Average Rating: 6.7/10
Reviews Counted: 19
Fresh: 15 | Rotten: 4
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 8/10
Critic Reviews: 6
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 0
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 2,188
Japanese cult director Seijun Suzuki's combination sequel to and remake of his 1967 gangster film classic Branded To Kill stars Makiko Esumi as Miyuki Minazuki, AKA "the Stray Cat," a beautiful female assassin. She is number three in the hierarchy of killers in her criminal organization at the beginning of the film, but soon a battle breaks out among the assassins, all of whom are trying to become the number one killer by murdering their competition. Miyuki finds herself fighting her fellow
Unrated, 1 hr. 52 min.
Drama, Action & Adventure, Anime & Manga, Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense
Jan 1, 2001 Wide
Jun 24, 2003
Shochiku
All Critics (21) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (15) | Rotten (4) | DVD (1)
I couldn't give a fully coherent synopsis of Pistol Opera if my life depended on it, but it's still the most fun new movie I've seen since Mulholland Drive and Waking Life (both also 2001).
Eighty-year-old Japanese director Suzuki Seijun has always been a gifted master stylist, and Pistol Opera shows that his unique vision has not dulled with age.
Nothing in Pistol Opera ever seems remotely possible, but it's still gorgeous art -- like a dream David Lynch had after watching too many John Woo movies.
Insanely likable but suffers from anemia.
There's style and panache to spare.
Suzuki has made the ultimate meta-movie, a self-parodying, surrealist gangster daydream as intoxicating and insubstantial as an absinthe swoon.
The screen is artfully covered like the abstract paintings by Jackson Pollock and Man Ray.
While it's certainly enjoyable to see this old master up to his tricks again, and the film stands perfectly well on its own, the cinematic high jinks of the 80-year-old director don't quite live up to the reputation he created for himself 36 years ago.
Though extraordinarily simplistic at its core, Suzuki's directorial style is so chock-full of vigor and passion for his craft that it spills into Pistol Opera, allowing the flick to carve out its own niche.
The director's gaudy approach to his individual frames begs for a deeper meaning that you're going to have to bring to the table yourself.
Stylish but obtuse. Charitably, we might try to think of 'Pistol Opera' as the 'Tampopo' of killing people.
Seijun is helped enormously by Makiko Esumi, a dazzling beauty who delivers a flinty, self-assured performance as Stray Cat.
A strange tale that ultimately achieves a level of abstraction entirely divorced from any conventional mode of storytelling.
What counts isn't the convoluted plot or exotic characters -- it's the brilliance of Suzuki's cinematic style, articulating the action with eye-boggling color and split-second editing effects.
Pistol Opera is unique for sure, it just never made me want to follow it down its strange path.
Whether more is pompously suggested than actually here and merely meets the eye, Pistol Opera is fun in the grand style.
Whereas Kill was uproariously stylish via pop-noir, Opera goes in the opposite direction by concentrating much more on color, choreography, and composition than any kind of conventional narrative.
In what seems to be intended as a fun, avant-garde romp, "Pistol Opera" is made up of sometimes nonsensical but lighthearted scenes featuring shootings and stabbings galore. This is Seijun Suzuki's followup to his 1967 film "Branded to Kill," a stylish film said to have been an inspiration to the
March 23, 2008
Super Reviewer
WOW! Holy f****** cow! Alright, after seeing the trailer and hearing the title I knew I was expecting something out of the ordinary. Let me tell you, it really was something out of the ordinary. I've honestly seen some weird movies in my lifetime, but this film is near, if not the top of the "What the hell
September 4, 2007
Super Reviewer
| 35% | The Hangover Part II |
| 25% | Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Par... |
| 81% | Kung Fu Panda 2 |
| 44% | Cowboys & Aliens |
| 83% | Rise of the Planet of the Apes |
| 25% | Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Par... |
| 88% | Lady and the Tramp |
| 69% | A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas |
| 21% | Fireflies in the Garden |
| 45% | The Rebound |
Journey 2 Not Worth the Trip
What are his 10 best movies ever?
See the all-new action-packed trailer!
Five new Marvelous pictures