Branded to Kill

Seijun Suzuki

Japan

1967

98 minutes

Color

2.35:1

Japanese

Watch Film for $5

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Synopsis

Branded to Kill, the wildly perverse story of the yakuza’s rice-sniffing “No. 3 Killer,” is Seijun Suzuki at his delirious best. From a cookie-cutter studio script, Suzuki delivered this brutal, hilarious, and visually inspired masterpiece—and was promptly fired. Criterion presents the DVD premiere of Branded to Kill in a pristine transfer from the original Nikkatsu-scope master.

Cast

Goro HanadaJoe Shishido
Mami HanadaMariko Ogawa
Misako NakajoAnnu Mari
Number One KillerKoji Nanbara

Credits

DirectorSeijun Suzuki
ProducerKaneo Iwai
CinematographyKazue Nagatsuka
ScreenplayHachiro Guryu
MusicNaozumi Yamamoto
Production DesignSukezo Kawahara
EditingMutsuo Tanji
Assistant directorMasami Kuzuu

Disc Features

  • Exclusive interview with director Seijun Suzuki
  • Vintage Japanese film ephemera from the collection of John Zorn

From the Current

Branded to Kill

by John Zorn Feb 22, 1999

Flipping around the channels of late-night TV in my Tokyo apartment in 1984 I came across what seemed like a B movie from the ’60s. The studio: Nikkatsu. The star: Joe Shishido. The director: Seijun Suzuki. I was not at all prepared for what I was about to see, and I remember spending much of the...

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Available Editions

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DVD

1 Disc

SRP: $29.95

Criterion Store price

$23.96