Branded to Kill

Directed by Seijun Suzuki and written by Hachiro Guryu, Koroshi no raikun (Branded to Kill) is the story of a yakuza hitman whose attempt to kill a target goes horribly wrong forcing him to fend off against other assassins gunning for his position as a top hitman. It’s a film that plays into a man whose meeting with a woman who asks him to do something where he deals with his mistakes and letting his guard down. Starring Joe Shishido, Koji Nanbara, Isao Tamagawa, Annu Mari, Mariko Ogawa, and Hiroshi Minami. Koroshi no raikun is a gripping and audacious film from Seijun Suzuki.

The film revolves a highly-revered yakuza hitman who is among the top ranked assassins in the business but due to a botched hit that went horribly wrong because of an act of nature. He becomes the hunted while he finds himself falling for the woman hired to kill the target that didn’t go well as he also goes on a search to find out who is the number one hitman in all of Japan. Hachiro Guryu’s screenplay explores the life and work of Goro Hanada (Joe Shishido) who has arrived to Tokyo with his new wife Mami (Mariko Ogawa) where Hanada aids a former hitman for an assignment as it would be a success despite the body count and encounters with other rival hitmen. Upon encountering the mysterious Misako (Annu Mari), Hanada’s world starts to unravel as he becomes infatuated by Misako despite having an intense sexual relationship with Mami as he becomes paranoid about who is trying to kill him while trying to discover the identity of this mysterious hitman known as Number 1 (Koji Nanbara). Hanada would succumb to madness but also obsession in trying to find Number 1 but also deal with the fact that he can’t trust anyone.

Seijun Suzuki’s direction is definitely stylish in terms of its look and compositions as it play into this underworld that is shot and set in and around Tokyo that is vibrant and dangerous. Even in the nightclubs, forest-like locations in some parts of the film and other scenes that play into this world of violence where assassins try to kill one another to be in the top spot but also try to find Number 1 and kill him or else they get killed as he is known for his trademark kills. Suzuki’s compositions definitely bear elements of style in terms of the way he would put his characters in a frame or in the setting they’re in. The usage of wide and medium shots add to the world that Hanada lives in as it include scenes in his apartment where he chases around Mami who is often seen naked in their apartment with the exception of her genitals covered due restriction codes in Japan. The sex scenes do add this strange yet crazed sense of energy as it help play into the film’s offbeat tone.

The film also has these grand visuals that play into many themes as it relates to Hanada’s fascination with Misako who collects dead things around her apartment home. The way Suzuki would create these compositions to play into this attraction between these two people as well as this world they live in that is dark and chaotic. Even in the film’s climax where Hanada has to fend off various assassins as Suzuki’s compositions are striking where he would shoot a scene under a car and would keep moving as it would be displayed in a long take. The usage of long takes add to the visual splendor of the film that include these offbeat compositions as it relates to Hanada’s growing paranoia and obsession towards Misako. Even in the third act as his obsession turns to the mysterious Number 1 who would unveil himself where their meeting is more of a meeting of the minds rather than kill one another. The film’s finale is told in a stylish manner but it also play into the fallacy of life in the underworld as well as the obsession to be the top dog in the world of the yakuza. Overall, Suzuki crafts a visually-dazzling and riveting film about a yakuza hitman fending off other assassins following for a botched job for a woman he would fall for.

Cinematographer Kazue Nagatsuka does brilliant work with the film’s black-and-white photography as it’s a highlight of the film with its vibrant usage of shades and shadows for some of the interior scenes at the apartment as well as lights for the exterior scenes set at night. Editor Matsuo Tanji does excellent work with the editing for its stylish usage of jump-cuts and transition wipes to help play into the suspense and drama. Production designer Sukezo Kawahara does amazing work with the look of the apartments and places the characters go to including Misako’s apartment that is filled with dead birds and insects on her walls. The sound work of Yoshinobu Akino is fantastic for its sound effects that help play into the suspense as well as Hanada’s growing paranoia including the way gunshots are presented. The film’s music by Naozumi Yamamoto is incredible for its jazz-inspired music score with some playful pianos and string instruments that add to the energy of the film as well as its moments of suspense as it’s a major highlight of the film.

The film’s superb cast feature a couple of small roles from Hiroshi Minami as a former hitman in Gihei Kasuga who asks for Hanada’s help in an assignment and Isao Tamagawa as the yakuza boss Michiko Yabuhara as a man who gives Hanada jobs but also would flirt with Mami and later give the order for Hanada’s death. Mariko Ogawa is terrific as Hanada’s new wife Mami as a young woman that enjoys walking around naked at her apartment and engage in strange sexual exploits with her husband but would start to unravel when things don’t go well for Hanada.

Annu Mari is fantastic as Misako as a mysterious woman who hires Hanada for an assignment only things to go wrong as she is this odd figure with an obsession for death as she would eventually be infatuated with Hanada. Koji Nanbara is excellent in a small yet intriguing performance as the mysterious assassin known as Number 1 as this man who is an expert in being a hitman but is also someone that is an expert in mystique and being unidentified. Finally, there’s Joe Shishido in an amazing performance as Goro Hanada as the third-ranked hitman in Tokyo as he deals with a botched assignment and his growing paranoia in being hunted as well as the anguish he endures over his marriage and obsession towards Misako as it’s a performance that has Shishido acting cool and then becoming crazy and dangerous.

Koroshi no raikun is a spectacular film from Seijun Suzuki. Featuring a great cast, gorgeous visuals, a hypnotic and searing tone, a gripping exploration of obsession and paranoia, and a killer music soundtrack. It’s a film that explores a hitman dealing with failure and being hunted while dealing with his role as a killer for hire that would lead to his own descent. In the end, Koroshi no raikun is a tremendous film from Seijun Suzuki.

Seijun Suzuki Films: (Victory is Mine) – (Eight Hours of Terror) – (The Naked Woman and the Gun) – (Underworld Beauty) – (Young Breasts) – (Voice Without a Shadow) – (Take Aim at the Police Van) – (Everything Goes Wrong) – (Go to Hell, Hoodlums!) – (Man with a Shotgun) – (Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards!) – (Youth of the Beast) – (The Bastard (1963 film)) – (Kanto Wanderer) – (The Flower and the Angry Waves) – (Gate of Flesh) – (Our Blood Will Not Forgive) – (Story of a Prostitute) – (Story of Bastards: Born Under a Bad Star) – (Tattooed Life) – (Carmen from Kawachi) – Tokyo Drifter - (Fighting Elegy) – (A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness) – (Zigeunerweisen) – (Kagero-za) – (Capone Cries a Lot) – (Legend of the Gold of Babylon) – (Yumeji) – (Pistol Opera) – (Princess Raccoon)

© thevoid99 2019

Tokyo Drifter

Directed by Seijun Suzuki and written by Kouhan Kawauchi, Tokyo nagaremono (Tokyo Drifter) is the story of a hitman whose attempt to give up a life of crime has made him a target against rival gangs and crime syndicates to try and kill him. The film is a crime film that follows a man dealing with his own troubles as he tries to avoid it only for chaos to follow him. Starring Tetsuya Watari, Chieko Matsubara, Tamio Kawaji, Ryuji Kita, Hideaki Nitani, Eiji Go, Tomoko Hamakawa, Takeshi Yoshida, and Isao Tamagawa. Tokyo nagaremono is an exhilarating and enthralling film from Seijun Suzuki.

The film is the simple story of a hitman whose gang has just been disbanded where he finds himself being targeted by rival gangs who want him dead as a yakuza boss is trying to make a deal with his old boss. It plays into a man wanting to go straight and start a new life with his singer girlfriend yet he is often pursued by rival gang members including those working for a yakuza boss to get rid of him in a play for power. Kouhan Kawauchi’s screenplay opens with Tetsuya Hondo (Tetsuya Watari) who is known by some as Phoenix Tetsu for his skills being beaten up by rival gang members as he refuses to fight back as a way to show that he’s given up the world of crime. Reporting to his now former boss Kurata (Ryuji Kita), Hondo is hoping not to be involved despite being pursued by the yakuza boss Otsuka (Hideaki Esumi) to join the gang but Hondo refuses.

It would lead to trouble as Otsuka is taking part of a real estate scam and knew that Hondo’s presence would be troubling forcing him to try and eliminate Hondo as well as get Kurata to cooperate. Even as Otsuka hires the hitman Tatsuzo (Tamio Kawaji) who is known as Viper who is eager to get rid of Hondo yet another hitman in Kenji Aizawa (Hideaki Nitani) is aware that Otsuka is in for some trouble. Adding to Hondo’s trouble are these rival gangs with those wanting to kill him no matter what for not just money but the honor of being the one to kill Phoenix Tetsu. For Tetsuya, he would embark on the life of being a drifter with little contact with his previous life as it would be a struggle as he still longs for his singer girlfriend Chiharu (Chieko Matsubara) who has no clue of where he is and she would be in trouble if she finds out.

Seijun Suzuki’s direction is definitely stylish in every composition and framing device he aims for including the film’s opening sequence as it is shot in black-and-white with bits of color as it relates to Hondo’s desire to leave behind the world of crime. Shot on various locations in Japan including Tokyo as well as on soundstages in the city, Suzuki would use the locations to play into this emergence of modern-day, post-war Tokyo that is vibrant and full of life with the yakuza operating everything behind the scenes. The usage of close-ups and medium shots would play into the meetings as well as some key scenes in the dramatic elements while Suzuki’s wide shots capture so much in some of the fight scenes as well as the way characters confront each other. There is also elements of the musical as Hondo would often sing something to create a sense of unease to his enemies while Chiharu would have a few musical numbers in the nightclub she sings at where it has something that play into the idea of fantasy.

Suzuki’s blend of genres in a yakuza crime film help play into this frenzied world that Hondo is in where he is eager for this normal life but he is pulled into the world of crime that he wants out of. Yet, there is also the life of a drifter that would allow him certain amounts of freedom but it would come with some sacrifices. Even as the film’s climax with its stylish compositions and set pieces play into this collision of reality and fantasy for Hondo who copes with the myth that has been looming over him as well as who he really is. Overall, Suzuki crafts an exciting and majestic film about a hitman trying to go straight and evade former enemies.

Cinematographer Shigeyoshi Mine does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography as it is filled with dazzling colors to help create moods in the lighting as well as play into the beauty of some of the exteriors and for the scenes set at night. Editor Chikaya Inoue does excellent work with the editing as its emphasis on style with its usage of transition wipes, jump-cuts, and other stylish cuts to play into its frenzied energy and lively action. Production designer Takeo Kimura does amazing work with the look of the nightclubs and some of the places that Hondo would go to including the places outside of Tokyo. The sound work of Yoshinobu Akino is superb for its sound effects and the way it captures some of the chaotic moments in the film such as a brawl at a bar with American naval officers. The film’s music by Hajime Kaburagi is fantastic for its jazz-like score with elements of pop and rock n’ roll to play into this feel of a new Japan as it is lively and fun as the soundtrack includes a theme song by Tetsuya Watari that play into his own plight.

The film’s wonderful cast include some notable small roles from Eiji Go as the businessman Tanaka, Tomoko Hamakawa as Kurata’s secretary Mutsuko, Isao Tamagawa as a club-owner/hitman in Umetani who copes with the changes of the rules for the gangster, Takeshi Yoshida as the piano player Keiichi, and Hideaki Esumi as the yakuza boss Otsuka who wants to take control in order to profit on a real estate scam. Tamio Kawaji is fantastic as Otsuka’s hitman Tatsuzo as a man eager to try and kill Hondo as he would pursue any way he can. Hideaki Nitani is excellent as Kenji Aizawa as a hitman who is also onboard for the reward but is really has his own motives to find Hondo as he isn’t fond of what Otsuka is doing. 

Ryuji Kita is brilliant as Hondo’s old boss Kurata as a man who is trying to move forward but finds himself in a bind with Otsuka where he would get himself into serious trouble. Chieko Matsubara is amazing as Chiharu as Hondo’s girlfriend who is a nightclub singer that is eager to have a normal life with Hondo while being aware of the target he has on his back. Finally, there’s Tetsuya Watari in an incredible performance as Tetsuya Hondo as a revered hitman who is trying to go straight where he deals with not just others trying to kill him but also the impossibility of going straight as well as pursuing a life free from danger but with some major sacrifices.

Tokyo nagaremono is a phenomenal film from Seijun Suzuki. Featuring a great cast, dazzling visuals, a thrilling score, and an engaging premise. It’s a film that never plays into the rules of what is expected in a crime film while infusing other genres to make it lively and maintain its own identity. In the end, Tokyo nagaremono is a spectacular film from Seijun Suzuki.

Seijun Suzuki Films: (Victory is Mine) – (Eight Hours of Terror) – (The Naked Woman and the Gun) – (Underworld Beauty) – (Young Breasts) – (Voice Without a Shadow) – (Take Aim at the Police Van) – (Everything Goes Wrong) – (Go to Hell, Hoodlums!) – (Man with a Shotgun) – (Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards!) – (Youth of the Beast) – (The Bastard (1963 film)) – (Kanto Wanderer) – (The Flower and the Angry Waves) – (Gate of Flesh) – (Our Blood Will Not Forgive) – (Story of a Prostitute) – (Story of Bastards: Born Under a Bad Star) – (Tattooed Life) – (Carmen from Kawachi) – (Fighting Elegy) – Branded to Kill – (A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness) – (Zigeunerweisen) – (Kagero-za) – (Capone Cries a Lot) – (Legend of the Gold of Babylon) – (Yumeji) – (Pistol Opera) – (Princess Raccoon)

© thevoid99 2018