Hey folks, Harry here... We've seen PISTOL OPERA play in other worldly film fests, but apparently this is the first time it has hit U.S. shores... So how does Balboa country react to the lethal stylings of Seijun Suzuki? Read and see...
Hey Harry,
I've just returned from the US premiere screening of Seijun Suzuki's newest film, Pistol Opera. It screened as part of the 'Danger After Dark' portion of the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema. The screening was pretty much packed, though not sold out, as was the case with last week's screening of Suicide Club. The projection was off, which took away from the show as a whole--the opening credits were misframed so as to cut off the subtitles. This was then overcompensated for, and the result was many of the characters having their heads cut off. All this aside, there was the picture...
Anyone who appreciates the previous work of Suzuki will be looking forward to this, and justly so. Suzuki's two best-known films are Tokyo Drifter and Branded to Kill (both available as great DVDs from Criterion), and Pistol Opera is, essentially, a reworking of the latter film. While Branded to Kill's No. 3 Killer is portrayed by Joe Shishido, Pistol Opera turns this aspect of the story on its head, having the primary characters as women. Makiko Esumi (girlfriend of one of the stars of the excellent Japanese tv series mecha mecha ike teru (what a cool we are!)) plays the central role here, that of the number three killer in the guild. Turmoil in the guild leads to the different killers assassinating one another, looking to stand at the top once the dust clears. Ultimately, the film boils down to No. 3's pursuit of the elusive Hundred Eyes, the No. 1 Killer.
Suzuki's directing style is difficult for the uninitiated. Flashbacks and flashforwards are presented without any distinction, visually speaking. After the film ended, many people from the audience were asking each other what happened in the film. It is disorienting, and Suzuki gives the viewer no aid in acclimating to this. Now, none of this is new to those familiar with his work, but the speaker before the film polled the audience as to whether or not they had seen any of his films before, and there were but a few raised hands. There is a reason this movie is called Pistol Opera. The acting, and especially the staging, of the film is overtly theatrical, and at its height spills over into the realm of operatic theater. Again, as many viewers are not terribly used to such style, this adds to the aforementioned distancing. Ultimately, the film is Suzuki at his delirious best.
There is one major aspect of Pistol Opera that I have not mentioned, wanting to save it for last. Staying with the theme of the parallels between Pistol Opera and Branded to Kill, another 'inversion', if you will, lies in Pistol Opera's breathtaking color cinematography. Seijun Suzuki's sense of composition is staggering, and while many viewers end up lost in terms of narrative with this film, the sheer act of watching the interplay of colors and silhouettes and spotlights makes Pistol Opera an engaging and profoundly enjoyable experience.
Andrew Repasky McElhinney
