Pistol Opera (2001) User Reviews

like a painting that's pleasant to look at and makes frustratingly no sense at all

[Quinoa1984 · 6/10 · 28 May 2009]

Seijun Suzuki has made great films, and at least some very good ones. And oddly enough some of those films were done not with a completely free hand. Suzuki had resistance (and even got fired during the editing) with Branded to Kill, his 1967 masterpiece that serves as the sort of inspiration for this *extremely* loose remake/re-telling. But maybe that served him better than here, which is a little like Lynch with Inland Empire: the floodgates are open, and it's high time to just let whatever s***'s inside fly out. Only unlike a Lynchian DV mescaline trip into brain-tubes, this is like a Kabuki fever dream cooked up by the samurai in Lowry's dream scenes in Brazil. It's an artist working without a net and, frankly, without much of a story or close to identifiable actors, either.

If Pistol Opera weren't made by a director who has a sure hand with his craft, if not in his old age a mastery, then it would be just about unwatchable. This is something sad to say as I would have loved to consider Pistol Opera a luxurious expressionist piece, something that is so assured with creating a mood that it doesn't need a firm story. But in this story, whatever there is of it, about a female No. 3 killer (in Branded it was male) who has to face off against the Hundred Eyes killer and the No. 1 killer while fending off the pleas of a little girl who just wants to be a killer too, it needs some kind of focus from time to time. After a few scenes of strange set up where No. 3 faces her "boss" of sorts who wears a mouth mask and talk in abstract dialog, the film just goes off into tangents... and then more of them...

Some of this, perhaps, was meant to be parody, a delirious send-up of both Yakuza thrillers and Kabuki theater, and its shot half on location (there is, in one of the most satisfying and crazy scenes, a chase between No. 3 and a man in a skewed wheelchair along a riverbank), half in studio. But it's not very funny, and its not really all-encompassing as a work of surrealism. I was taken in by its cinematography and sets and a perversely awesome array of colors, and make no mistake there's rarely a frame of the film that doesn't look gorgeous. But there needs to be more than just fantastical camera moves. There's a shoot-out towards the end that not only breaks the 180 degree rule (you know the one if you're familiar with basic camera direction) but gives it a middle finger with a silver bullet right between the face.

But there needs to be something else, something that Branded to Kill and Tokyo Drifter just had instinctively, which is soul, a purpose in its subversion. Too much of Pistol Opera feels like exercise without result, like in those overlong scenes with the woman talking to the camera about God knows what. I expected the unexpected, but I didn't expect to be... bewildered to disappointment.

Interesting, but flawed

[josephbleazard · 7/10 · 3 November 2006]

If you've never seen a Seijun Suzuki film don't start with this one. I cannot state that strongly enough.

Taken as a film in isolation, judging it on its own merits, this film fails. Fails interestingly, but fails.

The acting is appalling. The script is pretentious gobbledegook. There are parts of the film when it seems like even the director is sleepwalking. The sets and props are clearly badly made. The actors aren't very good or even interesting looking. The soundtrack is bad. Your friends will think you're a paedophile.

BUT... There are incredible moments in this film. Jaw dropping changes of colour. Symbolic actions. Bizarre perspectives. A new way of looking at everyday items and interactions. Some moments that recall the old thrill of watching the original "Branded to Kill".

The sheer ambition of certain moments is heartening. You think of things like German Expressionism and pop art and say "wow". It's tantalising.

This is a film interesting for those people who've followed Suzuki's career and want to see his next experiment in non-realist cinema and storytelling. Unfortunately that's the only level on which this film works.

...this is a journey

[nedwalton · 6/10 · 4 October 2005]

I first saw the preview for Pistol Opera on several Japanese DVDs I had the pleasure of viewing. It was the vivid imagery that captured my attention not to mention a very attractive leading lady. Now what followed was an amazing journey through the world of Stray Cat, a hired gun with a love for her pistol, engaged (reluctantly at first)in a competition to be #1 among the top gunslingers. Simple enough, right? WRONG!!!! What follows is a film that keeps your fingers on the rewind button, your mouth wide open and your eyes ready to bug out of your skull. A simple skeleton of a plot is covered with layers of sexuality (subtle, and in your face), violence, and just a whole bunch of WTF (WT is for "What The" you can figure the rest out) moments. I enjoyed it in the same way that we all have our guilty pleasures, but I will admit that some of the scenes and displays may go beyond past limits you may have set for yourself. Viewer Discretion is ADVISED!!

Notice how all the glowing reviews only talk about the colors? (Pun intended)

[rooprect · 7 January 2018]

If ya like colors, this is the flick for you! So all you lame-o b&w Orson Welles fans who are looking for cinematic architecture and intellectual substance, go away!

Ok sarcasm aside, this is truly an enjoyable film... if you like colors. If you like to be bombarded with surreal images and bizarre plot leaps, such as characters being dead one minute, alive the next, and basically existing in an incomprehensible dream world which ends with the words "wtf" on everyone's lips, then this film will wow you.

Me personally, I liked it, but I liked it the same way I like an opera (literally an opera, get it?) where the point is to enjoy the artistry of the presentation rather than any type of storytelling.

Compare this to maybe some of Andy Worhol's experimental work, though not quite as self indulgent as an 8 hour still camera on the Empire State Building. Maybe closer to something by David Lynch, Peter Greenaway or Tarkovsky... BUT (and this is a "big butt" of Peewee Hermanian proportions), what makes it interesting is a dark comic, tongue-in-cheek sort of self mockery which keeps the film from seeming too pretentious.

So imagine all those "pretentious" filmmakers I just mentioned, but add a heavy splash of Quentin Tarantino ("Pulp Fiction"), mix vigorously and of course add lots of bloomin COLORS. Have you seen the infamous Monkees film "Head"? There ya go

Don't miss it, but expect to be completely befuddled

[GyatsoLa · 7/10 · 28 April 2007]

I don't think i've ever seen a movie so guaranteed to confuse, befuddle, but still enthrall. I won't even begin to summarise the plot, because I'm still trying to work out what it is. But ultimately, the plot is irrelevant as this is a pure exercise in style - and what style! Its full of dazzling images (and some that probably should have been cut out), most owing more to opera and noh theater than the cinema. Its overlong and self indulgent, and constantly teether's at the edge of pretentiousness. But its worth seeing for the sheer daring of Suzuki who throws out all the rules of film making while still showing a deep love of the art.

Dogs follow their masters, but I am a stray cat.

[polysicsarebest · 10/10 · 18 February 2010]

This is one of the best films ever made. An intense fever dream of surrealism, dream logic, and a beautiful painter's touch. I've never seen any other films that could straight-up be called "avantgarde action"; I wish there were more films like this...

What really strikes me are the colors, though the story (which is relatively straightforward; ignore the other reviews) is one extremely philosophical, awesomely existential dilemma after another.

Brilliant in every way a movie can be. Masterpiece. Hated by the same people who hate Izo and El Topo (aka people who can't wrap their head around true brilliance).

Don't understand how ANYONE could hate on this film, even if they didn't "get it" all. The visuals alone are reason enough to see this.

No Style Over Less Substance

[CMUltra · 2/10 · 27 July 2003]

This movie was a major disappointment. After a decade of retirement, director Seijun Suzuki returns with a "reworking" of his Branded to Kill. He's definitely either lost his touch or was overly influenced by others to push the envelope further on his abstract style.

Too many times people try to hide rubbish behind the titles of "abstract" and "artistic style". That won't work here. Suzuki's camera work, settings and editing seem decidedly rusty. The zooms and tilts are awkward. The visuals seem forced, which is a fatal flaw for abstract.

So yes, Suzuki retains his abstract style. He just doesn't execute it very well. Maybe he was away from the camera too long. Please see some of his earlier works for clearly superior filmmaking.

Adding to the misery is atrocious acting. It takes skill to pull off the detached, unfocused sense of drama required for abstract. So here, more than ever, you need actors with this particular ability. Makiko Esumi is not one. I enjoyed her TV series (one of which single-handedly brought the mini-mini skirt to the forefront in Japan) but she is hopelessly out of her league here. She wouldn't have had the skill to bring Noraneko ("Stray Cat") to life in a well-executed rendition, much less salvage Suzuki's mess here.

The rest of the cast, some of who are very skilled in their craft, act just as woodenly. So too much blame should not be cast at Esumi.

So, from mind-numbingly boring "death scenes" to borderline pedophilia, this movie is almost certain to disappoint. Unless you are simply determined to be "cool" and decide to chalk all the shortcomings up to "abstract style", stay well away from Pistol Opera.

I've never given a zero, and won't start here. I give one point for how good Esumi looked in her modified kimono and boots. I give another for Suzuki sticking with the style all the way through the (far too long) movie, when even he must have realized how badly it was failing.

2 out of 10.

Visual Feast in color and composition

[freakus · 9/10 · 25 April 2002]

This film is not for those who are looking for a typical narrative structure. It can be very chaotic in it's visual style and you may not completely understand what is going on at all times but if you just let this film wash over you with it's vision you will be rewarded.

The plot deals with the rankings in a guild of professional killers. (It is a sequel of sorts to Suzuki's earlier film, "Yaju no seishun" (1963) aka. "Youth of the Beast".) This plot is only an excuse for Suzuki's wild and gorgeous visual style. At times I found myself forgetting the story and just smiling at a certain shot's composition and color. It's a riot of color and a pop culture landmark, do yourself a favor and look for it.

terrible, terrible movie

[Thorn56789 · 1/10 · 17 June 2005]

Without a doubt, the worst movie I have ever seen. Undoubtedly, some "cultured" person will call it brilliant and years ahead of its time. I can only hope I will dead if this type of movie ever becomes the norm. I dare you to watch it without fast forwarding. When I hear the name- "pistol opera", I think maybe there will some cool fight scenes, maybe even people being realistically shot. Obviously, my expectations for this movie were way too high. It makes no sense! People teleport, stab themselves, and die sitting up.

Almost worth it for the ending though- random guy #312 yelling "Idiot!" "I'm an IDIOT!", followed by an extreme close up shot of his face while he screams and the film ends.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

A crazy surreal gangster film. Like a strange painting come to life!

[NateManD · 8/10 · 1 August 2005]

Director Seijun Suzuki is one of the Japanese pulp directors that was a huge influence on Tarentino. So, film students take note! Viewing Suzuki's films you'll see its influence on "Pulp Fiction" and "Kill Bill". Suzuki is best known for his film "Branded to Kill" "Pistol Opera" is the sequel made almost 34 years after "Branded to Kill". This time the story concerns a female assassin, Stray Cat. Stray Cat longs to move up the ladder in the criminal underworld since she is number 3. She has to kill her opponents including 100 eyes, in order to take his place and be the number 1 assassin. What makes the film interesting is the fact that among all the shootouts and stabbings, there is not one drop of blood. The film becomes a highly surreal head trip, chock full of bright visual eye candy. The film's last 15 minute showdown becomes so bizarre, it almost reminded me of Jodorowsky's "The Holy Mountain"(1973). At times "Pistol Opera" moves very slow, like a live action play. But it still was very entertaining! If your a fan of directors such as Quinten Tarantino, John Woo, Tekashi Miike and Alejandro Jodorowsky; you should check out this film.

Horrible, unless you are part of the target audience

[phantopp · 2/10 · 19 September 2009]

This is easily the worst, most confusing movie I've seen in quite some time.

"Miyuki Minazuki" (Makiko Esumi), known professionally as "Stray Cat", is part of the Assassin's Guild, and ranked #3 in it.

She is given the job to kill the top assassin in the guild, known as "Hundred Eyes", and takes it.

This movie is very hard to follow, especially if you must use subtitles if you can't find a dubbed version.

The acting is horrible. Many times, the actors are overly dramatic, and act as if they should be on stage. There is a lot of rambling monologues that are quite confusing. None of the actors had any chemistry and appeared to be forced to work together on screen.

As for the camera work, it's not perfect. There are some shots with pans that are too dramatic and make no sense. Other shots are real good, and help with the story on a visual level.

For the subject of the story, there is very little violence and no blood in this movie. There is even little gun play in the film. Violence is kept to a minimum as well.

The soundtrack is forgettable. It reminded me of music heard in movies from the 1970's. I didn't feel that the music helped enhance the scenes at all.

There are some interesting visuals in this movie. At times I felt as if I was watching a stage play. A few times, the camera work helped enhance the scenes, but most of the time the shots were real typical.

This movie lacked the ability to keep my attention through out. I caught myself looking away from my computer screen numerous times because I was completely bored with the movie. I watched this movie on Hulu, and got even more confused when my screen saver popped up.

It was a hard movie to follow, especially since I had to read English subtitles. I really had a hard time following what was going on in this movie because my attention was focused on the bottom of the screen. It may have been the translation, but the dialog was pretty confusing at times, and I couldn't understand what was going on.

Unless you are into this type of movie, I have to say skip it. It isn't for every one.

Beautiful but Incomprehensible

[danfeit · 6 January 2004]

I was eager to see "Pistol Opera" for a variety of reasons. I had recently seen "Branded to Kill" and the idea of a follow-up/sequel/remake by the same director intrigued me. Furthermore, I am a fan of the lead actress, Makiko Esumi, from her work on Japanese TV.

Sadly, this film goes nowhere...slowly. The plot seemed simple enough but within minutes I was lost. These "professional killers" spend nearly the entire film killing each other which begs the question who is employing these people and what purpose they serve. Lots of these scenes look wonderful and have some fun ideas, but nothing makes any sense. Characters deliver long, meandering soliloquies into the camera, flip-flopping from Japanese to English and back again. Neither language adds any clarity to the circumstances. The whole thing feels like some kind of experimental stage play, especially the final showdown where characters enter and exit bizarre scenery accompanied by strange, nearly naked dancers.

What the hell?

A Lavish Spectacle

[zeleny · 10/10 · 22 June 2002]

This long-awaited sequel to the 1967 Koroshi no rakuin (Branded to Kill) replaces the redoubtable Jo Shishido as Number 3 with Makiko Esumi, an actress of the same vintage as the original film, seen to good advantage as a very different type in Maboroshi no hikari (1995). As in the original, her character Miyuki Minazuki, nicknamed "Stray Cat", is a stylish contract killer striving to attain top ranking among her peers in the most natural and conclusive fashion imaginable. As in Suzuki's splendid yet seldom seen Zigeunerweisen (1980), the 2001 film deftly alternates between cryptic narrative constructions in the manner of David Lynch and dreamlike compositions reminiscent of Alejandro Jodorowsky at his best. I urge every fan of these directors to see it at any cost.

Old man's tricks

[ectype · 8/10 · 22 January 2006]

Neither rules nor plots can be followed in Seijun SUZUKI's cult Pistol Opera. Each scene was imbued with the director's ornate and stunning visual styles. We can meet with whimsical professional killers speaking awkward dialogs or baffling monologues, and cartoonized gunfights represented through voluptuous choreography or Japanese theatricality. This visually coherent work has proved to us his cynicism as well as versatility in successfully combining both various aesthetic elements and anarchical themes that were prevalent in his masterpieces Branded to kill or Fighting elegy during the 1960s. It will be a bit difficult to enjoy such lushful art collection, but also a great challenge to observe how this interesting old man are toying with our mind with his audacious and maddening experimentation .

Easily misunderstood in either direction

[alhaz · 9/10 · 21 April 2005]

The majority of movie watchers in the world would hate this movie. That's OK, but they shouldn't waste my time by telling me about it.

This movie isn't abstract. It is also not, strictly speaking, symbolic. And it is by no means truly literal.

Like most Japanese movies, us wide-eyes can't possibly hope to claim to understand it all, but if you've learned nothing else from Suzuki, you should have learned that you're not required to understand it.

Pistol Opera is a mix of operatic and theatrical styles. There are elements of kabuki, western plays, and European opera integrated in every scene. The result is at once stylized, ritualistic, and loose. The uncomfortable camera angles and bright colors in some scenes are just a reflection of classic Japanese art.

If it feels uneven, that's only because it's uneven. As in any other Seijun Suzuki movie, every shot is treated equally and judged independently.

I think Seijun Suzuki has gotten better. I could never find anything i liked about Branded to Kill except it's sheer inscrutability and absurdity, and BtK is without a doubt, technically speaking, quite possibly the worst movie I've ever seen - but i still liked it. I can find things about Pistol Opera that i like. It probably influenced Kill Bill, but the people who made Kill Bill missed the point - I saw that movie for free, and still felt like demanding my money back.

Great narrative. Notice I'm not saying great mainstream action flick.

[whatdoes1know · 16 October 2002]

A series of pleasurable moments full of colors and cartoonish acting with awesome costumes and offbeat characters. Did you get the hint? The story's full of symbolism and artsyfartsy poop that won't sit well on a mainstream menu.

Not that Tetsuo the Iron-man and Pistol Opera director Seijun have the same class, but the titles Bullet Ballet and Pistol Opera just show that there must be a link between the minds of these two discontinuous narrators.

I like the lead actress, so I am biased, and I like kimonos so I am biased, and I like colorful movies, so I am biased, and I like symbolic films so I am biased, and I like discontinuous narratives, so I am biased, and I am Japanese, so I am biased: I liked the movie.

Brilliant.

[evillights · 10/10 · 2 August 2002]

The summation of Suzuki's life's work. Will be perceived by the lazy audience -- such as the attendees of its screening at the 2002 Seattle International Film Festival -- as a series of style-tableaux and disappoint those hoping for a gem of a story, such as in 'Elling,' a piece of work fit to wrap a fish in. Much more than that -- Suzuki is one of the great Japanese auteurs of all time, -- his reputation hasn't grown to the stature of the big three (Kurosawa / Ozu / Mizoguchi) due to the surface inscrutability / surface "style" of his work. The truth of the matter is that there is great depth in the Suzuki canon. His "style" must be no more mistaken for simple "flashy cool" than one would regard Godard's work. 'Koroshi no rakuin' ('Branded to Kill') is a stunning tour-de-force that examines the emasculation of the male, vivisecting cinematically a one-time master-assassin's slide into madness. 'Pistol Opera' -- the "spiritual sequel" of 'Branded to Kill' (working title was 'Koroshi no rakuin 2') examines the theatricality of assassination -- that is, one of the manifestations of an individual's or society's pull -toward- a universal order. Another manifestation of which is a director's mise-en-scene, -- shot compositions are as meticulously constructed in Suzuki as in Kubrick -- the 1.33:1 aspect ratio of 'Pistol Opera' allows Suzuki the greatest control of the frame-"tableau." (cf. also Kubrick's 1.33:1 framing, employed for all films from 'The Shining' on) 'Pistol Opera' is one of the great masterpieces of our modern cinema.

I joined in his enjoying filmmaking.

[nkw88 · 27 April 2002]

Since I saw Suzuki Seijun's 'Branded to Kill', I have been enchanted by his weird and absurdistic filmmaking style. His 'Pistol Opera' does not betray my expectation and I really enjoyed his gorgeous visual style and absurdism.

I feel like seeing a painter do an abstract painting. He ignores the typical storytelling and performance, and searches the dark and irrational aspect of human desire and emotion.

In this film, 'the stray cat', NO.3 in the professional killer guild was asked to kill No.1 'hundred eye'. If she succeeds, she will be No.1, but if fails, she will be killed by No.1. So her assassination of No.1 is driven both by her will to rise in social hierarchy and by her drive to survive. It is the same as 'Branded to Kill'.

He must enjoy filmmaking. Some one tries to complete his artistic goal, others to earn money. Sujuki Seijun shows me the third, and the most important, level of filmmaking.

Just enjoy filmmaking itself! He reminds me the mentality Carpe Diem - filmmaking as a play, or ludenic element of filmmaking.

Great, but disappointing.

[samklink77 · 15 January 2004]

A lot of sloppiness seems to be passed off by many as "abstract" in this movie. However, even so, the amazing color work and over-all beauty of the movie makes me want to give it a 9. Unfortunately, 1 scene of the movie is making me drop the score to 7. During Hyaku-Me's monologue about her dream and flags, the boom mic bobs in and out of the scene multiple scenes. Barring this error, the movie has a 2 thumbs up soundtrack, rather good acting, and great scenery.

"Like a dream David Lynch has after watching too many John Woo movies"

[harry_tk_yung · 4 August 2005]

With nothing operatic about it (not even in the context of "soap opera"), this movie is better depicted in its Chinese title "New Branded To Kill", as it is sort of a remake or sequel of director SUZUKI Seijun's acclaimed cult classic "Branded To Kill" (1967), a female version of the original.

The plot, if it can be called that, is suited even better to a video game. 35-year-old (at the time the movie was made) ESUMI Makiko, whom some called the "coolest Japanese actress", plays "Strayed cat", the no. 3 of the top ten assassins in the organization. The story, again if you can call it that, is not unlike what you see in a squash or tennis club ladder, where you are constantly after the ones above you and challenged by the ones below. Obviously, a set up such as this cannot go without the usual identity mystery.

80-year-old director Suzuki shows that he hasn't lost his touch. Sometimes comic-strip-like, sometime surreal, sensual, stylised, colourful (literally), absurd, Pistol Opera is everything you would expect of a cult movie. And it doesn't even have CGI, relying just on what the camera can do. But in terms of the sheer elegance of pistol poses, this one has yet to measure up to director Johnny To's "The Mission" (1999). But then the comparison may not be fair as these two movies really belong to two different genres.

One critic describes Pistol Opera as "like a dream David Lynch has after watching too many John Woo movies" - not totally accurate, but certainly creative

Pure cinema, nothing more, nothing less.

[pharmaci911 · 24 January 2004]

Suzuki Seijun is a master of craft, and one of the greatest visual stylists ever. This film is a loose reworking of Branded to Kill, the jakuza clasic that marked the end of his career at Nikkatsu studios, whom Suzuki was a contract director. That film took many risks in narrative and presentation, and it was post modern before post modern became chic.

Before you complain about why you don't understand this film, just look at it less in terms of narrative and more in terms of the abstract. It's a spectacle of sight and sound, and one of the most beautifully shot movies in recent times. The photography alone is reason enough to see it.

This is a film that does not bother to explain it's convoluted story because it's very design DOES NOT warrant that path. It's cinematic style brings to mind elements of Kabuki and opera theater. The performances are mannered and exagerated, something that is understandibly strange if you are not japanese.

All in all, it's a film devoid of anything rational and a spectacle of sight and sound. A 10.