Editing Branded to Kill (section)

{{Short description|1967 film by Seijun Suzuki}}
{{Featured article}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Branded to Kill
| image          = Branedtokillposter.jpg
| alt            = A man with prominent cheeks in sunglasses and a suit aims a gun. Two women stand on a spiral staircase behind him in their underwear also holding guns. Three men appear in an insert in the lower left corner.
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Seijun Suzuki]]
| producer       = Kaneo Iwai
| writer         = Hachiro Guryu{{efn|{{nihongo|Hachiro Guryu|具流八郎||{{literal translation|Group of Eight}}}} is the collective pen name for Seijun Suzuki, [[Takeo Kimura]], [[Atsushi Yamatoya]], Yōzō Tanaka, [[Chūsei Sone]], Yutaka Okada, Seiichirō Yamaguchi and Yasuaki Hangai.<ref>{{cite web
| author = 川勝正幸
| title = ピストルオペラ Review
| publisher = テレビ東京 Cinema Street
| year = 2001
| url = http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/telecine/cinema/pistol_o/review.html
| language = ja
| access-date = 2007-10-24
| quote = 具流八郎（鈴木＋木村威夫＋大和屋竺＋田中陽造＋曽根＋岡田裕＋山口清一郎＋榛谷泰明）
| archive-date = 2023-03-25
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230325121002/https://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/telecine/cinema/pistol_o/review.html
| url-status = live
}}</ref>}}
| starring       = {{plainlist|
*[[Joe Shishido]]
*[[Koji Nanbara]]
*[[Annu Mari]]
*Mariko Ogawa
}}
| music          = Naozumi Yamamoto
| cinematography = Kazue Nagatsuka
| editing        = Mutsuo Tanji
| studio         = [[Nikkatsu]]
| distributor    = Nikkatsu
| released       = {{Film date|1967|06|15}}
| runtime        = 91 minutes
| country        = Japan
| language       = [[Japanese language|Japanese]]
| budget         = {{nowrap|[[Japanese yen|¥]]20 million}}
}}
{{nihongo|'''''Branded to Kill'''''|殺しの烙印|Koroshi no Rakuin|lead=yes}} is a 1967 Japanese [[black comedy]] [[yakuza film]] directed by [[Seijun Suzuki]] and starring [[Joe Shishido]], [[Koji Nanbara]], [[Annu Mari]] and Mariko Ogawa. The story follows contract killer Goro Hanada as he is recruited by a mysterious woman named Misako for a seemingly impossible mission. When the mission fails, he is hunted by the phantom Number One Killer, whose methods threaten his life and sanity.

''Branded to Kill'' was designated by its production company and distributor, [[Nikkatsu]], as a low-budget [[B movie]]. Dissatisfied with the original script, the studio called in Suzuki to rewrite and direct the film shortly prior to the start of production. Suzuki came up with many of his ideas for the project the night before or on the set while [[Filmmaking|filming]], and welcomed ideas from his colleagues; the screenplay is credited to Hachiro Guryu, a writing collective that consisted of Suzuki and seven other writers, including his frequent collaborators [[Takeo Kimura]] and [[Atsushi Yamatoya]]. Suzuki gave the film a [[Satire|satirical]], anarchic and visually eclectic bent, which the studio had previously warned him away from. The brief turnaround Suzuki was given to make ''Branded to Kill'' meant that post-production on the film was completed only a day before its pre-scheduled release on June 15, 1967.

The initial critical and commercial failure of ''Branded to Kill'' prompted Nikkatsu to ostensibly fire Suzuki for making "movies that make no sense and no money".<ref name="Branded to Kill DVD"/> In response, Suzuki successfully sued Nikkatsu, and garnered support from student groups, like-minded filmmakers and the general public, causing a major controversy throughout the Japanese film industry. Suzuki was [[blacklist]]ed and did not make another feature film for a decade, but became a [[countercultural]] icon.<ref name="Sato"/>

By the 1980s, ''Branded to Kill'' had gained a strong international [[cult following]]; film critics and enthusiasts now regard it as an [[Absurdism|absurdist]] [[masterpiece]].<ref name="Volcano"/> It has been cited as an influence by filmmakers such as [[Jim Jarmusch]], [[John Woo]], [[Park Chan-wook]], [[Quentin Tarantino]] and [[Nicolas Winding Refn]], and composer [[John Zorn]].<ref name="Zorn">{{cite web
| last = John
| first = Zorn
| title = Branded to Kill
| publisher = Criterion
| date = February 1999
| url = http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/47-branded-to-kill
| access-date = 2015-11-04
| archive-date = 2023-08-03
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230803230527/https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/47-branded-to-kill
| url-status = live
}}</ref> ''Branded to Kill'' inspired a loose 1973 ''[[List of Nikkatsu Roman Porno films|Roman Porno]]'' [[remake]] directed by Yamatoya, ''{{Interlanguage link multi|愛欲の罠|ja|3=愛欲の罠|lt=Trapped in Lust}}'', and a loose 2001 sequel, ''[[Pistol Opera]]'', directed by Suzuki for Nikkatsu. The company has also hosted two major [[retrospective]]s spotlighting his career.