Tokyo Knights

The last film I watched in the Seijun Suzuki:The Early Years Vol.2 The Border Crossing and Action Movies boxset, was Tokyo Nights (1961). I had already watched one film in the collection, Eight Hours of Terror (1957), an overall quite enjoyed the collection. That being said, this might be the weakest film in the collection as it is a "typical teen" film in many ways. But Seijun Suzuki was far from a "typical" director, so there are some "atypical" moments in the film, starring Koji Wada as the son of a prominent yakuza family that is recalled from America to take over the "family business" after his father has an untimely death-falling from a cliff. Much of this plot calls to mind Hamlet. Koji is a talented boy at his new mission high school where he breezes through several athletic clubs and settles in for the music club to play jazz piano. There are several set pieces that stand out in this otherwise "typical" teen film: the cuff link theft scene in which Koji dons a Noh devil mask and cape to steal cuff links forma rival yakuza gang on a roof top overlooking neon signs of what I suspect was Ginza, the club scenes (which were always well-done by Suzuki (perhaps he liked to frequent them himself?), and the finale that take place on a mountain top that captures Mount Fuji in the background. This is minor Suzuki, but still good fun and bursts of artistry can be seen here and there in the production.