Pistol Opera

What counts isn't the convoluted plot or exotic characters -- it's the brilliance of Suzuki's cinematic style, articulating the action with eye-boggling color and split-second editing effects.

Suzuki has made the ultimate meta-movie, a self-parodying, surrealist gangster daydream as intoxicating and insubstantial as an absinthe swoon.

There's style and panache to spare. Mournful jazz adds to the mood.

Insanely likable but suffers from anemia.

The audacious finale, which plays out in a wholly symbolic realm, will leave even the most adventurous moviegoers scratching their heads. See it with a friend; you'll appreciate the second opinion.

If Pistol Opera turns out to be Suzuki's swan song, instead of just an anticlimactic comeback, no one can claim he didn't go out on his own stubborn terms.

So now that I’ve seen one of “the master’s” films, I still can’t tell you what the appeal is. Pistol Opera is unique for sure, it just never made me want to follow it down its strange path.