Cycle
From 04.06. To 02.07.2012.
Filmske mutacije/Festival nevidljivog filma
Ciklus Seijuna Suzukija
Films in cycle
Tokyo Drifter
(Tôkyô nagaremono, Tokyo Drifter, 1966.)
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
PHOTOGRAPHY: Shigeyoshi Mine
Synopsis:
This is one of the most famous films by Suzuki from the Nikkatsu period, a noir film about a former yakuza. Tetsuya’s boss decides to become an honest man and lets his employees go. Tetsuya, up to then his boss’s right hand, respects his decision and even accepts his request to leave Tokyo to relieve his boss of the pressure from the police and the organization. The rival gang thinks this is just a trick and follows Tetsuya on his travels.
35 mm, b/w and color, 89 min
PROJECTION:
Tuesday 05.06.2012 AT 19:00
Monday 04.06.2012 AT 20:00
Youth of the Beast
(Yajû no seishun, Youth of the Beast, 1963.)
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
PHOTOGRAPHY: Kazue Nagatsuka
Synopsis:
This film represents a sort of turning point in Suzuki’s career – for the first time all of his most characteristic stylistic elements are in place, although he went on to develop them more fully in the later films Tôkyô nagaremono (Tokyo Drifter, 1966) and Koroshi no rakuin (Branded to Kill, 1967). Jô Shishido plays a former policeman who slowly blends in with the world of yakuza clans, becoming gradually more entangled with them in so doing. And yet, as he lets them know that he is looking for...
16 mm, b/w and color, 92 min
PROJECTION:
Friday 08.06.2012 AT 21:00
Wednesday 06.06.2012 AT 19:00
Branded to Kill
(Koroshi no rakuin, Branded to Kill, 1967.)
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
PHOTOGRAPHY: Kazue Nagatsuka
Synopsis:
This is one of the most famous films by Suzuki. It is about a contract killer who is currently the third most popular hit man in the Japanese organized crime world. Things start to go bad when he meets Misako, a femme fatale obsessed with death and entomology. One day during his work, a butterfly lands on his gun and causes him to miss. Thus he becomes a target himself. First his own girlfriend turns against him, then Hit Man Number One catches up to him.
35 mm, b/w, 98 min
PROJECTION:
Friday 08.06.2012 AT 19:00
Wednesday 06.06.2012 AT 21:00
The Young Rebel
(Akutarô, The young Rebel, 1963.)
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
PHOTOGRAPHY: Shigeyoshi Mine
Synopsis:
Ken Yamauchi plays the hero, Togo Konno, a typical rebellious teenager who gets kicked out of school because of bad behavior. He transfers to a new school where he does not know anybody and soon falls in love with a girl. Rough on the outside, he hides his romantic side and only shows it to the kind and shy Emiko. At first glance completely different, they become close and start dating.
35 mm, b/w, 95 min
PROJECTION:
Monday 11.06.2012 AT 21:00
Saturday 09.06.2012 AT 19:00
Kanto Wanderer
(Kantô mushuku, Kanto Wanderer, 1963.)
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
PHOTOGRAPHY: Shigeyoshi Mine
Synopsis:
Katsura is a member of the formerly powerful yakuza clan in charge of card gambling. However, people’s tastes change and horse gambling becomes more and more popular. Consequently, the clan’s power is fading along with its profits. Directly below the main boss, Katsura is worried by the fact that his superiors are more worried about the lack of money than the loss of honor that the clan is experiencing. His loyalty to traditional yakuza values affects his own and the clan’s future.
16 mm, color, 92 min
PROJECTION:
Monday 11.06.2012 AT 19:00
Saturday 09.06.2012 AT 21:00
Fighting Elegy
(Kenka erejii, Fighting Elegy, 1966.)
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
PHOTOGRAPHY: Kenji Hagiwara
Synopsis:
Kiroku Nanbu is a high school student in the 1930’s. He lives in rural Japan with a catholic family and falls in love with their daughter, Michiko. Unused to showing his emotions and also dealing with puberty, he becomes violent. He joins a local gang and slowly rises in its ranks while abandoning school and Michiko.
35 mm, b/w, 86 min
PROJECTION:
Wednesday 13.06.2012 AT 21:00
Tuesday 12.06.2012 AT 19:00
Story of a Prostitute
(Shunpu-den, Story of a Prostitute, 1965.)
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
PHOTOGRAPHY: Kazue Nagatsuka
Synopsis:
This is a drama of the Sino-Japanese war era. A prostitute named Harumi leaves town disappointed with her lover’s decision to marry another woman. Wandering around, she ends up in a brothel in Manchuria, near a remote Japanese military base. A local commander, Narita, notices her immediately but she prefers his assistant, Mikami. After the commander proves to be a sadistic tyrant, she becomes close to Mikami.
35 mm, b/w, 96 min
PROJECTION:
Wednesday 13.06.2012 AT 19:00
Tuesday 12.06.2012 AT 21:00
Harbour Toast: Victory in My Hands
(Minato no kanpai: Shôri o waga te ni, Harbour Toast: Victory in My Hands, 1956.)
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
PHOTOGRAPHY: Kumenobu Fujioka
Synopsis:
This is Seijun Suzuki’s directing debut and the first of his many films for Nikkatsu production house for which he became famous. Planned as a typical youth film, it belongs to the Kayo-eiga genre, which utilized stories based on hit pop songs. The hero of the film is a sailor who helps his brother to escape from the yakuza that are chasing him. His troubles begin when he falls in love with the wrong girl and then double-crosses the yakuza by fixing a horse race…
35 mm, b/w, 65 min
PROJECTION:
Friday 15.06.2012 AT 21:00
Thursday 14.06.2012 AT 19:00
Love letter
(Rabu retâ, Love letter, 1959.)
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
PHOTOGRAPHY: Isamu Kakita
Synopsis:
A night club manager is in love with a pianist. She has a boyfriend but communicates with him only through letters because he works as a ranger in a remote forest. In time, his letters become rarer and finally stop arriving altogether. Even though her boss is in love with her, he persuades her to visit her boyfriend to find out the cause for his silence. She finally agrees and discovers something quite unexpected.
short feature, 35 mm, b/w, 40 min
PROJECTION:
Friday 15.06.2012 AT 22:10
Thursday 14.06.2012 AT 20:10
Gate of Flesh
(Nikutai no mon, Gate of Flesh, 1964.)
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
PHOTOGRAPHY: Shigeyoshi Mine
Synopsis:
After WW II, Tokyo is devastated and a group of poor people, including a few prostitutes, organizes in order to survive. Aware that they cannot trust anyone, they create their own code of conduct, which they all respect and follow. Every offence is severely punished. They live in a ruined building, but everything functions well until a wounded thief, Shintaro, seeks shelter with them. They agree to help him but he disturbs the group’s dynamic.
35 mm, color, 90 min
PROJECTION:
Friday 15.06.2012 AT 19:00
Thursday 14.06.2012 AT 21:00
The Flowers and the Angry Waves
(Hana to dotô, The Flowers and the Angry Waves, 1964.)
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
PHOTOGRAPHY: Kazue Nagatsuka
Synopsis:
In the beginning of the film, Kikuji kidnaps his beloved Oshige just before her wedding with his yakuza boss. A year later we find them living in Tokyo, secretly married. He has left the crime world and works as a miner for the Murata clan, while she is a waitress. Kikuji’s former boss has not forgotten what they did, and sends a hired killer after them. At the same time, Kikuji gets involved in the war between the Murata and Tamio clans.
35 mm, color, 92 min
PROJECTION:
Monday 18.06.2012 AT 21:30
Saturday 16.06.2012 AT 19:00
Zigeunerweisen/Gipsy Airs
(Tsigoineruwaizen, Zigeunerweisen/Gipsy Airs, 1980.)
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
PHOTOGRAPHY: Kazue Nagatsuka
Synopsis:
This is the first part of Suzuki’s Taisho trilogy (the other two are Kagerô-za from 1981 and Yumeji from 1991). During a holiday on the coast, university professor Aochi meets his childhood friend Nakasono, who is now a vagabond on the run from the police as a murder suspect. Aochi feels sorry for his old friend and takes him to dinner. While reminiscing about the old days, they both fall in love with the geisha Koine.
35 mm, color, 144 min
PROJECTION:
Monday 18.06.2012 AT 19:00
Saturday 16.06.2012 AT 21:00
Tatooed Life
(Irezumi ichidai, Tatooed Life, 1965.)
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
PHOTOGRAPHY: Kurataro Takamura
Synopsis:
When his younger brother kills a highly positioned member of yakuza in a duel, Tetsu has to choose between safety and loyalty. Not wanting his younger brother to end up like him, they decide to run away. They plan to go to Manchuria but get double-crossed by a professional scoundrel. In order to hide from the yakuza, they become miners in a remote town.
16 mm, color, 87 min
PROJECTION:
Wednesday 20.06.2012 AT 21:00
Tuesday 19.06.2012 AT 19:00
Death to Punks
(Kutabare gurentai, Death to Punks, 1960.)
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
PHOTOGRAPHY: Kazue Nagatsuka
Synopsis:
The hero of Suzuki’s first color film is a young construction worker, Sadao. Even though he is quite temperamental and hasty, he is in fact a good-hearted and honest young man. He has always believed that he was an orphan, but suddenly finds out that he is the only descendant of a rich noble family from the island Awaji. While anyone else would be thrilled with this news, Sadao does not want to leave his life and friends. However, after a messenger promises that he will meet his mother, Sadao ag...
color, 80 min
PROJECTION:
Wednesday 20.06.2012 AT 19:00
Tuesday 19.06.2012 AT 21:00
Carmen from Kawachi
(Kawachi Karumen, Carmen from Kawachi, 1966.)
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
PHOTOGRAPHY: Shigeyoshi Mine
Synopsis:
The film is Suzuki’s version of Georges Bizet’s Carmen, shot in black and white with some segments in color to highlight certain aspects of the story. Karumen is a young girl from the provinces who works in a factory. After two villagers rape her, she leaves for Osaka and gets a job as a singer in a night club. Strangely enough, after her traumatic experience, men fall at her feet…
16 mm, b/w and color, 89 min
PROJECTION:
Wednesday 27.06.2012 AT 17:00
Thursday 21.06.2012 AT 19:00
Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards
(Tantei jimusho 23: Kutabare akutô-domo, Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards, 1963.)
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
PHOTOGRAPHY: Shigeyoshi Mine
Synopsis:
Tajima is a private detective who decides to help the police in their fight against the yakuza clans. After attacking an ammunition warehouse, the police give Tajima a false identity and he infiltrates the yakuza. He becomes a member of Manabe’s group and tries to prove his worth to the other clan members. He seduces the boss’s girlfriend - and at the same time tries to prevent another girl, a singer in the night club, from revealing his real identity.
35 mm, color, 89 min
PROJECTION:
Tuesday 26.06.2012 AT 17:00
Thursday 21.06.2012 AT 21:00
Our Blood Will Not Forgive
(Oretachi no chi ga yurusanai, Our Blood Will Not Forgive, 1964.)
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
PHOTOGRAPHY: Shigeyoshi Mine
Synopsis:
This is a low-budget gangster film about the two sons of a murdered yakuza boss. On his deathbed, the father asked the older son, Ryôta Asari, to leave the crime world and start an honest life. Even though he tries to honor his father’s wish, his nature soon leads him into temptation. His younger brother Shin'ji’s character is the polar opposite – rebellious and direct.
35 mm, color, 97 min
PROJECTION:
Wednesday 27.06.2012 AT 21:00
Tuesday 26.06.2012 AT 19:00
Voice Without a Shadow
(Kagenaki koe, Voice Without a Shadow, 1958.)
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
PHOTOGRAPHY: Kazue Nagatsuka
Synopsis:
A telephone operator working in a newspaper accidentally hears the voice of a murderer. The police fail to find the person on the line and the case is slowly forgotten. Several years later, she is married and recognizes the same voice among her husband’s business colleagues…
35 mm, b/w, 92 min
PROJECTION:
Wednesday 27.06.2012 AT 19:00
Tuesday 26.06.2012 AT 21:00
New Wind of Youth Over the Mountain Pass
(Toge o wataru wakai kaze, New Wind of Youth Over the Mountain Pass, 1961.)
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
PHOTOGRAPHY: Saburo Isayama
Synopsis:
This is a romantic comedy about a relationship between a young vagabond and an actress from a travelling theatre troupe. In this film, Suzuki paid special attention to the role of color, both during shooting and in post-production, which brought him much acclaim from film critics.
35 mm, color, 85 min
PROJECTION:
Friday 29.06.2012 AT 21:30
Thursday 28.06.2012 AT 19:00
Heat Shimmer Theater
(Kagerô-za, Heat Shimmer Theater, 1981.)
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
PHOTOGRAPHY: Kazue Nagatsuka
Synopsis:
This is the second part of Suzuki’s Taisho trilogy (Tsigoineruwaizen, 1980 and Yumeji, 1991) set in 1920’s Tokyo. Shungo Matsuzaki is obsessed with a woman he does not even know. He encounters her in town occasionally and develops a great interest in the beautiful and mysterious woman. Even though his friend tells him the meetings are just lucky coincidences, he feels that there must be something more to it.
35 mm, color, 139 min
PROJECTION:
Friday 29.06.2012 AT 19:00
Thursday 28.06.2012 AT 21:00
Yumeji
(1991.)
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
PHOTOGRAPHY: Junichi Fujisawa
Synopsis:
This is the third and last part of Suzuki’s Taisho trilogy (Tsigoineruwaizen, 1980 and Kagerô-za, 1981). The hero is based on a historic person, painter and poet Takehisa Yumeji (1884 - 1934). This dreamer fascinated with beauty falls in love with a widow, Tomoyo. Her husband was murdered by the jealous Onimatsu. When her husband returns from the dead as a ghost, Takehisi discovers that he has two rivals.
35 mm, color, 128 min
PROJECTION:
Monday 02.07.2012 AT 21:00
Saturday 30.06.2012 AT 19:00
Underworld Beauty
(Ankokugai no bijo, Underworld Beauty, 1958.)
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
PHOTOGRAPHY: Wataro Nakao
Synopsis:
This is the first film directed by Seijun Suzuki in which he did not use his real name, Seitaro Suzuki, and also his first film made using the cinemascope technique. It is a story about Akiko, a beautiful young girl who got involved in the crime world because of her boyfriend. Her brother was a diamond smuggler and just before committing suicide swallowed some valuable loot. Akiko’s boyfriend took the diamonds out of his body - and even though she is unaware of all this, Akiko suddenly becomes t...