Branded to Kill

This absolutely mad 1967 yakuza movie from Japanese cult director Seijun Suzuki looks like a pop art collage come to life in black-and-white CinemaScope. The almost incoherent story follows a gang's third-ranking hitman, Hanada, who becomes the prime target after the “butterfly effect” upsets an important mission. Played by genre icon Jô Shishido, Hanada's no pushover and leaves all comers splayed in wildly improbable death contortions, but the rat-a-tat violence gives way to a surreal, sadistic game of cat and mouse when the legendary assassin known only as “No. 1” (Kôji Nanbara) moves in with Hanada, leading to a macho, testosterone-laden “Odd Couple” arrangement that ends with them handcuffed together. That scenario is tame compared with earlier scenes in which the smell of boiling rice sets Hanada's libido so aflame that Suzuki censors the gymnastic sex between Hanada and his mistress with animated black bars that literally dance across the screen. Such gangster movie outrageousness and cinematic surrealism cost Suzuki his job; his studio, Nikkatsu, fired the director with such force that he was effectively blackballed from the industry for a decade. It took more than 20 years for his audacious genre-bending to be appreciated and celebrated by critics and fans. Presented in both DVD and Blu-ray editions, extras include interviews with Suzuki and Shishido, and a booklet. A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)