Seijun Suzuki (鈴木 æ¸…é †, Suzuki Seijun), born Seitaro Suzuki
(鈴木 清太郎, Suzuki SeitarÅ ) (24 May 1923 â€" 13 February
2017), was a Japanese filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter. His films
are known for their jarring visual style, irreverent humour,
nihilistic cool and entertainment-over-logic sensibility. He made 40
predominately B-movies for the Nikkatsu Company between 1956 and 1967,
working most prolifically in the yakuza genre. His increasingly
surreal style began to draw the ire of the studio in 1963 and
culminated in his ultimate dismissal for what is now regarded as his
magnum opus, Branded to Kill (1967), starring notable collaborator Joe
Shishido. Suzuki successfully sued the studio for wrongful dismissal,
but he was blacklisted for 10 years after that. As an independent
filmmaker, he won critical acclaim and a Japanese Academy Award for
his TaishÅ Trilogy, Zigeunerweisen (1980), Kagero-za (1981) and
Yumeji (1991).His films remained widely unknown outside Japan until a
series of theatrical retrospectives beginning in the mid-1980s, home
video releases of key films such as Branded to Kill and Tokyo Drifter
in the late 1990s and tributes by such acclaimed filmmakers as Jim
Jarmusch, Takeshi Kitano, Wong Kar-wai and Quentin Tarantino signaled
his international discovery. Suzuki continued making films, albeit
sporadically. In Japan, he is more commonly recognized as an actor for
his numerous roles in Japanese films and television.Suzuki was born
during the TaishÅ period, and three months before the Great KantÅ
earthquake, in the Nihonbashi Ward (now the ChūŠSpecial Ward) in
Tokyo. His younger brother, Kenji Suzuki (now a retired NHK television
announcer), was born six years his junior. His family was in the
textile trade. After earning a degree at a Tokyo Trade School in 1941,
Suzuki applied to the college of the Ministry of Agriculture, but
failed the entrance exam due to poor marks in chemistry and physics. A
year later he successfully enrolled in a Hirosaki college.
(鈴木 清太郎, Suzuki SeitarÅ ) (24 May 1923 â€" 13 February
2017), was a Japanese filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter. His films
are known for their jarring visual style, irreverent humour,
nihilistic cool and entertainment-over-logic sensibility. He made 40
predominately B-movies for the Nikkatsu Company between 1956 and 1967,
working most prolifically in the yakuza genre. His increasingly
surreal style began to draw the ire of the studio in 1963 and
culminated in his ultimate dismissal for what is now regarded as his
magnum opus, Branded to Kill (1967), starring notable collaborator Joe
Shishido. Suzuki successfully sued the studio for wrongful dismissal,
but he was blacklisted for 10 years after that. As an independent
filmmaker, he won critical acclaim and a Japanese Academy Award for
his TaishÅ Trilogy, Zigeunerweisen (1980), Kagero-za (1981) and
Yumeji (1991).His films remained widely unknown outside Japan until a
series of theatrical retrospectives beginning in the mid-1980s, home
video releases of key films such as Branded to Kill and Tokyo Drifter
in the late 1990s and tributes by such acclaimed filmmakers as Jim
Jarmusch, Takeshi Kitano, Wong Kar-wai and Quentin Tarantino signaled
his international discovery. Suzuki continued making films, albeit
sporadically. In Japan, he is more commonly recognized as an actor for
his numerous roles in Japanese films and television.Suzuki was born
during the TaishÅ period, and three months before the Great KantÅ
earthquake, in the Nihonbashi Ward (now the ChūŠSpecial Ward) in
Tokyo. His younger brother, Kenji Suzuki (now a retired NHK television
announcer), was born six years his junior. His family was in the
textile trade. After earning a degree at a Tokyo Trade School in 1941,
Suzuki applied to the college of the Ministry of Agriculture, but
failed the entrance exam due to poor marks in chemistry and physics. A
year later he successfully enrolled in a Hirosaki college.
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