Branded to Kill (1967)
DVD9 | VIDEO_TS | NTSC 16:9 | Artwork | 01:31:14 | 7,13 Gb
Audio: Japanese AC3 1.0 @ 384 Kbps | Subtitles: English
Genre: Action, Crime | Criterion Collection #38 Reissue
DVD9 | VIDEO_TS | NTSC 16:9 | Artwork | 01:31:14 | 7,13 Gb
Audio: Japanese AC3 1.0 @ 384 Kbps | Subtitles: English
Genre: Action, Crime | Criterion Collection #38 Reissue
Director: Seijun Suzuki
Stars: Jô Shishido, Kôji Nanbara, Isao Tamagawa
When Japanese New Wave bad boy Seijun Suzuki delivered this brutal, hilarious, and visually inspired masterpiece to the executives at his studio, he was promptly fired. Branded to Kill tells the ecstatically bent story of a yakuza assassin with a fetish for sniffing steamed rice (the chipmunk-cheeked superstar Joe Shishido) who botches a job and ends up a target himself. This is Suzuki at his most extreme—the flabbergasting pinnacle of his sixties pop-art aesthetic.
In 1967 prolific director Seijun Suzuki would direct Branded to Kill a modern-day Samurai tale set in a world where everyone is crazy. Just like Jean-Pierre Meville’s masterful Le Samourai released the same year as Branded to Kill both films explore surreal landscapes within the crime thriller genre. Though Branded to Kill is simple story of a Yakuza hit man, but in the hands of an auteur like Seijun Suzuki who’s style is so fragmented and his strange compositions, mixed with his odd editing of scenes only confused the Nikkatsu studio bosses. After they saw Branded to Kill, they fired director Suzuki for making ‘incomprehensible’ films. In turn, Seijun Suzuki successfully sued Nikkatsu for financial compensation, though his actions resulted in him being blacklisted by the entire film industry.
For many viewers the first thing about Branded to Kill that immediately grabs you is its nontraditional narrative, that often verges into the surreal. With this being said, it is not as hard to digest the story at hand, especially once you embrace its colorful cast of characters. Also it is the journey of this film’s lead character Hanada, that this film resonates the most. Though he is a hit man, his ambitions to be the top of his given field have a universal feel to it that most viewers should identify with. After all, how many people are truly satisfied with they are in life. It is human nature to strive for something better then what we have.
And while the outer shell of this film’s plot has many elements that one would associate with the Yakuza film genre. These are nothing more than window dressing that is used to further Seijun Suzuki’s agenda to create something that audiences would find entertaining. In fact one could easily argue that Branded to Kill is a ‘tongue and cheek’ satire of the Yakuza film genre. There are also moments in which this film pokes fun at Spy films like the James Bond films, which were also at the height of their popularity at the time this film was unleashed on unsuspecting audiences.
From a visual stand point, Branded to Kill is Seijun Suzuki tour de force. Some of the choice moments include, the scene in which Hanada meets his mistress for the first time on a rainy night (this scene is inter-cut with a sexual encounter that Hanada has with his wife, which includes sex on a spiral staircase), the scene in which a now wounded Hanada, shows up at his mistress place that is covered with wall to wall butterflies and a shootout on a peer, in which Hanada immerges from the water to surprise his assassins.
Performance none of the cast disappoint, with the film being anchored by Jo Shishido (Youth of the Beast, Gate of Flesh) as a hit man, who gets aroused when he sniffs rice. Other notable performances include Mariko Ogawa in her one and only film role as Hanada’s wife and Annu Mari (Mini Skirt Lynchers) in the role of Hanada’s Mistress.
Ultimately Branded to Kill is an extraordinary film that was made by a filmmaker, who was light years ahead of his contemporaries. And will many have tried to imitate it, none have been able to match its boldness and inventiveness. If ever there was a desert island film, that film would be Branded to Kill.
Special Features:
- New high-definition digital restoration
- Video piece featuring new interviews with director Seijun Suzuki and assistant director Masami Kuzuu
- Interview with Suzuki from 1997
- New interview with actor Joe Shishido
- Trailer
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic and historian Tony Rayns
All Credits goes to Original uploader.
No More Mirrors, Please.
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