Norifumi Suzuki: In Rememberance Of A Legend

Among the excitement and fan fare for the release of Godzilla, a film many genre film fans have been anxiously awaiting the news of Norifumi Suzuki's passing has unfortunately been swept over. Dying on May 15, 2014 at the age of 80, Suzuki has left behind a legacy of wonderfully artistic, stylish and sometimes brilliant films ranging from Pinky Violence to Nunsploitation. Suzuiki is largely responsible for ever growing love of the Pinky Violence brand of film. I can't say I'm any sort of authority on the genre, or Suzuki himself, I can only sit here and give thanks to a man that has deeply influenced my movie viewing and tastes along with opening a world of film to me.

The first time I set my eyes on School Of The Holy Beast years ago and saw how a Nunsploitation film could be handled with such class was eye opening to a growing exploitation film fan. Not every exploitation film was cheap and B-Movie material. This probably wasn't the first time I saw to this day I live with images from School Of The Holy Beast in my mind on a daily basis. They're beautiful and surreal.

And if I had seen no other film than Sex & Fury from 1973 I would still feel the need to write something about Suzuki's passing as this film brought together two legendary women of exploitation and two of my personal favorites, Reiko Ike and Christina Lindberg, for a simply amazing film. Admittedly, I have been slow in digging deeper into Suzuki's filmography, as there are still dozens of titles I have yet to see but it is something I plan to remedy soon in hopes that maybe one day I will be able to fancy myself a bit of an authority on Suzuki.

Thank you for your contributions and inspiration Mr. Suzuki, you most certainly are a legend.

                                                     1933-2014