had inspired him out of boredom to focus on the stylistic element. His increasingly surrealistic style drew increasingly the displeasure of the production company from 1963 onwards and in 1967 he was fired for Branded to Kill , which is now one of his most important films. Suzuki successfully sued Nikkatsu for damages for the illegal dismissal, but was blacklisted by all of Japan's major film companies and was unable to make a film for the next ten years.

As a filmmaker independent of the studio system, he was praised by film critics for his Taishō trilogy Tsigoineruwaizen (1980), Kagerō-za (1981) and Yumeji (1991). For Tsigoineruwaizen , he won the Japanese Academy Award in the category of best director in 1981 , and the film itself was also recognized as best film . The film was also shown under the title Zigeunerwiesen in the competition at the Berlinale 1981 . In addition, from the mid-1980s, retrospectives, VHS releases of Branded to Kill and Tokyo Drifter - The Man from Tokyo as well as recognition from renowned filmmakers such as Jim Jarmusch , Takeshi Kitano , Wong Kar-wai and Quentin Tarantino Suzuki's work also became international perceived. For example, Jarmusch said that Suzuki was "a masterful stylist and one of the best innovators in Japanese cinema".

Suzuki worked well into the new millennium as a director and occasionally as an actor directed by other filmmakers. He died of COPD lung disease in 2017 at the age of 93 .

Filmography (selection)

As a director

  • 1956: Minato no kanpai: Shôri o waga te ni
  • 1963: Hunt for the Beast (Yajû no seishun)
  • 1964: Nikutai no mon
  • 1965: Naked and Damned (Shunpu den)
  • 1966: Song of Violence (Kenka erejî)
  • 1966: Tokyo Drifter - The Man from Tokyo (Tōkyō nagaremono)
  • 1967: Branded to Kill (Koroshi no rakuin)
  • 1980: Gypsy wise men (Tsigoineruwaizen)
  • 1981: Kagerō-za
  • 1991: Yumeji
  • 2001: Pisutoru opera
  • 2005: Operetta tanuki goten

As an actor

  • 1995: Cold Fever
  • 2002: Blessing Bell (Kôfuku no kane)
  • 2011: Mirokurôze

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Japanese film director Seijun Suzuki died - derStandard.at. Retrieved June 27, 2018 .
  2. ^ Action and Anarchy: The Films of Seijun Suzuki | The Cinematheque. Retrieved June 27, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Jasper Sharp: Seijun Suzuki obituary. February 24, 2017, accessed June 27, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Suzuki, Seijun
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 鈴木 清 順 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese film director
DATE OF BIRTH May 24, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Tokyo , Japan
DATE OF DEATH February 13, 2017
Place of death Tokyo , Japan