Branded to Kill

In the organizer's words:

殺しの烙印 Koroshi no rakuin

Director: SUZUKI Seijun
1967, 91 minutes, OmeU, color, DCP

The director, author, producer and actor Suzuki Seijun (1923-2017) is regarded in Japanese film history as an eccentric visionary and experimental anarchist who fascinates with his unique color aesthetics and idiosyncratic visual rhythms. However, his desire to break the rules repeatedly fell out of favor with the production company Nikkatsu. In the case of Koroshi no rakuin, this even led to his dismissal and a trial before the labor court.

Hanada Gorô is known as "Killer No. 3" in the Tokyo underworld and carries out his numerous jobs with cool professionalism. His ultimate goal is to become "Killer No. 1", but the road to this goal is a rocky one, paved with bloody fights and wild shootouts. And even when the mysterious Misako enters his life, things don't get any easier.

Movie series
In search of criminals and new images - Japanese films from the 1960s

In the 1960s and 1970s, Japan was in a phase of economic, political and social upheaval, which also had a serious impact on the country's film industry. As a counter-movement to the films of the previously established master directors, works emerged that were in part radically new in their themes and aesthetics and moved beyond the existing pigeonholes.

With seven films made between 1958 and 1968, this series provides an insight into the cinema of the 1960s and presents works by five directors who were among the most important representatives of their time: Imamura Shôhei (1926-2006), Nomura Yoshitarô (1919-2005), Shindô Kaneto (1912-2012), Shinoda Masahiro (*1931) and Suzuki Seijun (1923-2017).

Three Nikkatsu action films by Suzuki Seijun, who is considered an experimental visionary in Japanese film history, can be seen. In his first color film, Imamura Shôhei dissects the archaic relationships of a village community marked by incest. Shindô Kaneto is represented with his impressive global success about the adversities of life. Finally, the crime film by Nomura Yoshitarô shows the dramatic chase after a murderer and with his film noir, Shinoda Masahiro has left a lasting mark on the yakuza thriller genre.

Price information:

Admission free