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Branded to Kill (1966)
Director: Seijun Suzuki
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
The film that got Suzuki fired by Nikkatsu, and it's not hard to see why. It starts almost straightforwardly as a bluesy gangster thriller in pared-down Melville mould. But as 'number three killer' Shishido (a Suzuki regular) moves from some beautifully staged hits to perverse obsession with an ultra cool femme fatale and a set-to with 'number one killer', the weirder the film becomes. Just as Shishido cracks up and enters a surreal nightmare world, so Suzuki breaks the film down into a bizarre but beguiling chain of absurdist, OTT, barely related elements. It looks a little like golden-age Godard (but far more stylish). The climax, oddly reminiscent of Point Blank (made the same year), shows how much further Suzuki was prepared to push even than Boorman, let alone Hollywood. Occasionally mystifying, but always witty, inventive and dazzling to look at.Author: GA
Cast & crew
Director: Seijun Suzuki
Producer: Kaneo Iwai
Cast: Ogawa Mariko, Annu Mari, Isao Tamagawa, Jo Shishido, Nanbara Koji full cast
Genre(s): Gangsters
Duration: 91 mins
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