Ranked #164

Millennium Actress

Millennium Actress is a wonderfully crafted story about a fateful encounter of a young girl and how it shaped the rest of her life. Though I am always a little hesitant about awarding such high marks to anything, this movie was one of the most riveting and unique anime experiences I have had.

The story follows a pair of filmmakers who are interviewing a famous actress who has been retired for many years to celebrate the studio's 70th anniversary. Millennium Actress features one of the most original story telling methods I have seen. We see the majority of the movie told through the actresses various movie roles. We shift from feudal Japan, World War 2, and a futuristic moon base, amongst others. You are never actually sure what is real and what is the movie all the time. I also found it interesting that the two filmmakers were always observers during the entire process. Their presence provided an interesting way of narrating the story and kept the viewer from getting confused by the constantly changing scenery.

Though many will perhaps not be able to relate to Chiyoko's devotion to a man that she hardly knew anything about, I still never felt as though it was too farfetched. Whether or not she truly loved him the way one might feel for a lover is beside the point. Her love is what shaped the remainder of her life and allowed her to accomplish the things she had. I think this is summed up best by her last lines from the film when she comments that finding him was not that important, because it was the chase that she loved the most.

The two filmmakers Genya and Kyoji provide a nice anchor for the viewer. Of the two Genya is the most important and as the story unfolds we learn about his past and why he idolizes Chiyoko. As for the object of Chiyoko's devotion we really learn little about him other than has ultimate fate. I think it was a good decision from a storytelling standpoint because his mysterious nature was what kept her looking for him.

The art was really exceptional. There were sometimes that some of the backgrounds looked like actual photographs and perhaps they were but they seamlessly fit in with the rest of the animation. The film as does a wonderful job at portraying many different settings. Everything feels so authentic from the prewar Japan costumes and architecture to the 50s styling and fashions.

Overall I really can’t recommend this movie enough. I don’t think its appeal is limited to just shoujo and romance fans. Give this movie an hour and a half, you will be glad you did!
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Ever wonder of how people ever get to live day by day during the 1900s -- when during those years, revolutionized wars and the fast pace of time difference per era changed the living and independency of every person?

Years have gone by and drastic changes to our society makes living during the olden era strained of its liberty. I'm so amazed of how our grandparents still able to live at their own two feet with the haunted memories still buried in their minds.

As they say, "love knows no boundaries". The movie excels in showing of how love moves beyond time, age, rank and distance -- and being able to touch audiences of what goes beyond than your normal typical romance shows makes this movie worth watching.

Story: 9
Set in the time during the 1900s, the movie delivers perfect scenes of how the events went by during that century. 1900s, when the time being in movies was a revolutionizing move to serve your society -- the millennium actress was born. In total aspect of its deliver in its historical background alone is really amazing -- depicting a flawless comparison of how much the history of one country suffered such great losses. But then beyond the conflicts and society changes, people are still able to live a "normal" yet strict life. Behind all the constant changes and harsh actions, people will still live as individuals who possesses emotions and that's how this movie excels the most. The balance of the chaotic wars, time change and survival of every individual with the emotional state of how people used to live shows how much this movie can do. The pacing of the anime starts real slow as the impression of on what you may think is just a normal 90s-look anime starts to surface. But then, as the anime starts to develop and progress you'll start to know the beauty in it. In over-all, the story shows one's passion can withstand all the trouble and hardships -- most especially during the 1900s when the independency of a citizen is at its peak point. Chiyoko's strive and will to keep moving on pictures how "love" is the strongest thing on this planet. Truly emotional and beautiful -- definitely you can learn a lot of the historical past just by watching this movie.

Art: 9
The art in itself shows you how old this anime is. I think the art adds a bit of flare to the setting -- making it look more old like. Seeing how Chiyoko runs during the snow, how the historical costumes are in full detail, the beautiful colors flourished in the anime -- what a sight to see. You'll just admire the art beauty in its full form and just imagine of how much detailed and probably all the research they did just to make the art and animation resemble the olden times.

Sound: 9
The music, definitely adds more of its emotional side of the movie -- making me cry a thousand times more. You can definitely sense some historical past in the music too. Especially that "running part" -- wow the beautiful animation just exploded with an epic music. Making it sound like you're in a movie theater. I have a dare for you -- when you watched the movie do listen to "Prince of Key by Susumu Hirasawa". You'll feel amaze at how this song will move you. The voice actors and actresses in the other hand did a job well done. You can actually feel their emotions.

Character: 8
You think the characters you'll be seeing once is unimportant? One person changes your life -- evil or not. The characters are well thought since the beginning of the movie and as the movie progresses it'll give you the development of each character's personality and their connection to Chiyoko. After watching the movie, I've felt so attached with Chiyoko that after the movie ended I just laid back with tears hoping the movie never ended.

Enjoyment: 10
Do you know that feeling after watching a movie and you just lay back and feel like the world is so beautiful? That's how I felt with this movie. The movie is moved with emotions, historical themes and a beautiful romantic feeling. I think this is the most romantic movie I've ever watched -- as it surpasses the normal cliché kinds. What I enjoyed the most is at how much all the scenes connect by the movie and the movie ends beautifully. I felt emotionally drained, historically amazed and over-all impressed with all the criteria fitting perfectly in a movie.

Over-all: 9
What is love? The movie shows how love can move mountains and let the audience experience the true beauty of hard work, love and life. Millennium Actress -- takes up a simple life story to something that will take you to a country's historical past and to the true meaning of love. Watch the movie in full isolation, with no distractions and I'm sure you'll see how amazing the movie is. read more