Spine 39: Tokyo Drifter

Published: Sept. 27, 2013, 2:10 a.m.

Seijun Suzuki's 1966 film Tokyo Drifter is more comprehensible than Branded to Kill -- it does actually have a discernible plot for most of the film --  but barely -- there's an extended fight scene that plays like a Merry Melodies short. The studio didn't like this one either. While Tokyo Drifter didn't lead directly to Suzuki's firing, it did get his color film privileges revoked, which is why the later Branded to Kill is in black and white while Tokyo Drifter has, quite honestly, a really excellent integration of color and non-color footage.