SEIJUN SUZUKI

Happy Birthday to Japanese director, Seijun Suzuki, born today in 1923. Suzuki's career hit a major stride in the 1960s with a prolific output of Yakuza films for Nikattsu studio. Always bold to take on inventive visuals, Suzuki is fondly remembered for such films as Branded to Kill (1967) and Tokyo Drifter (1966). He had a falling out with the studio, which kept him away from directing for most of the 1970s. He began making more work in the 1980s, including co-directorship of a Lupin III animated film, The Gold of Babylon (1985). Suzuki most recently directed the operetta, Princess Raccoon (2005). There is a short essay about the director at Criterion here, and many of his movies are available on Netflix. Seijun Suzuki tribute website here.