Cinema
Branded to Kill
殺しの烙印
Seijun Suzuki · 1967
Synopsis
Hanada Gorō, a hitman ranked number three in Tokyo, becomes aroused by the smell of cooking rice, according to Slant. He carries out one contract after another while his boss seduces his wife, according to Jonathan Rosenbaum. One mission brings him into contact with Misako, an enigmatic woman who says she hates men and dreams of dying. After a failed contract, he in turn becomes the target of his organisation, and the obsession with the mysterious number one, whom everyone fears, takes over the story, in which tone and logic break down again and again.
Context
The film was meant to follow up a success of the previous year, but Nikkatsu judged it incoherent and dismissed its director, according to Slant. The lawsuit that followed lasted about three and a half years and was settled in December 1971 with compensation and an apology from the studio's president; a support committee of admirers and film people had made it a public affair, reports J-Cast. Shishido Jō plays Hanada. Jonathan Rosenbaum notes the scope framings, which an American filmmaker has taken up.
Who it is for
A black-and-white film in Japanese with subtitles, with a bewildering construction, which is easier to follow if one accepts its ruptures.
Prizes and reception
Regarded by critics as an avant-garde masterpiece, it was reissued on DVD by Criterion in 2011.
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