Pisutoru opera (2001)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Seijun Suzuki

Writers:

Kazunori Itô (writer)
Takeo Kimura (writer)

Release Date:

27 October 2001 (Japan)

Genre:

Crime | Action | Drama

Plot Keywords:

Sequel | Assassin | Surrealism | Psychedelic | Avant Garde

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Makiko Esumi	...	Miyuki Minazuki
Sayoko Yamaguchi	...	Sayoko Uekyo
Hanae Kan	...	Sayoko Uekyo
Masatoshi Nagase	...	Man dressed in black
Mikijiro Hira	...	Goro Hanada
Kirin Kiki	...	Rin
Kenji Sawada	...	Man at Tokyo Station
Haruko Kato	...	Shizuka Orikuchi
Tomio Aoki
Yoji Tanaka	...	Koroshi-ya No. 7
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yoshiyuki Morishita	...	Killer no.9
Kensaku Watanabe		(as Sakutarô Inui)
Jan Woudstra	...	Painless Surgeon

Also Known As:

Pistol Opera (International: English title)

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:15

Company:

DENTSU Music And Entertainment

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: As Uekyo speaks into the camera with a Union Jack draped over her, the boom mic drops into the picture for a second or two, then moves up and out of sight.

Quotes:

Miyuki Minazuki: I think it's okay to live my life as a pistol.

Movie Connections:

References Karumen kokyo ni kaeru (1951)

Interesting, but flawed

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.