Review of Millennium Actress (2002) by Brooks C — 28 May 2013

After having delivered such classics like Perfect Blue, Satoshi Kon began to prove himself to be a very competent filmmaker. Having made this movie he began to rank up with such mavericks like Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Katsuhiro Otomo, or Makoto Shinkai as one of the masters of Japanese anime. After having seen Millennium Actress I can safely say that Kon has perhaps made his masterpiece.

The plot is hard to summarize, but I'll try my best. Centering around a legendary, yet faded actress named Chiyoko Fujiwara, a lifelong fan turned documentary filmmaker Mr. Tachibana visits her at her residence on the outskirts of Tokyo in hopes of making a documentary chronicling her legacy at the faded Ginei Studios. Upon arrival he gives her the mysterious key that she has long lost after her descent into exile. As the interview commences, Chiyoko, Tachibana, and his bumbling cameraman, Kyoji, are taken on a journey through her life as it flashes before them.

The story to this movie is clever and brilliant. Like a lot of Kon's movies, Millennium Actress tells itself like a movie within a movie. Much of Chiyoko's character development and history is told through manifested flashbacks and random transitions of her past movies. Her story begins as a teenager who constantly lives under the thumb of her domineering mother until she accidentally runs into a mysterious, wounded young stowaway artist who is on his way with his friends to Manchuria during WWII. When he loses his key that he tells Chiyoko is "to the most important thing there is", she begins her career as an internationally traveling actress in hopes of returning that which he lost.

Much of the movies that are presented are indirect references to the many masterful Japanese classics from the golden age of Japanese cinema. The witch, Wraith who deceptively curses Chiyoko resembles the witch from Kurosawa's classic "The Throne of Blood". Each transition goes back to the mysterious key that Chiyoko is so determined to return to the equally mysterious young man. It's this sense of mystery and discovery that makes the story of Millennium Actress both enduring and meditative. One could almost think of this as a Japanese anime rendition of Frederico Fellini's classic "8 1/2".

The animation and music are also top-notch. Having been done by Mad House everything moves smoothly and every detail is wonderfully captured. Since "Ninja Scroll" it does seem like Mad House has always been improving its technical aspects while operating with the given boundaries of anime. As time goes on, these boundaries are starting to expand more and more.

I really love how Kon uses these fourth wall plot devices to fully develop his characters and absolutely appropriate music to engulf the viewer. I suppose that since his best works like "Paprika", "Paranoia Agent", and "Perfect Blue" use these same layouts within their given stories they perhaps reflect Kon's passion for making movies. I can't say that I blame him for having such an enthusiasm since he has made hit piece after hit piece.

Millennium Actress is like a meditative celebration of the golden age of Japanese cinema in the guise of a fantasized love story. Movies can be looked at as a form of honesty from their makers in exposing the innermost feelings. It's a crying shame that Kon's career was short-lived. In honor of such a visionary anime director and one of my personal favorites, I say that Millennium Actress is a movie that along with Miyazaki's "Spirited Away" one cannot afford to miss.