Synopsis
An assassin fends off numerous attacks from her comrades, who are trying to move up in rank by killing off the competition.
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Cast
- Makiko EsumiMiyuki Minazuki
- Sayoko YamaguchiSayoko Uekyo
- Hanae KanSayoko Uekyo
- Mikijiro HiraGoro Hanada
- Masatoshi NagaseMan Dressed in Black
- Kirin KikiRin
- Kenji SawadaMan at Tokyo Station
- Haruko KatōShizuka Orikuchi
- Yoji TanakaKoroshi-ya No. 7
- Yoshiyuki MorishitaKiller No.9
Recommendations
- 100
Christian Science Monitor
What counts isn't the convoluted plot or exotic characters -- it's the brilliance of Suzuki's cinematic style, articulating the action with eye-boggling color and split-second editing effects. - 90
Village Voice
Suzuki has made the ultimate meta-movie, a self-parodying, surrealist gangster daydream as intoxicating and insubstantial as an absinthe swoon. - 88
New York Post
There's style and panache to spare. Mournful jazz adds to the mood. - 80
Variety
Too abstract and self-referential for the average action fan's comprehension. But buffs will be delighted by a package that finds the near-80-year-old helmer giddily tipping hat to the genre conventions, themes and over-the-top aesthetics that long since lent him mad-visionary status. - 70
TV Guide Magazine
The audacious finale, which plays out in a wholly symbolic realm, will leave even the most adventurous moviegoers scratching their heads. See it with a friend; you'll appreciate the second opinion. - 70
The New York Times
Insanely likable but suffers from anemia. - 60
The A.V. Club
If Pistol Opera turns out to be Suzuki's swan song, instead of just an anticlimactic comeback, no one can claim he didn't go out on his own stubborn terms. - 40
Film Threat
So now that I’ve seen one of “the master’s” films, I still can’t tell you what the appeal is. Pistol Opera is unique for sure, it just never made me want to follow it down its strange path.
