Review of Millennium Actress (2002) by Bryan G — 10 Mar 2006

[font=Courier New]After purchasing two of Hayao Miyazaki?s films, I was reminded of another great director of anime and one of his best films. Satoshi Kon is right behind Miyazaki as being my favorite anime directors of all time. He may not be as well known over here as Miyazaki, but his work should show the talent of this creative man.

[i]Millennium Actress[/i] is about, well an actress. Chiyoko Fujiwara mysteriously walked off set of her last movie, and never returned to starring in any films. 30 years later, the studio she worked for is about to be demolished. And she has offered to be interviewed by documentary director and huge fan Genya Tachibana. When he arrives, he has a gift for her. It is a small key. It may seem like a simple gift, but it unlocks so much more than Tachibana and his cameraman could have imagined.

This key belongs to her one true love. A man that she has spent her entire life and career searching for. When she begins to reflect on her life, we don?t see everything in flashbacks. The movie does an interesting technique of mixing reality with the films Fujiwara starred in. And the interviewer and his cameraman are brought along for the ride.

Kon uses animation in this film to perfectly blend reality with the motion pictures through each decade this actress starred in. I loved that Tachibana, because of his love of all her films, actually will take over the roles of certain characters during their journey.

This is a beautiful film. It still pains me to hear people say that they hate anime. Even saying the word ?anime? pains me as well. I would like to think that a movie such as this wouldn?t get skipped over since it belongs to a genre title that includes battling robots. Though some of those films are great too.

The movie works as a tribute to the history of Japanese filmmaking. I don?t think any other style than animation could have been used to bring such a marvelous and spectacular piece of work. And if you do end up liking this film, I recommend Satoshi Kon?s [i]Tokyo Godfathers[/i]. Both films are some of the best movies I have ever seen.[/font].