Pistol Opera (2001)

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.

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.

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.

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!!