Criterion have announced the US DVD and Blu-Ray releases of 'Branded To Kill' for the 13th December, 2011. Directed by Seijun Suzuki, the film tells the ecstatically bent story of a yakuza assassin (Joe Shishido) with a fetish for sniffing boiled rice who botches a job and ends up a target himself.
Synopsis
Number Three killer Goro Hanada (Joe Shishido) is a hired gun who loves his work, but when he misses a target after a mere butterfly sets his carefully balanced aim astray, he becomes the next target of the mob. Goro is no pushover and easily dispatches the first comers, leaving them splayed in death contortions that could qualify for an Olympic event, but the rat-a-tat violence gives way to a surreal, sadistic game of cat and mouse. The legendary Number One mercilessly taunts his target before moving in with him in a macho, testosterone-laden 'Odd Couple' truce that ends up with them handcuffed together.
Features
New high-definition digital restoration
Video interviews with director Seijun Suzuki and Masami Kuzuu
Interview with Suzuki from 1997
New interview with actor Joe Shishido
Original theatrical trailer
New and improved English subtitle translation
A booklet featuring an essay by critic and historian Tony Rayns
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Artwork and trailer are below, and you can preorder both versions now from YesAsia.com.
