PISTOL OPERA (1996)
Directed by Seijun Suzuki
Starring: Makiko Esumi, Masatoshi Nagase
Genre: Action/Comedy
Running Time: 112mins

Rating:

The guild's rank listings have leaked with Stray Cat (Makiko Esumi) coming in at No. 3 of the top assassins in Japan. At No. 1 is Hundred Eyes (Masatoshi Nagase) who has developed a taste for being a killer of killers having taken out Useless Man (Kenji Sawada) among a number of other top ranking hitmen/women. With tension in the air, and bullets flying indiscrimnately Stray Cat finds herself in the middle of a war, challenged by hoards of assassins all eager to climb the list and reach that all important top spot.

Pistol Opera begins with a smiling Kenji Sawada (Happiness of the Katakuris). Having been shot with pin-point accuracy by Masatoshi Nagase's Hundred Eyes, the resulting hit marks the one spot where a bullet can cause its victim to smile as he hangs from the rooftop of Tokyo train station, his cape flowing in the wind. Hundred Eyes later remarks that the smile may not have come from the expert placing of the bullet after all, but more from the relief of knowing that his life of constant danger had finally reached its end. A contentment to no longer feel fear.

So begins Seijun Suzuki's opera, a visual blast where Suzuki lets his imagination run riot. Utilising a multitude of stylistic touches from garish composites, sparse soundstages, old ruins and Mount Fuji the camera takes in all the textures and colours its director throws at it. But, unfortunately, the virtually impenetrable story that gives meat to its beautiful bones is such that after the initial bombardment of eccentric characters and backdrops, we are left with a piece that is simply far too abstract to withhold interest nor maintain a narrative drive while clocking in at just under two hours.

Everything just feels horribly forced, surreal for surrealists sake with a number of jarring moments that pop up almost as blockades distancing the viewer from being able to associate with anyone, making every death nothing more than just an observation with no connection nor sense of emotional gravity to be found. Meanwhile the fractured structure of the editing takes some getting used to, with numerous minor scenes bearing very little in terms of relevance or cohesion.

The reasons why Suzuki's critically acclaimed Tokyo Drifter, succeeded so well is that it was a film that, while abstract in terms of its visual style, was still coherent. The lack of complexity in the story was more than made up for by Suzuki's approach in telling it. There was a melding of the generic with the outrageous that made for a vibrant, exciting experience. Where Pistol Opera fails is in its inability to tell what really should be an easy-to-follow tale in a rewarding way. That's not to say every film needs to be spelt out in big letters, but subtlety is a delicate balancing act and unfortunately Pistol Opera plunges into a world of obscurity, albeit a beautifully realised one.

There are admittedly a number of nice touches to commend Pistol Opera for. The sexual overtones of its protagonist are wonderfully inferred through static gestures, almost like a dance performance more is said through the expert framing and body language than words alone. And while it is usually a bad omen to see Western "actors" in Japanese cinema (few are what you'd call professional actors) Jan Wouldsta's Painless Surgeon provides some much needed levity with a number of truly funny moments. His introduction at a Kabuki theatre is a blast, while he may not exactly be De Niro and his stilted Japanese dialogue does little to detract from that, he is still given some of the best scenes of the film, it's just a shame that his subsequent dispatch at the hands of Stray Cat is the let-down that it is.

Pistol Opera is a frustrating watch, potentially it has a lot to offer (the final shoot-out is a gloriously designed almost theatrical descent into hell) but the odds are stacked against it. Too long, a dip into philosophy in the closing moments only prevents the film from ending sooner adding little in terms of profundity beyond the surface level message of a killers tortured soul. Had the film been more accessible or less simplistic regarding its themes and characterisation then the wall of theorists may well have had a lasting impact, here however, it is a largely throwaway element.

A gorgeous but disappointing film, I just wish the truly memorable visuals belonged to a much better whole.