- Rarely has a film so gleefully portrayed the intersection of sex and violence as Seijun Suzuki's Branded to Kill. I'm not sure I can provide a plot summary beyond the fact that Japan's third-ranked assassin, a cherub-faced rice enthusiast named Hanada (Joe Shishido), finds himself marked for death after botching a job. His oft-nude wife (Mariko Ogawa) shoots him and sets his house on fire, a truly odd butterfly collector (Annu Mari) tries to stab him with a needle, and Japan's #1 killer (Koji Nanbara) basically becomes his homicidal roommate. Does it make sense? No! Is it entertaining? Also no! The production company fired Suzuki after he made this film, and rightly so.
