Tattooed Life Limited Edition [Blu-ray]

The Tattooed Life Blu-ray presents Seijun Suzuki’s stylish yakuza drama about two brothers forced into flight after a desperate act of violence. Low-level gangster Tetsuo is ambushed by his own organisation, only to be saved by his younger brother Kenji, an artist with no ties to crime who kills the attacker in a moment of panic. With retribution inevitable, the pair escape toward Manchuria, slipping into work as labourers while trying to avoid the notice of rival gangs. True to Suzuki’s early period, the film follows classic genre structure while foreshadowing the explosive visual experimentation that would define his later masterpieces. Its striking finale remains one of the most iconic sequences in the director’s entire career.

directed by: Seijun Suzuki
starring: Hideki Takahashi, Kotobuki Hananomoto, Masako Izumi, Kayo Matsuo
1965 / 86 min / 2.35:1 / mono