#313: OKAMOTO, Kihachi: Kill! (1968)

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OKAMOTO, Kihachi (Japan)
Kill! [1968]
Spine #313
DVD


In this pitch-black action comedy by Kihachi Okamoto, a pair of down-on-their-luck swordsmen arrive in a dusty, windblown town, where they become involved in a local clan dispute. One, previously a farmer, longs to become a noble samurai. The other, a former samurai haunted by his past, prefers living anonymously with gangsters. But when both men discover the wrongdoings of the nefarious clan leader, they side with a band of rebels who are under siege at a remote mountain cabin. Based on the same source novel as Akira Kurosawa's Sanjuro, Kill! playfully tweaks samurai film convention, borrowing elements from established chanbara classics and seasoning them with a little Italian western.

114 minutes
Black & White
Monaural
in Japanese
2:35:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2005
Director/Writers


Kihachi Okamoto was 44 when he directed Kill!
Screenplay by Akira Murao and Okamoto.
Original story by Shûgorô Yamamoto.

The Film


The Extras

 The Booklet

Eight-page wraparound featuring an essay by Howard Hampton.

Original theatrical trailer

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