Pistol Opera
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| Pistol Opera | |
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| Directed by | Seijun Suzuki |
| Produced by | Ikki Katashima Satoru Ogura |
| Written by | Kanzunori Itō Takeo Kimura |
| Starring | Makiko Esumi Sayoko Yamaguchi Kirin Kiki Mikijiro Hira Yeong-he Han Kan Hanae |
| Music by | Kazufumi Kodama |
| Cinematography | Yonezo Maeda |
| Editing by | Akira Suzuki |
| Distributed by | Slow Learner |
| Release date(s) | October 27, 2001 |
| Running time | 112 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Preceded by | Branded to Kill |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Pistol Opera (ピストルオペラ Pisutoru Opera?) is a 2001 Japanese film directed by Seijun Suzuki and starring Makiko Esumi. It is related to Suzuki's 1967 Branded to Kill, either as a remake or sequel. The plots of both films involve a third-ranked hitman deposing the top-ranked hitman to claim the top rank.
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[edit] Storyline
The film's main character, Miyuki Minazuki, ranked number three in The Assassins Guild, known as the "Stray Cat". A stoic and deadly woman, she is forced to deal with the crumbling Guild, and crazy state of affairs, seeking out the cause of all this, "Hundred Eyes". She lives in a Japanese home with her Grandmother, and her weapon is a pistol.
Former number one, now crippled and retired to an honorary ranking of number zero "The Champ" Goro Hanada is an acquaintance of Stray Cat's, offering news and unsolicited advice. Stray Cat regards The Champ as a pitiful shadow of a man, and teases him about his failures. For the most part the other members of the guild treat as such also. The Champ himself remains deluded about his usefulness, and ignores others opinions.
Stray Cat receives her assignments from the assassins guild from an enigmatic woman in white dress named Sayoko Uekyo as the movie opens they are in the midst of a conversation where Uekyo asks her is she has a man, suggesting some lesbian undertones. The relationship between Stray Cat and Uekyo is open to interpretation, at times the two are friendly, and other times they share mutual disregard.
Uekyo gives Stray Cat the news that the number one ranked killer, the mysterious "Hundred Eyes" is now a target, and Stray Cat is offered the job.
Through the course of film Stray Cat finds herself entangled with many characters, particularly a young girl named Sayoko who wishes to become a assassin herself.
[edit] Rival Assassins
The Teacher - A wheelchair-bound, tracksuit-wearing killer who failed at assassinating a well known-target, due to Stray Cat's involvement.
Painless Surgeon rank #5 - A bearded possibly middle-aged foreigner with a liking for Japanese women and Japanese theatre, who feels no pain. In the style of a true surgeon, he favors knives and blades over firearms. Painless Surgeon thinks he is in claims to be league with Hundred Eyes, but that is never cleared up.
Dark Horse - A man in a blond wig and black cloak, who claims to be Hundred Eyes. As an assassin, he favors killing people by shooting them in the back of the medulla oblongata, therefore affecting the dying victim's brain nerves, causing them to be dead with the facial expression of a smile. He uses a firearms, with infra-red scope.
Hundred Eyes rank #1 - A mysterious assassin, no one really knows who he or she is until the climax of the film.
[edit] Cast
- Makiko Esumi as Miyuki Minazuki, aka Stray Cat, aka Killer No. 3
- Sayoko Yamaguchi as Sayoko Uekyo
- Kirin Kiki as Minazuki's grandmother
- Mikijiro Hira as Goro Hanada, aka The Champ, aka the former Killer No. 1
- Yeong-he-Han as Sayoko, the young girl
- Jan Woudstra as Painless Surgeon, aka No. 5
- Masatoshi Nagase as the Man in Black, aka Dark Horse
- Kan Hanae as ...
- Haruko Kato as ...
[edit] Production
Hanada is not played by Joe Shishido this time, but by Mikijiro Hira; Suzuki has said that the original intent was for Shishido to play the character again, but that the film's producer, Satoru Ogura, wanted Hira to play the character instead. The reasons for this are still unclear.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ Mes, Tom (October 2001). Review: Pistol Opera. Midnight Eye. Retrieved on 2007-03-18.
[edit] External links
- Pistol Opera at the Internet Movie Database
- Pistol Opera (Japanese) at the Japanese Movie Database
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