After reviewing the lowest and crudest of animations, I needed something to reaffirm my love for animation and filmmaking. For that I turned to one of my favorite directors, the late Satoshi Kon. Kon is responsible for some of the most creative feats of storytelling in recent memory, most of which deal with altered perceptions of reality. The man is responsible for my all time favorite movie, Paprika, which takes a visually stunning journey through dreams as they merge with reality. He created Paranoia Agent, a surreal and horrifying trip through the psyche of the population as they deal with a string of assaults. He told the story of Perfect Blue which follows a young idol as she is slowly driven to the brink of madness by a stalker, her world literally crumbling around her. I haven't seen Tokyo Godfathers yet, but it is next on my list. I am absolutely in love with Kon's movies and how they play with the viewer's understanding of reality in such a visually magnificent way. The bar was high.
The movie deals with a director Genya Tachibana and his jaded cameraman as they conduct an interview with and elderly famed actress (and Genya's hero) Chiyoko Fujiwara. As she recounts the events of her life, the two interviewers find themselves taking part in the events as they are told, filming Chiyo as a child in 1930 when she has a fateful encounter with a painter on the run from the fascist government. He gives her a key "to the most important thing in the world" but flees to elude capture. Chiyoko is determined to meet him once more, and accepts a role in a film set in Manchuria, based on a rumor that he may be there. She begins her acting career, forever trailing the mysterious man in the hopes of returning the key. As the film progresses, Chiyoko's story is interwoven with that of the movies she stars in. Her quest to return the key is told indirectly, with her movie plots serving to advance the story of Chiyoko's life. She goes through noir dramas, samurai battles, and World War Two as the line between her movies and real life is blurred, twisted, and broken. All the while Genya follows her, helping her at every turn as different characters in the movies he watched growing up that he always wanted to be in.
When watching Millennium Actress, the first thing that hits you are the colors. Paprika was an explosion of bright and fantastic colors that really sold the viewer on the dream motif. Millennium Actress takes the opposite route, with a dulled pallet that immediately harkens to the early days of cinema. Each movie has such a rich tone to it that one will never get bored of simply admiring the scenery. The mood is spot on, with the atmosphere lending itself well to a personal story set in 1930-50 Japan. I was surprised that one of the strongest parts of the movie were the costumes. For an animation to pay such attention to making such beautiful clothing for each type of movie is utterly fantastic, and is something that I have not seen in any other movie. Many times while watching I was tempted to pause and just look at the screen, as every shot was layed out spectacularly, and I could stare at the costumes and colors all day.
Of course I didn't pause, because I was far too engrossed in the animation and story. The movement of the characters is off the charts, trumping even Miyazaki's work at points by a long shot. The film features many dynamic running scenes as Chiyoko chases the man between movie genres. Each one is beautiful, and special attention was given to the movement of hair as characters ran, making it look realistic in a way I have never seen before. A drawer or illustrator shows material by how it reacts with light, using shadows to give it weight and texture. In animation, it is impossible to put that amount of detail into every frame, so the only way to tell the audience what type of material something is made of is by how it moves. Kon's mastery of animation made it easy to tell that this coat was made of leather, while this was made of thin, slippery cloth. Even the key, hung around Chiyoko's neck, bounced with astounding realism as she ran. I don't hesitate to say that this film is a triumph in animation.
Millennium Actress excels in so many ways, I won't even bother nitpicking for flaws to list. I don't want to do anything to dissuade you from seeing this movie. An amazing story that is easy to connect which leads to an emotionally thrilling climax. A brilliant visual style that creates unique atmospheres every 20 minutes that I could spend a lifetime in. Satoshi Kon's signature of tweaking one's perception of reality in an intelligent and fascinating way. There is no reason not to see this movie. It is something that I know I will be watching again and again.
Millennium Actress: 9.5/10
