+9
Two off my ballot!
#7) Branded to Kill
#13) Point Blank
Is Branded to Kill my favorite Suzuki? No, but I do like it a lot. And I think it is definitely his most noir movie. It has a somber, stylized fatalism oozing throughout the movie. Youth of the Beast might be more fun and gonzo, but it's more crime-action with its anything-goes-spirit, which could be considered noir, but I wanted something that had visual bleakness. Pistol Opera, despite being either a remake or indirect sequel to Branded to Kill, somehow feels less noir (and, well, more operatic). Tokyo Drifter, probably his other most noir film, I just don't seem to love as much as other people do and would rank it kind of far down for reasons I never am able to find myself to explain.
Point Blank, I'll admit, it's been a while since I've seen, but it's just kind of solidified in my mind as being one of the core, defining neo-noirs (maybe it didn't define neo-noir very well, since none of us feel any confidence on what is or isn't a neo-noir), but I remember it being very solid, and particularly liked the visually representations of the imaginations of the protagonist. Maybe if I rewatched it, it would have been higher. Maybe if I had remembered to include The Conversation on my ballot, it would have simply been one lower.