Seijun Suzuki facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Seijun Suzuki
Born	Seitaro Suzuki (1923-05-24)24 May 1923 Nihonbashi, Tokyo, Japan
Died	13 February 2017(2017-02-13) (aged 93) Tokyo, Japan
Occupation	Film and television director, actor, writer
Years active	1956–2007

Seijun Suzuki (鈴木 清順, Suzuki Seijun), born Seitaro Suzuki (鈴木 清太郎, Suzuki Seitarō) (May 24, 1923 – February 13, 2017), was a famous Japanese filmmaker, actor, and writer. His movies are known for their exciting and colorful look, funny moments, and focus on entertainment over strict logic. He made 40 movies, mostly B-movies, for the Nikkatsu Company between 1956 and 1967. Many of these were in the yakuza genre, which are movies about Japanese gangsters. His unique style became more and more wild, which made the studio unhappy. This led to him being fired after making Branded to Kill (1967).

Suzuki later won a lawsuit against the studio, but he was not allowed to make films for 10 years. As an independent filmmaker, he became very successful. He won a Japanese Academy Award for his "Taishō trilogy": Zigeunerweisen (1980), Kagero-za (1981), and Yumeji (1991). His films were not well-known outside Japan until the 1980s. Then, famous directors like Quentin Tarantino helped introduce his work to the world. In Japan, he is also known for acting in many films and TV shows.

Early Life and Start in Movies

Seijun Suzuki was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1923. This was during the Taishō period. His family worked in the textile business. After finishing trade school in 1941, he tried to go to college but did not pass the entrance exams. A year later, he successfully enrolled in a college in Hirosaki.

In 1943, during World War II, he joined the Imperial Japanese Army. He was shipwrecked twice during his time in the military. Once, his ship was destroyed by an American submarine, and he escaped to the Philippines. Another time, his ship sank after an attack by the American air force, and he spent many hours in the ocean before being rescued. He returned home in 1946 and finished his studies.

After the war, he tried to get into the prestigious University of Tokyo but failed again. A friend suggested he join a film department, so Suzuki enrolled in the Kamakura Academy. In 1948, he passed an exam for the Shochiku film company and became an assistant director. He learned a lot by working under several experienced directors there.

Making Movies at Nikkatsu

In 1954, the Nikkatsu Company started making films again after stopping during the war. They offered good opportunities to assistant directors from other studios. Suzuki joined Nikkatsu, earning much more money than before. He worked as an assistant director before getting his first chance to direct.

In 1956, Suzuki became a full director. His first movie, Victory Is Mine, was a "pop song film" that helped promote hit songs and singers. Nikkatsu was impressed and signed him to a long-term contract. Most of the films he made for Nikkatsu were "program pictures" or B-movies. These were quick, low-budget films made to be shown as the second movie in a double feature. Directors were expected to work fast and make any film they were given. Suzuki worked very quickly, making about 3 or 4 films each year.

His third film, Satan's Town, was a yakuza film, which is a movie about Japanese gangsters. This type of film became a big part of his career. Underworld Beauty (1958) was his first film made in CinemaScope, a wide-screen format. This was also the first movie where he used the name Seijun Suzuki.

Developing a Unique Style

As Suzuki made more films, his work became more popular, especially with students. His 1963 film, Youth of the Beast, is seen as his "breakthrough" movie. Suzuki himself called it his "first truly original film." His style started to break away from normal movie rules. He focused on exciting visuals and action rather than a simple story. He also added funny moments to serious gangster films. This made his movies stand out.

Suzuki explained that his unique style came from being bored with similar scripts. He wanted to find a way to make his films different from others. He worked with people who shared his ideas, which helped him develop his special style even more.

However, the studio president, Kyusaku Hori, did not like Suzuki's wild style. After the film Tattooed Life, Suzuki received his first warning for "going too far." He then made Carmen from Kawachi, and the studio told him to "play it straight" and cut his budget for the next film. The result was Tokyo Drifter, which was supposed to be a simple film but became a stunning and imaginative movie.

With an even smaller budget, Suzuki made his 40th film for Nikkatsu, Branded to Kill (1967). Critics now see this film as a masterpiece. But after this movie, the studio president, Hori, fired him.

The Lawsuit Against Nikkatsu

On April 25, 1968, Suzuki was told he would not get his salary. Nikkatsu said that his films were hard to understand and did not make money. They also said he should stop being a director because no other companies would hire him. At the same time, a student film club was planning to show many of Suzuki's films. But Nikkatsu stopped the films from being shown. The studio said they did not want a reputation for making films that only a few people understood.

Suzuki told the Japanese Film Directors Association about his contract being ended illegally. The head of the association tried to help but could not solve the problem. He then publicly said that Nikkatsu had broken their contract and violated Suzuki's right to freedom of speech. Students and filmmakers supported Suzuki.

On June 7, Suzuki took Nikkatsu to court. He sued them for breaking his contract and for damages. He also demanded that the studio president apologize in major newspapers. Many directors, actors, writers, and student groups supported him. This was the first time the public got involved in a dispute like this. People supported Suzuki because they loved his films and believed audiences should be able to see the movies they wanted.

During the lawsuit, many people testified, including directors, reporters, and film critics. It came out that Nikkatsu was in financial trouble. The studio had a lot of debt and was making big changes. The president, Hori, was known for being strict and not changing his mind. He seemed to have fired Suzuki simply because he did not like his film. Hori had said he wanted to make films that were "easily understandable."

The lawsuit lasted for three and a half years. In December 1971, they reached a settlement. Nikkatsu paid Suzuki a small amount of money, and Hori had to apologize for his comments. Nikkatsu also gave two of Suzuki's films, Fighting Elegy and Branded to Kill, to the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art's Film Centre. Suzuki was worried that if he kept fighting, he might not even get an apology from the struggling company. During this time, Nikkatsu was slowly falling apart and eventually stopped making films.

Later Success and Recognition

During the lawsuit and the 10 years he was not allowed to direct films, Suzuki wrote books and directed TV movies, series, and commercials. The lawsuit made him a popular figure. His Nikkatsu films became very popular at late-night screenings, playing to full audiences. He also started acting in small roles for other directors.

In 1977, Shochiku, the company where he started as an assistant director, produced his return to filmmaking. This was A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness, a golf mystery film. It did not do well with critics or audiences.

In 1980, Suzuki worked with producer Genjiro Arato to make Zigeunerweisen. This was the first part of his "Taishō trilogy." It was a psychological ghost story. When movie theaters would not show the film, Arato showed it himself in a special inflatable dome, and it was a big success. The film won several awards, including best director and best film at the Japanese Academy Awards. It was also voted the best Japanese film of the 1980s by critics. He made the second film, Kagero-za, the next year, and finished the trilogy with Yumeji ten years later.

From 1978 to 1980, Suzuki was a "chief director" for the popular anime series Lupin the Third Part II. His earlier films had influenced this series. He also worked on the Lupin III franchise two more times, including co-directing the film Legend of the Gold of Babylon in 1985.

His films started to be shown outside Japan in the 1980s. In 1994, a traveling show called Branded to Thrill showed 14 of his films. In 2001, Nikkatsu held a show called Style to Kill with over 20 of his movies. In 2006, to celebrate 50 years since his first film, Nikkatsu showed all of his films at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

He made a loose sequel to Branded to Kill called Pistol Opera (2001). This was followed by Princess Raccoon (2005), a musical love story starring Zhang Ziyi. In 2006, he said he did not plan to direct more films because of his health. He had a lung disease and needed a portable breathing machine. However, he did attend a film event in 2008 and pitched a new film idea.

Death

Seijun Suzuki passed away on February 13, 2017, at a hospital in Tokyo. He was 93 years old. His death was announced by Nikkatsu. He died from a chronic lung disease.

Filmmaking Style

As a director for Nikkatsu, Suzuki's films were made under strict rules. He was given a film and a script, and he could only refuse it if he wanted to risk losing his job. He said he only turned down a few scripts, but he always changed them during planning and filming. Nikkatsu also chose the main actors for his films.

Most of the studio's bigger films had a budget of about ¥45 million. Suzuki's black-and-white films had a budget of ¥20 million, and his color films had an extra ¥3 million. He had a tight schedule: 10 days for planning, 25 days for filming, and 3 days for editing. But because his films were cheaper, the main office watched him less closely. This gave him more freedom than directors of bigger films.

Filmography