Branded to Kill Blu-ray Review

Seijun Suzuki’s Branded to Kill now appears to be a quasi-spoof of the Japanese yakuza genre, but it’s likely that its intent upon its initial release was merely to entertain and to do so on a very limited budget and with two primary guarantees that usually work to get folks into a theater: action and sex. Both are present in spades in an otherwise wacky film that doesn’t worry about dramatic or cinematic continuity, character inconsistencies, or logic beyond the sights and sounds of the moment.

Branded to Kill (Blu-ray)
Directed by Seijun Suzuki

Studio: Criterion
Year: 1967

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1   1080p   AVC codec  
Running Time: 91 minutes
Rating: NR
Audio: PCM 1.0 Japanese
Subtitles: English

Region: A

MSRP: $39.95

Release Date: December 13, 2011

Review Date: December 21, 2011

The Film

3.5/5

Goro Hanada (Joe Shishido) is the number three hit man in Japan with no particular ambitions to rise in the rankings. His new wife Mami (Mariko Ogawa) may be carrying on with Hanada’s boss Michihiko Yabuhara (Isao Tamagawa), but he doesn’t let anything get in the way of his jobs. He’s hired by butterfly-loving femme fatale Misako Nakajo (Annu Mari) to kill a foreign diplomat, but when one of her beloved butterflies causes Hanada to miss his target and hit someone else, he becomes a marked man himself. Failing in his job and becoming a target for every hungry assassin in the country causes Hanada to temporarily abandon his own self-discipline, but despite his lapses, he’s able to fend off his attackers. That is, until the mysterious Number 1 (Kôji Nanbara) lets Hanada know he’s now after him.

The free-swinging combination of action scenes (with some ridiculously funny hits – one through a drain pipe and another on a dock under a car) and sexual romps with plenty of nudity (and a focus on Hanada’s fetishistic craving for boiled rice) are certainly enough to keep an audience’s attention, but don’t look for anything really dramatic or psychologically deep. The Hanada character escapes repeated assassination attempts though the laws of physics that we see broken never enter into it, and his later emotional breakdowns and paranoiac tendencies ebb and flow with the tides. Director Seijun Suzuki keeps the movie spinning in a deliriously madcap fashion and yet finds time to isolate and photograph his main character in large spaces like a parking garage or an underpass that make definitive statements as to his little-man-against-the-world situation. The sex scenes occur everywhere except in bed (a sequence on a winding staircase is pretty eye-opening), and Misako’s preoccupation with pinned things (her apartment walls are covered with pinned butterflies, and there’s a pinned parakeet dangling from her car’s rearview mirror) adds to the film’s fetishistic bent. The director also uses graphic overlays to emphasize his protagonist’s isolation but doesn’t mind sacrificing the tension he’s established by letting his rival hit men late in the film walk arm-in-arm tied as they are to their mutual fates. After the sprightly deadpan humor of this encounter, their climactic faceoff in a deserted boxing arena seems a little anticlimactic.

The movie was a star vehicle for Joe Shishido, and he takes full advantage of every opportunity to be both cool and collected and later close to berserk over his situation. His unusual style and his comfort with both the nudity required in the sex scenes and the physicality required for the action set pieces make it easy to understand his great popularity at the time. Kôji Nanbara as the supremely confident Number 1 also has charisma to spare, and his one-on-one scenes with Shishido are the film’s best moments. Mariko Ogawa has a brittle presence as the despicable Mami though she’s certainly a gorgeous creature. Annu Mari has much less nudity on display but offers a lot more enigmatic presence to the film. Gihei Kasuga as Hanada’s friend Hiroshi has some early moments of funny sidekick antics before he meets his maker.

Video Quality

4.5/5

The film’s theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is delivered in a 1080p transfer using the AVC codec. The image is spectacularly clean throughout, and sharpness is excellent allowing us to study facial features clearly and easily. The grayscale features first-rate whites but only mediocre black levels. Still, shadow detail is pretty impressive. The pale white subtitles are easy to read. The film has been divided into 15 chapters.

Audio Quality

4/5

The PCM 1.0 (1.1 Mbps) sound mix is very clean and is not burdened by hiss or crackle. However, the film was post synched and has that flat, airless sound so often found in this kind of audio mix. The jazz-tinged score by Naozumi Yamamoto comes through brightly and effectively, and sound effects have that sometimes otherworldly presence that distinguish many Japanese action films of this era.

Special Features

3.5/5

All of the bonus material on the disc is presented in 1080i.

Director Seijun Suzuki and assistant director Masami Kuzuu are interviewed separately in a 12 ¼-minute piece filmed in 2011. They each discuss the production, the casting of the film’s main male and female roles, and Suzuki’s firing after the film’s initial release and his subsequent blacklisting from the Japanese film industry.

A 2011 interview with star Joe Shishido finds the actor discussing his trademark “cheeky” look, his work as a contract actor at the Nikkatsu studio, his memories of working with the director, and recollections of the sex scenes in the film. This featurette lasts 11 minutes.

Director Seijun Suzuki’s 1997 interview in Los Angeles at a retrospective look at his film finds him discussing what he calls “program pictures” (films for pure entertainment), his definition of “film grammar,” his quick editing techniques, working with star Joe Shishido, and his subsequent firing. This runs 14 ¼ minutes.

The film’s theatrical trailer runs 3 ¼ minutes.

The enclosed 18-page booklet contains the chapter listing, cast and crew lists, some arresting stills from the film, and critic Tony Rayns’ overview of Seijun Suzuki’s career and an analysis of the movie.

The Criterion Blu-rays include a maneuvering tool called “Timeline” which can be pulled up from the menu or by pushing the red button on the remote. It shows you your progress on the disc and the title of the chapter you’re now in. Additionally, two other buttons on the remote can place or remove bookmarks if you decide to stop viewing before reaching the end of the film or want to mark specific places for later reference.

In Conclusion

3.5/5 (not an average)

Branded to Kill is not your everyday Japanese hit man saga. Its deliberately offbeat style and eye-opening blend of action and sex make it a one-of-a-kind feature film. An informative set of extras complement this entertaining Criterion Blu-ray release.

Matt Hough

Charlotte, NC