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
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