So you are here because you like such outrageous films as Branded to Kill and Nikutai no Mon. Overwhelmed by those films, you couldn't help but search for more about this truly unique filmmaker and found that he has continued to make films in the last two decades too. That is what led you here, right?

This film is a thoroughly independent "art" film made with fairly low budget. The story is about two university professors who meet a woman... OK, it is impossible to summarize the story of a Seijun film and actually say ANYTHING about the film, as you all know. As usual, the film gets forwarded through a series of images rather than driven by the plot engine. One of his finest works at it. Possibly the best.

Sadly enough, this film hasn't been seen by many outside Japan, presumably because its "Japanese-ness" would prevent them from fully appreciating its mastery (they say it should require some knowledge on the atmosphere of Japan of the period in which the film is set - in the early 20th century - to enjoy its mood).

But I doubt it. This is an astonishingly beautiful and nightmarish film that could be appreciated by anyone who loves cinema, although I must admit that it is not for everyone, not even for a Seijun fan who loves his yakuza flicks merely for their over-the-top absurdity and "campiness." Be warned.

There is no yakuza or prostitute in this film. Only chilling, nightmarish images.

This is a film for those who really want to find out that those B flicks are not the only things that Seijun Suzuki can offer. I sincerely hope that someone has enough guts to introduce this film to the world to make it available in English (French, German, Spanish and whatever) on video. Anyone?

I'm on a different track from this movie and so may not have understood it right, since what I understood it to mean didn't agree with the summary in the program. What I got was a metaphysical buddy movie about a sane man who looks somewhat like Edgar Allan Poe and a crazy man who seems to be channeling Toshiro Mifune in "Rashomon." The crazy man treats a succession of women more or less badly, more or less with their complicity, and the sane man more or less permits it, and gets bitten for it in the end. Even death doesn't help him shake off his opposite number. I interpreted this as a Jekyll/Hyde story about the two sides of human nature mysteriously but inescapably linked. Male nature, that is; the women in the film are seen in terms of their relation to men. In the focus on perversity and obsessiveness, the plot reminded me of Poe or Rampo (and the movies from Poe and Rampo), but until the last half hour the atmosphere is not much like a horror movie; more as if Bunuel had written a Kabuki play and Satyajit Ray had started to film it but dropped out and been replaced by Roger Corman; except that the films of all three, to me, are more interesting to watch than this, which I found rather long and monotonous. Much of it seems like a play, most of it is in dialogue, and the more visual parts tend to turn arty and a little silly. The last half hour, in which the plot turns ghost-storyish, I found more entertaining but off the point; an easy out. For me the best thing about the film was the performance of the leading actor, which seemed very good to me and which I would have liked to see applied to a different script. But again, I'm not attuned to its sensibility. Perhaps my life is already so obsessive that I'm jaded; a few more obsessions more or less...ahhh, big deal.

A surreal period film following a university professor (Toshiya Fujita) and his eerie nomad friend (Yoshio Harada) as they go through loose romantic triangles and face death in peculiar ways.

Director Seijun Suzuki was terminated from his contract with Nikkatsu Studios in 1968 for making "movies that make no sense and no money" (specifically "Branded to Kill") and was subsequently blacklisted. In the following years he conversed frequently with his crew at his home and continued developing ideas for new projects. Suzuki's blacklisting ended with the release of his critically and commercially unsuccessful 1977 film "A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness". But it was "Zigeunerweisen" that brought him lasting acclaim.

You might wonder, why does a Japanese film have a German title? Well, "Zigeunerweisen" (also known as "Gypsy Airs") is a musical composition for violin and orchestra written in 1878 by Pablo de Sarasate, based on themes of the Roma people. This composition provided the title and much of the soundtrack for Seijun Suzuki's film. Indeed, the concept of wandering is intrinsic to the plot.

But this is less about plot and more about dreamlike imagery. There are many strange visuals. Not outright bizarre, but some things bordering on performance art. One scene, for example, has two men buried in the sand beating each other with rods. Why is this necessary? It isn't, but is all a part of what makes the film memorable.

"Zigeunerweisen" was a surprise success in Japan, both commercially and critically; it took home the Japanese Academy Awards for best picture, director, and supporting actress, and the prestigious Kinema Jumpo awards for best director, film, screenplay, actress, and supporting actress. Suzuki was not just back, he was finally recognized as a real treasure. This success naturally lead to future films, and this became the first part of Suzuki's Taishō Roman Trilogy, followed by "Kagero-za" (1981) and "Yumeji" (1991). Not sequels or a trilogy in a strict sense, they are each surrealistic psychological dramas and ghost stories linked by style, themes and the Taishō period (1912-1926) setting.

In North America, Kino International released a DVD edition of the film in 2006. It features a 25-minute interview with Suzuki discussing the making of the Taishō Roman Trilogy, a biography and filmography of the same, the theatrical trailer and a gallery of promotional material and photographs. The Arrow Video Blu-ray brings these features along for the ride. On top of that, they offer a high-definition presentation and a new introduction to the film by critic Tony Rayns.