SEIJUN Tokyo Drifter SUZUKI

It begins (again) at the ICPL while in the depths of a thirty-one year derive where I'm in the foreign film section going through Godard in alphabetical order when I catch a title of colorful sketches, guns and gangsters and D R I F T E R in picket letters lighting up possibilities for an excursion and I don't hesitate to pull the case off the shelf, check it out, and go home to set it down. A week later (the night before it's due), I sit down to watch it and am possessed in the opening scene to grab my laptop and blog while I watch the film. I am 10:19 into it and hardly paying attention. It's billed as a FREE JAZZ gangster film and I'm not sure whats happening as I look at my finger when I type and only catch every forth or fifth subtitle. "Where is he, the vagabond" I see when I look up but it means nothing... oh I see, she is singing the song of the Tokyo Drifter... closeup of sunglasses on (gangster's?) face. I sip on my Mothership Wit and remember Courntney Carl who jumped his car, "The Mothership," that night in 11th grade... neither here nor there... PRESIDENT ELECT BARACK OBAMA... I think the scene that set it off for me was the stark black and white beginning, almost Sin City-esque, why would that trigger me to blog? Because I am guilty. I am always guilty of not doing enough. SO is blogging enough? No. But it makes me feel less guilty to write about feeling guilty. Now it's 16:46. It seems intense at moments and cool at others... this is a FREE JAZZ flick if I ever saw one. I'm going to blank out and watch a bit.................................................(lots of closeups of sunglassed eyes)................(the usual sixties fight acting: the actors were tougher but couldn't fake fight as well?)..........................(nice set design and nice red phones)........okay I'm going to fast forward>>>>>>dancing>>>>>>>fighting>>>>girl falls dead>REVERSE>>>guy>>ff>>>fight>>>sunglasses stepped on>>>>>>>a car gets empounded to the Tokyo Drifter sing (I go back and transcribe: (whistling the melody) "If I die, I'll die like a man/To be loyal, I'd even let love pass by/I'm a drifter, the man from Tokyo/The wind is blowing by itself/The moon is shining by itself/And alone is a drifter like me/I know not where my grave will be/I'm a drifter, the man from Tokyo")>>>>>>I can see where they got the colorful cover art from, the very bright sets>>>>> at 41:26 drifter smoking on a trainride through snowy landscape (nice shot)>>>>drifter in bbaby blue suit running through snow (here the thought crosses my mind that I may actually enjoy this film if I wasn't butchering it while I blogged) oh well>>ff>>>snow scenes (just waiting for blood on the snow)>>>large gang fight drifter drinking in the wings>>>> drifter in snow at night... man drifting is tough>>>>>>>>day again>>>> train coming>>>gun standoff vs train standoff>>> drifter survives under train but is weary>>finds shelter (who is this guy and why are they're so many people after him) "I'll put an end to your legend and charmed life">>>snow, train, snow, girl, city, club, change of suit>>>>>>>club fight>>>kissy kissy>>fight more>>>what was I thinking (I was thinking drifter and FREE JAZZ)>>>>>wait, drifter down,,, drifter down.... no, back up (I think?)>>>more colorful sets... let's see I'm letting it play now in anticipation of the last version of the Drifter song, just hitting the 1:10:00 mark. Another shot of that dead tree, not very aesthetic or appealing or tying in to anything else...>>>>>>>>fight>>>>last words?>>>>>>sunset aiplane, tree, girl, set, piano player with gun to head, drifter dressed in white to match piano, set battle>>>>etc. at 1:19:36 I go back to play and this is it. Drifter crushes glass with hand in white room with girl, embrace to incoming JAZZ trackand "A drifter needs no woman" crying, blood squirting out of not quite dead, drifter walks off and suddenly I am glad I only dedicated twenty minutes of my life to this film... "Flowers that to dreams sy goodbye/Will wither and the dreams will die/If I die, like a man I'll die/To be loyal, I'd even let love pass by/I'm a drifter, the man from Tokyo."