Cult/ Branded to Kill (18)

Seijun Suzuki's delirious 1967 hit-man film has drawn comparisons with contemporaries Le Samourai and Point Blank and influenced directors such as John Woo, Jim Jarmusch and Quentin Tarantino among others. 

The story of laconic yakuza Hanada, aka 'No. 3 Killer', the third rated hit-man in Japan who takes an impossible job from the mysterious, death-obsessed Misako. Hanada bungles the hit and finds himself the target of his employers and a bullet-ridden journey leads him to face the No. 1 Killer. 

Shot in monochrome with beguiling visuals, Branded to Kill is an effortlessly cool crime film with a jazzy score that caused Suzuki to be fired by the studio's executives but is now rightly recognised as his masterpiece. 
 

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai – Jim Jarmusch’s homage to Suzuki’s cult masterpiece – screens on general release from Fri 15 Aug.