Born in Tokyo. Suzuki (real name Suzuki Seitaro) was conscripted to the army in 1943, where he served in the Philippines and Taiwan. Upon returning to Japan in 1948, he joined Shochiku Ofuna; he later transferred to Nikkatsu in 1954, where he worked under NOGUCHI Hiroshi, among others. In 1956 he made his directorial debut under his real name, taking on his more familiar assumed name two years later. Though working mostly on relatively small-scale B-movies for double-feature programs, he employed techniques that transgressed against the established norms of film grammar, filling his work with outlandish art and jarring cinematography and editing to produce a string of freewheeling masterpieces including Kanto Wanderer (Kanto mushuku, 1963). With Branded to Kill (Koroshi no rakuin, 1967), however, his predilection for anarchic eclecticism got him into hot water with Nikkatsu, resulting in his dismissal from the studio. He spent the next decade producing television dramas and commercials before finally returning to film with A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness (Hishu monogatari, 1977), finding critical adulation both at home and abroad particularly from Zigeunerweisen (1980) onwards. His last film, Princess Raccoon (Operetta tanuki goten, 2005), premiered as an honorary screening in the Out of Competition section at the 58th Cannes Film Festival. Suzuki's works have continued to influence many directors worldwide, including Jim Jarmusch.

(Written by HOSHI Ryotaro / Translated by Adam Sutherland)