Branded to Kill Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Branded to Kill Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 4, 2014

Seijun Suzuki's "Koroshi no rakuin" a.k.a. "Branded to Kill" (1967) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Arrow Video. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; video interviews with the Japanese director and actor Jo Shishido; Atsushi Yamatoya's erotic thriller "Trapped in Lust" (1973); and more. The release also arrives with an illustrated booklet with essays by Japanese film expert Jasper Sharp. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The hitman

Yakuza hitman Hanada (Joe Shishido, Gate of Flesh, Retaliation) is Number Three on a prestigious list in the Japanese underworld. He wants to become Number One but faces an unsolvable problem -- no one knows who the best of the best is, which means that he cannot challenge him. Puzzled and frustrated, he kills hitmen Two and Four.

While trying to figure out a way to bring Number One out of the shadows, Hanada meets Misako (Annu Mari, Mini Skirt Lynchers), a disillusioned and suicidal beauty who asks if he might be interested in a job. This one, the girl explains to Hanada, is not like the other jobs he has done in the past because the target is a foreigner (Franz Gruber) who will be in the country only for a very short period of time. Intrigued by the warning, Hanada agrees to do the job.

But soon after everything that could go wrong goes terribly wrong -- Hanada misses his target and kills an innocent person. The mistake is unforgivable and the damage to Hanada’s reputation irreparable, because according to an old yakuza code he will no longer be able to legitimately challenge Number One, and because every other hitman on the prestigious list will now hunt him down until the day he is killed and removed from it.

Hanada’s life slowly begins to spin out of control. First, seriously depressed he decides to drink himself to death, but instead realizes that he has fallen in love with the mysterious Misako. Then his jealous wife, Mami (Mariko Ogawa), discovers that he no longer desires her and attempts to kill him. Number One steps out of the shadows too, but instead of killing Hanada proceeds to torture and humiliate him.

Branded to Kill is Japanese director Seijun Suzuki’s boldest, darkest, and most perverted film. It has the important ingredients great film noirs share but it is too surreal to be considered one. At times it is also too violent and explicit, entering territories most exploitation films like to explore.

The main protagonist, Hanada, is a lot like Jef Costello from Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samouraï. He is a terrific killer and a loner who attracts dangerous women. Unlike Costello, however, Hanada has a darker side. Actually, it is more of a freaky side. For example, he likes sniffing cooked rice because it helps him get an erection, and when he makes love to his wife, it looks like he is trying to kill her.

Even by contemporary standards Branded to Kill remains a pretty eccentric film, but it is never arrogant, nihilistic, or even remotely offensive. Everything Suzuki does in it unapologetically tests various once-current Japanese moral boundaries. Also, even the most outrageous sequences in it are done with a flawless sense of style that is not copied. This genuine desire to be original, no matter the consequences, is what makes Branded to Kill so fascinating to behold.

Among the films Suzuki shot during the 1960s, Branded to Kill has the most thought-provoking and ultimately prophetic finale. Unlike the rest of the film, the finale is very much grounded in reality and perhaps reflective of the one Suzuki was forced to endure.

* Shortly after top brass at Nikkatsu saw the completed Branded to Kill, Suzuki was unceremniously fired. After that, for nearly ten years, Suzuki could not find work and was forced to shoot TV commercials to make ends meet.

Branded to Kill Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Seijun Suzuki's Branded to Kill arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Arrow Video.

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"Branded to Kill was transferred and supplied by The Criterion Collection. This new high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a fine-grain master positive. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter and flicker were manually removed using MTI's DRS and Pixel Farm's PFClean, while Image Systems' DVNR was used for small dirt, grain and noise reduction.

Telecine supervisor: Lee Kline.
Telecine colorist: Joe Gawler/Technicolor, New York.
Disc and booklet produced by Francesco Simeoni.
Technical producer: James White.
Authoring: David Mackenzie."

The high-definition transfer is not identical to the one Criterion used for their Blu-ray release of Branded to Kill, but as the quoted text above clarifies it has been struck from the same master. Rather predictably, the film looks quite beautiful in high-definition. The most dramatic improvements are in two specific areas. First, definition and depth are far superior, allowing one to see small details that are quite simply missing on the old non-anamorphic R1 DVD release. Second, color balance has been stabilized and as a result there is a wider range of nuanced blacks, grays and whites. Some careful noise and grain corrections have been applied, but blown through a digital projector the film has a very pleasing organic appearance. There are no serious stability issues. Lastly, there are no large debris, cuts, damage, marks, or stains. All in all, Arrow Video and Criterion's Blu-ray releases offer equally satisfying technical presentations of Branded to Kill. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Branded to Kill Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. For the record, Arrow Video have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they split the image frame and the black bar below it.

The lossless track opens up the film quite well in all the right places. The shootout in the beginning of the film is a good example, as both clarity and depth are very good. The overall dynamic intensity, however, is rather limited, though this should not be surprising considering the age of the film and the nature of its original sound design. The dialog is crisp, clear, and easy to follow. There are no audio dropouts or distortions to report in this review.

Branded to Kill Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Seijun Suzuki Interview - in this video interview, conducted by critic and author Koshi Ueno, Seijun Suzuki discusses the script of Branded to Kill, the erotic scenes in the film and how they were censored (double-lined black and white arrows/lines were used in specific areas during initial screenings of the film), the critical reactions to the film, etc. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (8 min).

• Jo Shishido Interview - in this archival video interview, actor Jo Shishido (Hanada) discusses the shooting of Branded to Kill and Seijun Suzuki's directing methods. (There are some very interesting comments about the sex scenes in the film, which were apparently inspired by Edgar Degas' paintings). In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (7 min).

• Trapped in Lust (Atsushi Yamatoya, 1973) - a delirious roman porno re-imagining of Branded to Kill from Atsushi Yamatoya, scripted by Yozo Tanaka, both Branded to Kill's screenwriters and Seijun Suzuki's regular collaborators. Color. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (74 min).

• Trapped in Lust Trailer - original Japanese trailer for Trapped in Lust. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (3 min).

• Branded to Kill Trailer - original Japanese trailer for Branded to Kill . In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (4 min).

• Booklet - illustrated booklet featuring: "Seijun Suzuki, Contract Killer" and "Trapped in Lust - Hachiro Guryu and The Case of the Missing Auteur" by Jasper Sharp, and technical credits.

• Cover - reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork by Ian MacEwan.

Branded to Kill Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fans of Japanese director Seijun Suzuki and his work residing in Region-B territories should be very pleased with Arrow Video's Blu-ray release of Branded to Kill. Indeed, the technical presentation of the film is every bit as satisfying as Criterion's presentation. (Criterion released the film on Blu-ray in 2011). Also included on this release is a rather spicy re-imagining of Branded to Kill from Atsushi Yamatoya titled Trapped in Lust, which should appeal to viewers who have been enjoying the various films in U.S. distributors Synapse Films/Impulse Pictures' Nikkatsu Collection. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.