If ya like colors, this is the flick for you! So all you lame-o b&w Orson Welles fans who are looking for cinematic architecture and intellectual substance, go away!Ok sarcasm aside, this is truly an enjoyable film... if you like colors. If you like to be bombarded with surreal images and bizarre plot leaps, such as characters being dead one minute, alive the next, and basically existing in an incomprehensible dream world which ends with the words "wtf" on everyone's lips, then this film will wow you.Me personally, I liked it, but I liked it the same way I like an opera (literally an opera, get it?) where the point is to enjoy the artistry of the presentation rather than any type of storytelling.Compare this to maybe some of Andy Worhol's experimental work, though not quite as self indulgent as an 8 hour still camera on the Empire State Building. Maybe closer to something by David Lynch, Peter Greenaway or Tarkovsky... BUT (and this is a "big butt" of Peewee Hermanian proportions), what makes it interesting is a dark comic, tongue-in-cheek sort of self mockery which keeps the film from seeming too pretentious.So imagine all those "pretentious" filmmakers I just mentioned, but add a heavy splash of Quentin Tarantino ("Pulp Fiction"), mix vigorously and of course add lots of bloomin COLORS. Have you seen the infamous Monkees film "Head"? There ya go

This is one of the best films ever made. An intense fever dream of surrealism, dream logic, and a beautiful painter's touch. I've never seen any other films that could straight-up be called "avantgarde action"; I wish there were more films like this...What really strikes me are the colors, though the story (which is relatively straightforward; ignore the other reviews) is one extremely philosophical, awesomely existential dilemma after another.Brilliant in every way a movie can be. Masterpiece. Hated by the same people who hate Izo and El Topo (aka people who can't wrap their head around true brilliance).Don't understand how ANYONE could hate on this film, even if they didn't "get it" all. The visuals alone are reason enough to see this.

If you've never seen a Seijun Suzuki film don't start with this one. I cannot state that strongly enough.Taken as a film in isolation, judging it on its own merits, this film fails. Fails interestingly, but fails.The acting is appalling. The script is pretentious gobbledegook. There are parts of the film when it seems like even the director is sleepwalking. The sets and props are clearly badly made. The actors aren't very good or even interesting looking. The soundtrack is bad. Your friends will think you're a paedophile.BUT... There are incredible moments in this film. Jaw dropping changes of colour. Symbolic actions. Bizarre perspectives. A new way of looking at everyday items and interactions. Some moments that recall the old thrill of watching the original "Branded to Kill".The sheer ambition of certain moments is heartening. You think of things like German Expressionism and pop art and say "wow". It's tantalising.This is a film interesting for those people who've followed Suzuki's career and want to see his next experiment in non-realist cinema and storytelling. Unfortunately that's the only level on which this film works.

This movie was a major disappointment. After a decade of retirement, director Seijun Suzuki returns with a "reworking" of his Branded to Kill. He's definitely either lost his touch or was overly influenced by others to push the envelope further on his abstract style.Too many times people try to hide rubbish behind the titles of "abstract" and "artistic style". That won't work here. Suzuki's camera work, settings and editing seem decidedly rusty. The zooms and tilts are awkward. The visuals seem forced, which is a fatal flaw for abstract.So yes, Suzuki retains his abstract style. He just doesn't execute it very well. Maybe he was away from the camera too long. Please see some of his earlier works for clearly superior filmmaking.Adding to the misery is atrocious acting. It takes skill to pull off the detached, unfocused sense of drama required for abstract. So here, more than ever, you need actors with this particular ability. Makiko Esumi is not one. I enjoyed her TV series (one of which single-handedly brought the mini-mini skirt to the forefront in Japan) but she is hopelessly out of her league here. She wouldn't have had the skill to bring Noraneko ("Stray Cat") to life in a well-executed rendition, much less salvage Suzuki's mess here.The rest of the cast, some of who are very skilled in their craft, act just as woodenly. So too much blame should not be cast at Esumi.So, from mind-numbingly boring "death scenes" to borderline pedophilia, this movie is almost certain to disappoint. Unless you are simply determined to be "cool" and decide to chalk all the shortcomings up to "abstract style", stay well away from Pistol Opera.I've never given a zero, and won't start here. I give one point for how good Esumi looked in her modified kimono and boots. I give another for Suzuki sticking with the style all the way through the (far too long) movie, when even he must have realized how badly it was failing.2 out of 10.