Alongside Suzuki’s more feral late 60s action films, Kanto Wanderer at first bears the resemblance of a work steeped in more classical traditions. The film marked Suzuki’s first outing in giri-ninjo, a traditional mode of Japanese storytelling that focuses on the thematic clash between duty and compassion. But while the sliding doors, kimonos and tatami mats conjure a bygone Japan, and the ground-level framings of domestic activity suggest old master Yasujiro Ozu, Suzuki quickly reveals his hand. Juxtaposed against the traditional betting parlor where modest gambler Katsuta falls for a seductive scam-artist while negotiating his loyalty to the established yakuza code is a more frantic, exuberant depiction of urban Kanto, where a trio of gum-chewing schoolgirls vie for the affections of various chinpira. As is often the case, Suzuki’s critique of outmoded behavioral expectations comes across largely through formal disruptions to the composure of classical mise-en-scène: spontaneous lighting changes within scenes, serrated jump cuts that radically reconfigure space, and a climax in which the surfaces of the set fall away to yield pure chromatic expressionism.