Zigeunerweisen

1980 2h 24m JA

👍

6.5

SOLID

★6.5TMDB · 51

MysteryDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

ARROWSubscription

Google Play MoviesRent

YouTubeRent

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Cast

Toshiya Fujita
Toyojiro Aochi
Naoko Ohtani
Sono / Koine
Yoshio Harada
Nakasago
Michiyo Yasuda
Shuko Aochi
Kirin Kiki
Kimi
Akaji Maro
Sumie Sasaki
Maid at a Hotel
Hatsuo Yamaya
Police

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Seijun Suzuki
Writers: Yōzō Tanaka
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

46 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

CRAFT

Did you know

Part of the "The Taisho Trilogy" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Seijun Suzuki, shot by Kazue Nagatsuka. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Nobutake Kamiya shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Toshiya Fujita and Naoko Ohtani and Yoshio Harada carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0081662 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

Only 51 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Seijun Suzuki directs. Kazue Nagatsuka behind the camera. Nobutake Kamiya cuts. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

146 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Part of the "The Taisho Trilogy" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
3Directed by Seijun Suzuki, shot by Kazue Nagatsuka. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Editor Nobutake Kamiya shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Toshiya Fujita and Naoko Ohtani and Yoshio Harada carry the top of the cast.
6IMDB entry: tt0081662 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
7Only 51 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
8Classified under 20 themes, including "dying and death", "adultery", "musician", "professor".

The technical file

Cinematography: Kazue Nagatsuka
Editing: Nobutake Kamiya
Costume design: Genji Fukushima
Makeup / hair: Sumie Maruyama
Runtime: 144 min · 2h 24m
Status: Released
Original language: JA
IMDB: Zigeunerweisen (1980)

Part of

The Taisho Trilogy

After over a decade in the wilderness following his firing from Nikkatsu for Branded to Kill (1967), maverick director Seijun Suzuki returned with a vengeance with his critically-praised tryptic of cryptic supernatural dramas set during the liberal enlightenment of Japan’s Taisho Era (1912-26). Rarely seen outside of Japan, the films in the Taisho Trilogy are considered Suzuki’s masterpieces in his homeland. Presenting a dramatic turn from more his familiar tales of cops, gangsters and unruly youth, these surrealistic psychological puzzles drip with a lush exoticism, distinctively capturing the pandemonium of a bygone age of decadence and excess, when Western ideas, fashions, technologies and art fused into everyday aspect of Japanese life.