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Pistol Opera

Play trailer Poster for Pistol Opera 2001 1h 52m Crime Drama Action Play Trailer Watchlist
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78% Tomatometer 18 Reviews 49% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
An assassin (Makiko Esumi) fends off numerous attacks from her comrades, who are trying to move up in rank by killing off the competition.

Critics Reviews

View All (18) Critics Reviews
Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader 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). Rated: 4/4 Aug 22, 2003 Full Review Richard James Havis Hollywood Reporter 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. Jul 3, 2003 Full Review Elvis Mitchell New York Times Insanely likable but suffers from anemia. Rated: 3.5/5 Jun 13, 2003 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 3/5 Nov 8, 2005 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews The screen is artfully covered like the abstract paintings by Jackson Pollock and Man Ray. Rated: B+ Sep 3, 2003 Full Review Marc Mohan Oregonian 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. Aug 1, 2003 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (94) audience reviews
Audience Member "Pistol Opera" me recordó, en su puesta en escena, al teatro Kabuki, exagerando las emociones de sus personajes a través de encuentros en escenarios estilizados. La película contiene una vaga semblanza de narrativa, enfocándose en un gremio de asesinos y un complot para irse deshaciendo de cada uno de ellos. "Pistol Opera" es una interesante propuesta experimental japonesa cargada de simbolismo y acompañada de un extraño soundtrack. Recomendable. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member 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. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Il film che ha ispirato Kill Bill. Suzuki si evolve andando al di là del cinema di genere e facendo un abile remake di se stesso. Una storia di sicari dove è evidenziata al meglio la visionarietà giapponese. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member Not being familiar with traditional opera, I may have missed some references - but this movie ultimately was just bewildering - unraveling as it progressed. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member An artfully crafted mess. I can't say why I liked it, but I did Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member This is like a free association comic book with live action panels. An assassin kills her way to become No. 1. The third act was surprisingly affecting after getting used to the style as we begin to realize the consequences. I'll probably never watch this movie again unless drunk, or with commentary, as there is a lot happening that probably needs an academic or cultural explanation to catch. I would like to see more movies like this with a larger production, but that's very unlikely. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Pistol Opera

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis An assassin (Makiko Esumi) fends off numerous attacks from her comrades, who are trying to move up in rank by killing off the competition.
Director
Seijun Suzuki
Producer
Ogura Satoru, Katashima Ikki
Screenwriter
Kazunori Ito, Takeo Kimura
Genre
Crime, Drama, Action
Original Language
Japanese
Release Date (DVD)
Mar 1, 2011
Runtime
1h 52m