Koroši no rakuin
Directed by:
Seijun SuzukiScreenplay:
Seijun SuzukiCinematography:
Kazue NagatsukaComposer:
Naozumi YamamotoPlots(1)
The story of laconic yakuza Hanada, aka 'No. 3 Killer', the third rated hit-man in Japan who takes an impossible job from the mysterious, death obsessed Misako. Hanada bungles the hit and finds himself the target of his employers and a bullet ridden journey leads him to face the No. 1 Killer. Shot in cool monochrome with beguiling visuals, Branded to Kill is an effortlessly cool crime film with a jazzy score that caused Suzuki to be fired by the studio's executives but is now rightly recognised as his masterpiece. (Arrow Films)
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Reviews (1)
The first 20 minutes, with the errant behaviour of one of the protagonists and the confused editing, were almost unbearable. Then, thankfully, it turned into a nicely atmospheric, cinematically imaginative spectacle, but again with confusing editing. You sit with it out of curiosity, trying to understand what Refn and Tarantino see in it and why Criterion took it under their wing, but it just didn't draw me into the plot, I just don't give a damn about these rambling Godard-esque films. Tokyo Drifter, which I liked a bit more, has the same visual charm, similarly inventive use of music, but the plot is just as rudimentary and the continuity of the scenes completely disjointed. Probably Suzuki is not my cup of tea.
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