Alternative TitlesSynonyms: Chiyoko Millennial Actress, Millennium Actress Chiyoko, Sennen Joyuu Chiyoko, Sennen Joyu Japanese: ????
Information
Type: Movie
Episodes: 1
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Sep 14, 2001
Duration:
1 hr. 27 min. Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
L represents licensing company
StatisticsScore: 8.321 (scored by 2639 users)
Ranked: #1142
Popularity: #506
Members: 4,188
Favorites: 70 1 indicates a weighted score
My Info
Popular Tags
adventure drama historical romance |
SynopsisWhen Studio Gin'ei commissions filmmaker Gen'ya Tachibana to make a documentary in commemoration of its 70th anniversary, he travels to a secluded mountain lodge to interview the idol of his youth, the enigmatic Chiyoko Fujiwara, who was the studio's leading lady from the 1930s until the 1960s. As Chiyoko reminisces about her life, Tachibana and his cameraman suddenly find themselves on a rich and dazzling journey through time. Chiyoko's films and personal memories intertwine with present events and stretch the boundaries of reality.
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Characters & Voice Actors
Staff
Recommendations
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Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers) seems to maintain a underlying theme in his films. The psychological - reality versus dreamworld plot lines are richly detailed and keep views guessing at every scene change. We'll see if his upcoming "all-ages" film (Dreaming Kids?) continues to follow this 'what is reality?' concept.
Millennium Actress and Paprika share the same thematic core: blurring the borders between fictional projections and reality as we see it. MA blends cinematography with real life events while Paprika unleashes the world of dreams unto our own. Both are imbued with Satoshi Kon's unique flair for the bizarre and take anime as a medium to a whole different level; the stunning visuals fuse perfectly with non-linear plots that immerse the convoluted yet appealing narrative into the fabric of imagery itself.
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At first glance Millenium Actress and Paranoia Agent do not seem to warrant a recommendation. Yet they are two sides of the same mirror: MA explores the lyricism and beauty of escapism and PA exposes the darkest consequences of letting go of reality. Both are imbued with Satoshi Kon's unique flair for the bizarre and impressive imaginary. One complements the other.
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Reviews
| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
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Nov 8, 20081 of 1 episodes seen 16 of 25 people found this review helpful If you shun Millennium Actress simply because you think its the anime equivalent of a chick flick, worse yet, a korean novel, you'll be missing a beautifully told story.
The story takes off and we're sucked into the action, watching as the heroine travels through history and jumps from one movie set to another while making films and chasing after her dream lover. Incidentally the two male interviewers start to appear in the elderly woman's memories as well, observing from the side...lines and commenting on the history happening before them with digital camera in hand. Tachibana is a huge fan of Fujiwara's work, and his comic remarks give us a few more clues into the twists and turns her life has taken, including the mystery surrounding the elusive "key" that would unlock her dreams. Fujiwara's search leads her to dramatic highs and tragic lows as the audience enjoys a roller coaster ride through the actress's sweat and tears.
Along the way Millennium Actress treats us to a number of parodies of film classics. The story opens and closes with a bang in a setting like 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and it borrows an important scene from Kurosawa's Throne of Blood (1957) when the young Fujiwara is cursed by an old lady on a spinning wheel. Later there are glimpses of the Truck Yaro series, action flicks à la Shintaro Katsu and Ken Takakura, and many others.
Kon obviously knows his movies, and as the distinction between Fujiwara's real memories and cinematic memories gets more and more blurred this fictional film history becomes the highlight of the story. If Perfect Blue was partly a lament over the excesses in Japanese visual media today then maybe this is a tribute to what has been lost over the years..
Rather than take the expected route contrasting the mundane, tedious world behind the scenes with the glitter of the finished product, Kon instead takes a psychological approach. All of Chiyoko's films in some way reflect a lifelong unrequited love, and reveal a small clue into understanding why such a talented and popular actress chose self-imposed exile as her career began to decline from period dramas to science fiction quickies. Chiyoko's storytelling is so engrossing that Genya and his assistant literally find themselves drawn into her life, perplexed as they act as costumed extras in her story. The longer Chiyoko talks, the more intertwined her hidden personal life and very public fantasy career become.
So far, so good. But what deep secret could possibly have motivated a leading talent for more than 30 years and led to her premature retirement? The answer, disappointingly, is Chiyoko's brief meeting with an art student when she was a schoolgirl.
To reveal more would totally destroy the magic Kon has worked so lovingly to create. But the discovery that a worldly, talented, successful motion picture talent, who lived through the rise of Japanese imperialism, the horrors of World War II, and the glorious rebirth of Japan in the postmodern era could somehow be psychically bonded to a chance encounter with a stranger in her youth defies comprehension and belief. Even by the sentimental standards of much female-oriented anime, the core of Millennium Actress is exceptionally hollow.
Most of the time, Kon is able to draw our attention away from Chiyoko's ultimate triteness by rapidly changing genres, costumes, and musical styles. Indeed much of the fun of Millennium Actress comes from unexpected contrasts and carefully staged incongruities. This is a movie that would be nearly possible to film on a moderate budget if it were not animated. For that reason, Millennium Actress is worth seeing, though hardly worth seeking out. Kon proved himself to be an exceptionally sensitive and thoughtful director and writer, and I hope that one day in the very near future he will wed his sentimentality to a more deserving vehicle, with more plausible character motivation.
Millennium Actress is a wonderful introduction to anime for those viewers who may not be comfortable with some of the more bizarre elements of the genre. I
t is a tender love story with depth, instantly nostalgic to anyone who has ever chased a dream. We accompany Chiyoko on her journey and celebrate her idea that the journey itself is incredible. Our heart breaks for her, time and again, and we long for her happiness as we trace the lines of her life. Chiyoko is not merely a two-dimensional cartoon character. She exhibits more life, more emotion, and more poise than several current “real” Hollywood actresses and we feel the depth of her moving journey on a deeply personal level. Kon’s film succeeds because it realizes the desire of the audience for connection and purpose, even in film.
Passionate, nostalgic, humorous, entertaining and appropriately melodramatic, Millennium Actress is simply superb. Millennium Actress has the stylistic sophistication of Perfect Blue with the empathy, warmth and truth of a Ghibli movie.
Take my word for it, watch it. You wont be disappointed. read more
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| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
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Jun 10, 20081 of 1 episodes seen 22 of 35 people found this review helpful "What does this key open?" "The most important thing in the world."
STORY - Millennium Actress's story is very simplistic and very sweet. I'm not usually a fan of unquestioning, devotional love, especially to such a crazed, obsessive extent, but the way this movie presents things makes it very easy to like. Just the extent of everything, the lengths to which Chiyoko had been willing to go; all of it was incredible. Even better still, was the id...ea that we in the audience could not know just how much of it was real and just how much of it was fantasy. The lines seem permanently blurred and any one scene might have just as easily been a memory or a dream, especially since all of the recollections are coming at an age where forgetfulness is common, making everything all the more tragic.
The use of movies to convey a fantasy was brilliant, especially considering the story's form as a movie. The way people in the present are thrown into the past (or fantasy) was also a wonderfully creative way to tie the two times together, and there's even a bit of tongue-in-cheek self-commentary on this way of handling things. Really, it's Satoshi Kon's phenomenal storytelling that transforms Millennium Actress's exceedingly simple plotline into a masterpiece.
CHARACTERS - I have mixed feelings about the characters in this movie. I've said before that I'm not a fan of sudden, unquestioning love; thus, I definitely wasn't a fan of the fact that Chiyoko essentially fell into eternal love with a man she'd met once, briefly, for several short hours. At the same time, the extent to which she took this infatuation seemed strangely realistic, despite how incredible it was. Indeed, people obsess over little things all the time, irrelevant people, incidental meetings; there are short moments that they will remember for the rest of their lives, so perhaps it isn't so strange that Chiyoko should cling onto something like that. Besides, it wasn't as if she had thrown her entire life away for the man, even if she did build up everything she had in order for him to see her. Aside from the obsession, I really enjoyed the way the elder Chiyoko was portrayed. It was very believable that she would become a recluse, and the way she told her story, the small revelations that came along with it -- all of it was wonderfully interesting to watch and very touching in the end.
The other characters in the movie are all relatively minor and their characters subsequently less complex. Mostly, their personalities are sculpted so that they contribute directly to moving Chiyoko's story along, whether by acting as antagonists or by wanting to discover more. In the end, I find them more to be tools to help Chiyoko along more than being characters of their own, but in a movie like this, I think that's fine.
ARTSTYLE & ANIMATION - Millennium Actress has some absolutely gorgeous animation. The art style is rather typical of Satoshi Kon, and you'll easily notice that many of his middle-aged and older male characters look startlingly similar across the movies and series he's directed, but the same can be said with a number of other prominant artists and directors. What I loved about the animation itself was how smoothly scene transitions were handled, especially considering that we moved back and forth between present day and past recollection and between reality and movie fantasy constantly. The inclusion of the present day interviewers within flashbacks is one of my favorite touches and really helps weld everything together in the end. It was especially nice too, to see so many different kinds of scenes animated since they were just scenes within Chiyoko's movies.
MUSIC - Maybe I was too wrapped up in the pretty animation and storytelling, but I didn't note very astounding music, though nor did I note anything bad.
VOICE ACTING - I saw this movie subbed. The voices were pretty average for the most part, though I didn't rather enjoy elder Chiyoko's performance for some reason. Her emotion, especially near the end of the movie, was just very touching. :3
OVERALL - I really enjoyed this movie, though if I had just been given a synopsis, I probably wouldn't have been very interested in the first place. Having Satoshi Kon's name attached to it did help though, and I think this is one of the better examples of his works. The way the story was told just changed everything, including the fact that the plot itself was very simple.
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| Overall |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
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Jun 4, 20081 of 1 episodes seen 10 of 18 people found this review helpful Millennium Actress is one of greatest anime films ever. Its combining of art, sound, and emotion make it a true masterpiece that is a thrill to watch.
Millennium Actress has a very interesting storyline and its not in the content of the story necessarily that is exceptionally captivating but it is in the way that the story is told. The story uses a stereogram technique (as stated by film director Satoshi Kon). This technique implies storytelling form many different angles. As th...e movie moves along the viewer is taken through the protagonists movie rolls, but so are the two men who are interviewing her and many of the scenes are integrated within the interview. Its a very difficult storytelling method to do but Satoshi Kon's experience makes it flow very smoothly, still the viewer may be confused in the beginning but you get the swing of it quickly. It is very interesting as this technique takes place throughout the stories many twists and turns through its main characters biography.The art in Millennium Actress is very well done, the characters are not very detailed but the landscapes of the world are done exceptionally well. Each location in the story is done with great care as to ensure historical accuracy and thankfully all the locations are very historically accurate teaching the viewer a thing or two of history along the way as the story moves along from the 20s to WWI to now. The music in the Millennium Actress is a high mark. Its much like the music in Paranoia Agent and Paprika and it blends in perfectly with the many moods of the tale. The music really adds a deep level of emotion to the movie. The characters are great and you really get to learn about them throughout this film. The movie puts an emphasis on each characters own personalities and does them up very well. Millennium Actress is a very enjoyable film. It is always moving along at a fast pace and it does not let up too much. The emotional ending is one of the most powerful endings that I have ever seen and the unique method of storytelling is very interesting if not utterly captivating. It may be a bit hard for some to follow,or too emotional, but it is still one of the greatest animated films that I have yet to see.
Millennium Actress is an exceptional anime movie that is sure to capture any fans heart. The gripping story, the unique music, and the all out emotional roller coaster/biography of Chiyoko's life is everything that makes a great movie. Highly recommended.
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Opening Theme"Chiyoko no Theme Mode-1 (千代子のテーマ MODE-1)" by Susumu Hirasawa
Ending Theme"Rotation [lotus-2]" by Susumu Hirasawa
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