is a 2001 Japanese film directed by

Seijun Suzuki , born (24 May 1923 – 13 February 2017), was a Japanese filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter. His films are known for their jarring visual style, irreverent humour, nihilistic cool and entertainment-over-logic sensibility. He made 40 predo ...

and starring

Makiko Esumi Makiko is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: * Makiko Esumi (born 1966), Japanese model, actress, writer, essayist, and lyricist * Makiko Fujino (born 1949), Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party * ...

Storyline

The film's

main character A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

, Miyuki Minazuki, ranked number three in The Assassins Guild, is 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 also treat him as such. 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 a white dress named Sayoko Uekyo. As the movie opens they are in the midst of a conversation where Uekyo asks her if 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 an assassin herself.

Rival assassins

The Teacher - A wheelchair-using, 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 In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

foreigner with a liking for Japanese women and

Japanese theatre This article is an overview of traditional and modern Japanese theatre. Traditional Japanese theatre is among the oldest theatre traditions in the world. Traditional theatre includes Noh, a spiritual drama, and its comic accompaniment ; kabuki, ...

, who feels no pain. In the style of a true surgeon, he favors knives and blades over firearms. Painless Surgeon claims to be in 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 The medulla oblongata or simply medulla is a long stem-like structure which makes up the lower part of the brainstem. It is anterior and partially inferior to the cerebellum. It is a cone-shaped neuronal mass responsible for autonomic (involun ...

, therefore affecting the dying victim's brain nerves, causing them to be dead with the

facial expression A facial expression is one or more motions or positions of the muscles beneath the skin of the face. According to one set of controversial theories, these movements convey the emotional state of an individual to observers. Facial expressions are a ...

of a smile. He uses a firearm, with laser scope. Hundred Eyes rank #1 - A mysterious assassin, no one really knows who he or she is until the climax of the film.

Cast

as Miyuki Minazuki, a.k.a. Stray Cat, a.k.a. Killer No. 3 *

Sayoko Yamaguchi Sayoko Yamaguchi ( Japanese: 山口小夜子, September 19, 1949 – August 14, 2007) was a Japanese model and actress. Yamaguchi was a Yokohama native and a graduate of Sugino Gakuen's Dressmaker Gakuin design school in Tokyo. Yamaguchi ...

as Sayoko Uekyo *

Kirin Kiki (15 January 1943 – 15 September 2018) was a Japanese actress for Japanese cinema and television. Biography Kiki was born on January 15, 1943, in Kanda, Tokyo. Her father was a master of the ''biwa'' lute and a former police officer. Her moth ...

as Minazuki's grandmother * Mikijiro Hira as Goro Hanada, a.k.a. The Champ, a.k.a. the former Killer No. 1 *

Hanae Kan is a Japanese actress. Kan made her film debut in 2001 in ''Pistol Opera is a 2001 Japanese film directed by Seijun Suzuki and starring Makiko Esumi. Storyline The film's main character, Miyuki Minazuki, ranked number three in The Assassin ...

as Sayoko, the young girl *

Kenji Sawada is a Japanese singer, composer, lyricist and actor, best known for being the vocalist for the Japanese rock band The Tigers. Nicknamed because of his self-professed adoration of Julie Andrews, he was born in Tsunoi, Iwami (now part of Totto ...

as Assassin NO.2 * Jan Woudstra as Painless Surgeon, a.k.a. No. 5 *

Masatoshi Nagase is a Japanese actor. He is best known in the West for his roles in Friðrik Þór Friðriksson's ''Cold Fever'' and Jim Jarmusch's ''Mystery Train''. Nagase was described by Todd Brown of Twitch Film as "one of the great unsung heroes of Japane ...

as the Man in Black, a.k.a. Dark Horse *

Haruko Kato was a Japanese actress. Biography Haruko Kato was born in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, on 24 November 1922. After training at acting school, she was signed up with the film production company Toho in 1939, debuting in ' in the same year. She marri ...

as Shizuka Orikuchi

Production

Hanada is not played by

Joe Shishido was a Japanese actor most recognizable for his intense, eccentric yakuza film roles and his artificially enlarged cheekbones. He appeared in some 300 films but is best known in the West for his performance in the cult film '' Branded to Kill'' ...

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.

References

External links

* * * *
Pistol Opera
' at the

Japanese Movie Database The , more commonly known as simply JMDb, is an online database of information about Japanese movies, actors, and production crew personnel. It is similar to the Internet Movie Database but lists only those films initially released in Japan. Y. ...

{{Seijun Suzuki 2001 films 2000s avant-garde and experimental films 2000s crime thriller films Films about contract killing Films directed by Seijun Suzuki Girls with guns films Japanese avant-garde and experimental films 2000s Japanese-language films Japanese sequel films Shochiku films 2000s Japanese films