Sunday, 2 June 2019

BRANDED TO KILL

Stunningly shot in widescreen black and white Seijun Suzuki's "Branded to Kill" starts out like something that could have been directed by Jean- Pierre Melville in the fifties or Godard in the sixties. These Japanese gangsters are somehow closer to Alain Delon and Eddie Constantine than they are to the Yakuza and the jazzy score could have come from the French New Wave.

The plot is suitably obscure and the action is at times preposterous but Suzuki is a major stylist and the film's violent imagery is something to behold while Satre could have written the dialogue. Unfortunately this weird and wonderful film virtually disappeared without trace but its cult status is very definitely assured.
at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

A REAL PAIN

 The first time I remember seeing Jesse Eisenberg was as the teenage nephew of Campbell Scott in an underrated little gem called "Roger...

  • THE ETERNAL DAUGHTER
     Having made two films on the essence of cinema or at least on the filmmaker's craft, (her own), Joanna Hogg has now turned her attentio...
  • HUMPDAY
    A classic comedy of embarrassment from writer/director Lynn Shelton who brings an unerringly accurate eye to her tale of two life-long bu...