Koroshi no rakuin (Branded to kill)

Goro Hanada is a professional hitman, ranked No.3. One day, Hanada was attacked by No.2 and No.4 hitmen on the way to the destination escorting an elite member of a certain syndicate. They make it through the deadly gauntlet, and Hanada delivers the mysterious man safely. Some time later, Hanada receives another assassination assignment. As the last target must be neutralized at all costs, so a female emissary named Misako was sent to accompany Hanada. But Hanada fails to complete the mission, and in turn becomes a marked man wanted dead by the syndicate. She has also been instructed to execute Hanada, but discovers her newfound fascination for him renders her unable to end his life. Troubled by their destiny as killers, they seek solace in each other’s arms. However, Misako’s unwillingness to slay Hanada results in her being taking prisoner by the syndicate. To save Misako, Hanada engages in a fierce battle to the death for the title of No.1.

An elusive and daring film, avant-garde and anarchic [...]. Koroshi no Rakuin merges the yakuza movie, the Western and Eastern film noir, James Bond and the Nouvelle Vague, comedy verging on slapstick and deadly, pathological eroticism. All of it applied to an elliptical and enigmatic screenplay, and the use of practically the entire classical repertoire of clichés of the genre is so exaggerated that it is shattered into a thousand pieces, destructured and pulverized by a crooked form, a surrealistic mode
of advance and a constant upending of tones and situations that find expression through bold choices of editing and framing, as well as in the unreal nature of the dialogues.

Federico Gironi

PRODUCTION: Kaneo Iwai – Nikkatsu Corporation
3-28-12, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku
113-0033 – Tokyo, Japan
Tel. +81 356891014
international@nikkatsu.co.jp
http://intl.nikkatsu.com/

RESTORATION CURATED BY: Nikkatsu Corporation
3-28-12, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku
113-0033 – Tokyo, Japan
Tel. +81 356891014
international@nikkatsu.co.jp
http://intl.nikkatsu.com/

LABORATORY: Yoko Arai, Kensuke Nakamura, Hisashi Kuroki – Imagica Entertainment Media Services, Inc.
1-14-2 Kaigan, Minato-ku
105-0022 – Tokyo, Japan
Tel. +81 357776371
archiving@imagica-ems.co.jp
http://www.imagica-ems.co.jp/en/

WORLD SALES: Taku Kato – Nikkatsu Corporation
3-28-12, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku
113-0033 – Tokyo, Japan
Tel. +81 356891014
international@nikkatsu.co.jp
http://intl.nikkatsu.com/

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