Millennium Actress

Something different but 120% worth your time.

My third film from director Satoshi Kon and there's only one more to review after this, but I will go on the record and say this nearly toppled Tokyo Godfathers as my favorite of his. You know how much I love that movie. But Millennium Actress very much like Perfect Blue is such a different and unique beast in the spectrum of anime and movies period, centering around an interview of an acclaimed actress named Chiyoko from a now bygone studio as we see her career and thusly her life while she tries to find the one who got away and took her heart with them. It sounds like a movie that could be made just as easily in live action but there is no way in hell that it could have an ounce of the character, style, and visuals potrayed here. Sweet beautiful gods, directors wish they could have transitions as good as this movie! I mean, wow. And really that's the biggest reason to watch this movie though the story is engaging and the characters work incredibly well, this movie has such a visual flare and zest. The interview crew consisting of just two people are interwoven in her story, you see this JVC tape camera in the 1940s, you see the interviewer interact with Chiyoko and influence the flow of the story. But it's not all literal, you see that they just go off on tangents and make believe like kids would do as she tells chapters of her life. I can't name another movie that has ever done that before or since and this movie came out in 2001 so it's nearly 20 years old and it could have been released last year, it looks that good. The animation style is grounded but still has those dashes of color and movement that warrant it to be animated, which lends more personality to the film. The score is sublime, very rarely used but when a big moment happens and something important occurs it is excellent, like buy that on a CD right damn now! The voice cast is on point, with 3 different actresses playing Chiyoko and all bring a new edge to the character as it should be since we see her from a very young girl to a silver haired woman. The film even ended perfectly just like I wanted it to, that never happens very often. I may give this a 10/10. Yes, Tokyo Godfathers is my favorite but the quality and storytelling has to really be given gold stars across the board. I can't think of even a single thing that seemed off to me let alone a bad element of the production. Screw it, 10/10! 4 stars, check it out! I have such an appreciation and love for this movie, and I genuinely hope others do too. Sometimes a walk down memory lane is a journey of a lifetime.