Tokyo Drifter Details

Coming between Elegy to Violence and Branded to Kill, this deliriously contrived Yakuza flick earned director Seijun Suzuki a cult following outside a less receptive Japan. Combining elements from hard-boiled pulp, the spaghetti western and the Hollywood musical, this cartoon-like parody of the platitudes and attitudes of the gangster movie also makes spectacular use of colour, stylised decor and an ambiguous narrative. At the centre of the often surreal mayhem is Tetsuya Watari, whose ambition to quit the rackets is frustrated by his inability to shake either his dark past or the dogged attentions of hitman Hideaki Nitani.

An enjoyably delirious thriller in which virtually anything goes, including a parody of a bar brawl straight out of a John Wayne Western. It has an exotic appeal, together with a flamboyant visual style.