Tattooed Life

Year: 1965

Grade: B

Country: Japan

Director: Suzuki

Review

the third (and earliest) seijun suzuki film i’ve seen. it seems that the last few years of his career were pretty damned exciting. his early work, so i’ve been told, is mostly run-of-the-mill studio work without much inspiration or personal flare. his later work, though, differentiates itself from the pack pretty clearly because of suzuki’s visual and editing styles. this one was far less radical than his last film (branded to kill), but was still inspired. he starts to show his penchant for quick editing and, let’s say, unique use of space. the camera also starts to become more of a participant in the film than a simple onlooker. he takes the camera in different places (under a glass floor with two fighting men, for example) and moves the camera in ways that may or may not have meaning, but certainly do add a style that livens the film up. his editing got even more avant-garde later on, but this film shows shades of what was to come. at one point the protagonist is chasing a man who has just boarded a train and he is unable to catch up with the train. he yells at the train and stops. suzuki quickly cuts to another scene. in most films there would be a beat, or a pause, before cutting to the next scene. it’s a small thing, but grouping scenes on top of each other like this moves things along quickly…a stark contrast to someone like ozu who has buffer shots after every scene. ozu’s films, though i’ve only seen one, seem more thoughtful and cerebral than suzuki’s which are more geared towards action. speaking of action…the final couple scenes in this film really sells the rest of the film. most of the film is good enough, but the final scenes elevate the film so that everything you’ve just viewed is somehow improved.