Branded to Kill is a 1967 Japanese yakuza film directed by Seijun
Suzuki and starring Joe Shishido, Koji Nanbara, Annu Mari and
Mariko Ogawa. It was a low budget, production line number for the
Nikkatsu Company, originally released in a double bill with Sh gor
Nishimura's Burning Nature. The story follows Goro Hanada in
his life as a contract killer. He falls in love with a woman named
Misako, who recruits him for a seemingly impossible mission. When
the mission fails, he becomes hunted by the phantom Number One
Killer, whose methods threaten his sanity as much as his life. The
studio was unhappy with the original script and called in Suzuki to
rewrite and direct it at the last minute. Suzuki came up with many
of his ideas the night before or on the set while filming, and
welcomed ideas from his collaborators
