7cb1d79195 The No. 3 assassin of Japan is given the chance to usurp No. 1 and take their place. Did you know that there is a ranking of the best assassins of Japan? In the spirit of 1967&#39;s Branded To Kill, also by director Suzuki Seijun, comes Pistol Opera. The assassin ranked third is out to kill the first and move herself up the ladder of hierarchy. What follows is drama, action, a mysterious visitor, an impolite manhandling of a man in a wheelchair, Japanese costumes, several employment offers, a couch and even a pre-teen girl. 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 &quot;What The&quot; 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!! The majority of movie watchers in the world would hate this movie. That&#39;s OK, but they shouldn&#39;t waste my time by telling me about it.<br/><br/>This movie isn&#39;t abstract. It is also not, strictly speaking, symbolic. And it is by no means truly literal.<br/><br/>Like most Japanese movies, us wide-eyes can&#39;t possibly hope to claim to understand it all, but if you&#39;ve learned nothing else from Suzuki, you should have learned that you&#39;re not required to understand it.<br/><br/>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. <br/><br/>If it feels uneven, that&#39;s only because it&#39;s uneven. As in any other Seijun Suzuki movie, every shot is treated equally and judged independently.<br/><br/>I think Seijun Suzuki has gotten better. I could never find anything i liked about Branded to Kill except it&#39;s sheer inscrutability and absurdity, and BtK is without a doubt, technically speaking, quite possibly the worst movie I&#39;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. There's style and panache to spare. Mournful jazz adds to the mood.
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