Sennen Joyuu

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!

"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 idea 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.

The camera zooms towards a slowly-expanding earth from the eyes of the outer Celestials; it glides closer and closer until finally reaching stasis on a face bidding goodbye to her present domain.

As liftoff begins, the heroine speaks her last lines as the shot fades from the heart-clenching scene to a cluttered office, where one man watches the same scene on his little desk-television. Interrupted by the call of his coworker, he rewinds the tape and the one scene changes into a montage of the actress’s life - in reverse.

These scenes and the actress in them, the man watching the actress, and the co-worker beckoning the ... man ultimately become the driving force of one of Satoshi Kon’s cinematic masterpieces titled Sennen Joyuu (or Millennium Actress).

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Cast for the lead star of this intricate narrative is Chiyoko Fujiwara: a fictional actress of the past whose name once rested on every citizen’s breath, who has now surrendered fame for a private and reclusive life.

Yet, her isolation hasn’t left her forgotten; as the film moves with the aforesaid ‘man’ named Genya Tachibana (a producer), and his somewhat aloof camera-man, Ida Kyoji, who set out to interview and document the now-aged Fujiwara. The film wastes no time in frivolity as the seekers find the sought and meekly, in their own star-struck daze, ask for a humble interview.

The demure, soft-spoken actress – eyes filled with nostalgic wonder– surprisingly accepts and begins to iterate her story. The scene fades from the present-day home of Fujiwara where the three are sitting cozily, blanketed by the serenity of her presence, to a snowy day many decades in the past where both Genya and Kyoji physically walk through the memories of Fujiwara’s youth as she remembers…her past as a girl and as a woman as she recalls her the path to stardom.

As her memories solidify, Fujiwara begins to recount the personal and historical events with supplementary and insightful commentary from her interviewers. This is all set on a grand stage by Kon who ingeniously parallels the reality of Fujiwara’s fading memories and the fantastical culmination of it all relating to her pursuit of one man. Her chance encounter with a revolutionary and the love he transpires within her becomes the foundation of the film. It is a sublime, subtle achievement that actualizes the passion of one’s woman’s love, as she chases her beloved throughout time and place.

Unbounded by reality, her motives and actions may initially seem unfathomable and even, foolish, but that is the essence of love in all its power to will absurdity. Still, many may find her character unappealing or even trope-y of the tragic romance queen or yet-another-empty-vessel-of-a-woman-only-to-exist-for-a-man. However, all qualms will be gracefully dispelled as the film cannot be solely undermined by gender complaints of a shallow characterization, because what the film aims to be, what Fujiwara ultimately becomes and shows us, is far grander than reducing the film to a superficial love story. Furthermore, Kon’s films are never about complex characterization, but using unremarkably simple characters to tell a grand story with deeply-rooted themes; a marriage of style and substance, where style irrefutably becomes substance.

Even then, there is a subtle familiarity to be found in her obscure romance which is illuminated by its ambiguity, beautified by its innocence, and engaging due to its complete grasp on the psyche of both Fujiwara and the events that follow: the events that define a millennium of history and the actress who defines a millennium.

Fujiwara’s love is the driving point for her, but not the entire focus of the film as Kon paints pictures-a-many, and with each progressive frame, the romance falls back into the periphery and something more [un]real, more ubiquitous, more opaque takes the reigns. With the passage of time, Kon reveals to us the transitory nature of love, the dissipating and ever-changing landscape of society, the dichotomy of fantasy and reality, the evolution of cultural trends and cinematic progressivism, the sanctity of memories, and lastly, the history that brought it all together, during one place, spaced out in centuries through numerous films, with Fujiwara as our first-person guide.

Essentially, what Kon presents to us is an extremely imaginative work that can be viewed from multiple perspectives, but what it can be seen from one angle as is a tale of impassioned human will - lost in its own irrationality and driven by its incongruity - with no threshold or limitation, which provides to be the perfect base for a tale drenched in fantasy just as much as it is in reality.

As she tumbles through many roles, she fuses her own desires to find love, and her passion becomes engrained in every role that she plays. Yet the bewildering success she garners from this never satisfies her. The thrill ‘was’ really in the chase, and though something unattainable was the product of that chase, it never stops her: and that is the essence of Fujiwara’s story and the canvass on which Kon paints his masterpiece of epic proportions.

One caveat of this film that has been argued is its homogenized appeal said to be geared only for the Japanese viewer. The reason being is because this film may feel uninviting and be stifling at times, especially with the historical contextualization or the character dynamic between Tachibana and Fujiwara which is somewhat reminiscent of a romanticized otaku-idol dynamic, or even the overall sentiments and feel of the film which is very much rooted in Japanese culture and iconography.

However, as a non-Japanese viewer I can confidently assert that there is still much to be loved. From the extravagant homages to various directors, films, and icons to the sympathetic characters to the artistic-directorial skill; there is something extremely universal about this film that extends beyond the scope of any one nation and thus debilitates any claim of a homogeneous appeal. It’s a work with unfathomable scope and ambition that will resonate on multiple levels, whether it be absorbed as a film of impassioned love, or coming to terms with one’s ghosts from the past, or a technical production of the highest cinematic caliber, or just an entertaining mélange of myth and history told through reels. Regardless of how one approaches it, it is hard to deny the merit and absolute talent that constitutes this film, no matter where one hails from.

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The focus reverts to the initial frame: of Fujiwara staring into the camera, dressed in her astronautic gear. It pans out as her rocket blasts off as she takes her final odyssey into space.

The camera rescinds into the background, with the lights coming to a stand-still, and the reel finally stops.

The cosmos is silent…

Yet the legacy of Chiyoko Fujiwara in Millennium Actress continues to shine not in just its world, but also ours.

Minor spoilers ahead.


Millennium Actress is a film that can easily be called great. It is outwardly audacious and seemingly gorgeous in nature.

Though in reality, Millennium Actress seems like it would be praised as long as the aesthetics are nice, the plot is not straightforward and that it is directed by Satoshi Kon. Not only are the fans often completely oblivious of any criticisms, but their belief that this movie is a magnum opus also won't change because of what was mentioned (as ridiculous as it sounded). About it being a faultless masterpiece, I beg to differ.

The story is downright average and uninspiring. That said, the ... story has a heart, with an intention that remains clear and consistent. Unfortunately, this is also one of my biggest gripes - the movie is rather 'static' for what is essentially labyrinth of a narrative, which is totally incongruous (and more on that later), and has virtually nothing to anticipate other than “does the actress meet her love?”, which is kind of a dull two-sides-of-a-coin. Nevertheless, the movie still manages to feel complete because of its 'heart'. Also, paying homage to Japanese cinema is no good excuse for an average story, though it's nice and somewhat exciting to feel such radiated, genuine affection of Kon towards the rich cinema history.

As briefly stated, the execution is poor. As thin and uninspiring as the story was, the execution did not do much to embrace it. To regurgitate what I said, it's not brilliant to have an abstruse narrative for a story so simple, quixotic even, hence the incongruity. Much of what Kon does was dragging the weak storyline for an hour and a half. For a story with barely any philosophical weight nor plot development, the messy confusing narrative didn't make it more "complex", only pretentious. “But it merges reality with memories...”, sure. I understand that by the end of the actress’ life, she can recall the events so vividly and can’t differentiate what’s real and what isn't; yet forasmuch as this whole sequence solely focuses on that concept alone without even bother to have a wider, or deeper reach, it gives the audience no insights or depth other than the actress' very simplistically discernible state of mind. Perhaps, this would've been so much more effective had the emergence not just taken up such a big chunk from the movie. When an idea so superficial being told this grandiosely, it will inevitably give the impression of self-indulgence. And to make matters worse, dragging it out wears out any novelty. The narrative, while somewhat impressive, not only lacks depth, but precisely because it lacks depth that it also comes off as pretentious.

The characters, I guess, are fine. They're fun and likable enough to lead the audience till the end, but none of them are really remarkable. Some parts of the scripts are honestly so corny though. I could forgive everything these hombres say throughout the movie, but even the very last line? It’s a corny melodrama kick in the gut. It literally just goes to prove my view on how the movie is as shallow as it could get, and yet with sprinkles of striking but empty visual storytelling, Kon manages to make it seem perplexing, yet not actually so.

That said, the tone did make the experience somewhat endearing. It's difficult to fully criticize Kon because the man was such a talented romanticist in this film. Kon knows exactly how and when to utilize comedic relief, or to build our expectations up for an emotional impact. So thanks to that, the story flows quite seamlessly. Still, this is insufficient as a saving grace for an overall poorly-written and executed movie.

But, if we really stop bothering about Kon's excuse of a story, we are left with what is probably Kon's true intention - a heartfelt love letter to Japanese cinema, elevated and, without reservedness, expressed via the exercise of exhibiting grand, unbounded audiovisuals. The animation is flawless and the attention given to the art is nothing short of stellar. The music is pretty good and generally well used. I have no real complaint about the production value and perhaps would even more than enthusiastically sing praises to the aesthetics alone.

Again, though, this movie is subpar in almost every other way. Satoshi Kon is definitely not a hack, however refutably overrated, for he has demonstrated his genuine competence in composing his own coups such as Perfect Blue and Tokyo Godfathers, and even glimpses of greatness here and there in Millennium Actress. Nevertheless, the self-indulgent and bafflingly convoluted narrative has made Millennium Actress his weakest work that I’ve experienced so far. Mind you, this movie used to hold a 10 on my list for quite some time, so I do understand all the worshipping. Yet have I verily changed my mind to thus give my sincere final verdict upon this movie: How corny.

Satoshi Kon's "Millennium actress" is a breathtakingly brilliant film. It was so breathtaking that I'm still in awe and I feel forced to write my life's first unconditionally positive review.

What primarily needs to be noted here is that it is brilliant as a work of art, and not only as a piece of entertainment. It is clearly a traditional cinema movie, not an "anime" of the type Westerner is accustomed to. As such you shouldn't expect almost any typical elements you learned to adore in the works you treasure in your anime list. It's also not advisable to judge the movie by classical MAL ... categories, especially in "Story" and "Character" sections. "Sennen Joyuu" doesn't tell any substantial story. Ok, it does, to a degree, it can be potentially described as simplistic yet gripping romance melodrama. And I saw the movie advertised that way by many people. But it is doing the movie a great injustice, because simplistic story is certainly not its main goal.

The movie is rather an unusually skillful meta-narrative, it is the story about stories, tropes and plot devices, about what role they play in each individual's life and how powerful driving force they can be, despite being simplistic. And it focuses on very specific types of stories - on these told using cinema as a medium, thus on numerous different cinema genres at once. As such film "Millennium actress" pays homage to many (mostly Japanese, but not only) movies. While it is not necessary to pick up references to these films, if one is able to pick at least some of them (fortunately some will be rather obvious) it enhances the viewers' enjoyment. On a side note - Japanese cinematic references notwithstanding, it's probably the most culturally Western anime I've ever watched, second being, by peculiar coincidence, Paprika by the same director.

The movie doesn't indulge itself in character portrayal much either - you shouldn't expect captivating protagonists or antagonists or development thereof. Or again, to an extent you should, because, as I noted before, on the surface level it's the story about the journey in search of love. But as a meta-movie it's more about how the character is created (or how she creates herself) in act of being portrayed.

"Millennium actress" is also kind of an ironic proof that anime is sort of ghetto medium. The movie is apparently in love with "cinema" as a whole, even more with "live action cinema" than specifically with "animation", yet it itself is animation. And I'm afraid it's the main reason it's not as notable as it could be.

But what it's so great about "Millenium actress" that it should be so notable? What comes to mind immediately - It is told by using intertwining layers of different narratives coming from different movies thrown together into individual scenes in an exceptionally masterful way. Every passage from scene to scene, from layer to layer and simultaneously from style to style is smooth and barely noticeable, yet with every turn it creates entirely different reality. And through different turns the story remains coherent and never looses itself on anything unneeded. What's interesting, these ever-changing sceneries gave the creators chance to make the movie even casually entertaining - it contains for example genuine action sequences and even comedic reliefs. That combined with all these setting changes practically excludes possibility of boredom.

Art style closely follows every turn of the scenery - it recreates all different movie genres in their own unique style, often adding some distinctive touch. It's creative and pure pleasure to watch. The soundtrack of "Millennium actress" may be not as infinitely exceptional as the whole movie but still it is pretty much perfect. It resonates with the viewer, it fits the mood of the scenes and it stays in the head after ending.

The movie has also the trait of being simple yet complex. My analysis of the movie is not necessarily the single correct one, the movie stays open to many others. The film provokes the viewer to come up with her own interpretation, without forcing anything on her. Yet it's not vaguely about everything and it gives the viewer strong sense of fulfillment.

The only flaw one could find in the movie is that its unrestricted love for cinema results in film being in love with itself and becoming self-absorbed in playing with different settings and references to other famous works. The movie is by no means bombastic in it, so I didn't find it pretentious. But still, someone could complain about it. And one can possibly call such type of film parasitic or even fundamentally empty - it's not great on its own, its greatness manifests when it plays with genres and conventions, when it builds its world, its story and its moral from borrowed pieces.

Although I'd understand such objections I personally don't regard such flaws as diminishing my final reception. I think that they are inevitable consequences of creator's choices, of what this movie intends to be. I find such movies important and I cherish them immensely. I mention these para-flaws as a warning for people who don't particularly like post-modern self-obsessed meta-narratives - they definitely won't find in "Millenium Actress" anything worth special acclaim. For all the others - it's truly magnificent. Check it out ASAP.

Millennium Actress is a movie that shows us that remembering the past and reliving the past might actually be the same thing.

Story: 10

*THIS SECTION OF MY REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS. Here I'm going to mostly do some hardcore analysis of the themes of the movie, so if that's not your thing then feel free to skip this section. Just leave knowing that I think the story is hard to follow on a first viewing, but if you like stuff that makes you think, then this movie is definitely for you. If you want a movie to relax and watch mindlessly, then this is ... not for you.*

In a way, there are two stories in this movie. The first is the surface-level story. The surface-level story is that two guys approach the titular character in order to make a documentary about her life as a famous actress. She tells them the story of her life, which seems to come alive to the viewer. The theme of her life is that she loved some guy and was basically chasing him for her entire life. She did this all the while becoming Japan's most famous actress.

The other story, the "meta" story, is the one that only the movie-watcher has access to (and the characters when they are, in a way, breaking the fourth wall). The meta-story is actually more of a reflection on the nature of recollection, and one's relationship with the past. The key to understanding this story comes from Chiyoko's statement near the end of the movie, when she thanks the interviewers for asking her about her life; she says she enjoyed talking to them, and it felt like her younger self had come alive again.

That last idea is the key to this movie. One can speak poetically about the nature of recollection, that one "relives" one's past, that one feels "alive again" when one remembers the past, etc. It seems that in this movie Satoshi Kon (the director) gives these phrases a visual meaning. If I had to guess what it is the audience is seeing when they watch this movie, I would say it is the content of Chiyoko's mind as she tells her story. In her mind, her life and her career as an actress are one, and overlapping in many places. In her mind she can freely jump from one place in time to another, as she recalls each movie she was in and each major event in her life, and see how they all relate. What further confirms this for me is how, in her past, she sees her future self, all old and withered (with that spinning wheel), which appears as a ghost. This ghost did not really exist in her past, which confirms for us that we are not seeing the actual past, but the past as it has been constructed by Chiyoko who is currently telling us a story. The ghost appears in the story to represent Chiyoko's current feelings about her past. That is why the ghost is able to say "I hate you more than I can bear, and I love you more than I can bear." Chiyoko hates her past self for dwelling on an unrequited love and suffering for all those years, for basically no reason. And yet Chiyoko also loves her younger self for her capacity to love, and to feel alive because of it.

At the very end of the movie, Chiyoko basically says that she didn't really love the man, she loved chasing after him. The basically resolves the tension in Chiyoko, and makes for a basically satisfying ending to her character development. This amount to self-acceptance: coming to terms with her life and being okay with it. Her life was basically chasing this man. In saying that she loved the chase, she's saying she can finally love herself. One can almost imagine the old hag with the spinning wheel disappearing in a cloud of dust after Chiyoko makes this statement.

So in the end, I think the meta story is this: the movie provides a visual representation of Chiyoko's phenomenological experience of recollecting her past. She feels alive when she remembers, and so her memories actually come to life in the film. When we recollect, we are also telling a story to ourselves. I think this is the significance of Chiyoko being a movie actress. Making a movie is telling a story. So when Chiyoko tells the interviewers about her life, she is doing something very similar to acting. This is another way in which she is reliving her past. This is why her movies mix into the story as well. Thus what the audience sees is a mixture of Chiyoko's memories, her movies, and her actual life. The key Chiyoko owns is the key which unlocks her memories, her past, and her love. That is why the key is the key to the most important thing. It is essentially the key to her heart, which includes her memories and love, etc.

Art: 8

The art is very colorful. If you like more abstract and surreal kinds of art, then you will probably enjoy looking at this movie. It has a slightly older art style, being made in the early 2000's. It also uses limited animation, so less than 24 fps and there are times when only the mouths are moving, fore example, and some of the backgrounds are pretty simple. But overall this is still higher quality than a lot of older animes. There are times when the fps seems to get better and the art improves as well. So overall I'd say the animation is better than average but not stellar. The beauty of the art can make up for what is lacking in actual animation.

Sound: 10

This movie has an awesome OST by Susumu Hirasawa. Really great stuff. The music really matches the visuals in the sense that both are kind of fantastical and surreal and magical. The voice acting is also good. No complaints here. I also remember some specific instances where the sound effects sounded particularly good as well, like when a character is running and slips, or when a key hits a glass or something.

Character: 8

The characters are interesting for the most part, though they aren't super-likable in the way anime characters are in a lot of other shows or movies. They aren't super cute or over the top or anything. They are basically normal old people. I think you will like them to the extent that you are able to identify with people who are unlike you. So for instance, I'm a young American guy but the main character is an old Japanese lady. How much can we possibly have in common? The viewer will be able to identify with her to the extent that he/she realizes that Chiyoko's experiences are very human and transcend cultural barriers. The film does say something about human nature in general. If the viewer is able to appreciate that, then he will start to identify with and love the characters. So, the characters aren't exciting in the sense that they are living super extraordinary lives or that we have a lot in common with them on the surface level. They are interesting because of their life experience, they are fairly well-developed, and what their story/dialogue tells us about ourselves.

Enjoyment: 8

I mark down this category simply because I think this movie works more as an intellectual exercise more than straight entertainment. The first time I watched this movie, a lot of the themes went over my head. It's stuff that you will likely miss on a first viewing. In that sense, the movie is really hard to follow, and so it loses a lot of entertainment value in that respect. It is still possible to enjoy the surface level story, the art, the music, its overall artistry, etc. The romance is enjoyable enough though not super original. What really makes this movie unique is its meta story and its themes. But like I said, this can really go over your head. Without the meta story, what remains is a better than average romance movie which can only entertain one so much.

Overall: 9

In terms of creativity and themes and all that, this movie approaches the level of masterpiece. The more I think about this movie, the more brilliant it seems. It is put together so well. The whole idea behind the meta story seems quite brilliant to me. The only flaws are perhaps a limited budget, and the fact that it sacrifices entertainment for complexity to a certain extent. And yet this is subjective. There are some who straightforwardly enjoy complexity, but there are others who don't. So really what I'm saying is that this is a movie which will probably never have universal appeal in the way that something like a Miyazaki movie can have universal appeal. It is too complicated for universal appeal. But it is not so complicated that it can win the hearts of a fairly wide audience. Again, this is near masterpiece level stuff here, I think. Give it a shot if it sounds like anything else you've ever liked.

As I hinted in my 5/cm review, I’m not really a fan of Millennium Actress. I don’t dislike it, but in the four years since I first watched, I find that I just can’t summon much enthusiasm for it. Even though it’s lauded by many critics as one of the finest pieces of animation to come from Japan, and many anime elitists consider it to be perfect in about every way, it never occupies my mind for long and all I can do whilst watching it is go “whatever”. It didn’t do a thing for me when I first saw it, and even when I ... rewatched it after reading other reviews that highlighted how great it was, I had as much of a reaction to it as I do whenever I watch a ninja movie. Or Election 2016 candidate speeches.

But I guess before I can really delve into this movie, I should say what it’s about. Well, Millennium Actress is “about” how much you can stretch an incredibly shallow premise with all sorts of technicals without changing the core of the story is what it is. The film focuses on an old retired actress named Chiyoko, who is visited by a group of TV interviewers to discuss why she has chosen to live in seclusion at the peak of her career, causing her to reminisce about the past. Throughout the past, we learn that the reason she chose to become an actress in the first place was to pursue a young revolutionary she helped escape from the police, who left with a key with her because…um…love at first sight? It was the old days, so I’ll swallow it. Anyways, the film is basically about her life throughout the different time periods interspersed with the camera crew occasionally being a part of said flashbacks because what would a Satoshi Kon film be without a little reality-bending? Although unlike his other stuff, I don’t have a clue why the reality-bending is in this movie in the first place.

Is it supposed to be clever? Is it supposed to add to the narrative in a meaningful way? Is it supposed to be funny? There was one cut when the camera showed what the characters were really acting like during a war scene, but that only got a smirk out of me because that joke has never been all that strong to begin with. Was there any reason you couldn’t just tell the story straight-forward like in Tokyo Godfathers? Did you have to be the anime version of The Fountain except not as good?

Actually, comparing Millennium Actress to The Fountain isn’t all that fair because the latter came out five years after the former. Still, it doesn’t change the fact that the two are very similar in regards to how they tell their story from the time-jumping to the historical aesthetics to the fact that they’re both movies about love told throughout a long span of time. The difference is that The Fountain has a definitive message with a definitive ending regarding the cycles of death and how ultimately it’s something we can’t fight and live in constant fear of. And another difference is that ironically, many people hate the movie, including the critics. Millennium Actress, on the other hand, is about…um…the endless pursuit of love? Yeah, because that’s a story that deserves a “what is real and what isn’t” treatment, isn’t it? But that’s not really the big issue here. The big issue is this: why am I watching a movie with low ambitions like pursuing a man you barely know even when you get old to the point that the guy couldn’t possibly be alive?

There’s some other issues I have with the movie, but for the most part, it’s all going to come down to that one giant niggle: it’s an unambiguously simplistic story that just happens to be told really well. And sure, I watch anime just as much for the aesthetics and the “how” as I do the “what”. But I favor the last one a fair bit more than I favor the first two, because if I didn’t, I’d be a fan of those Mass Effect/Dragon Age games, and that’s about as far from my preference in storytelling as you can possibly get when I’m not laughing at how bad the facial work is in them. The fact of the matter is that there’s nothing all that definitive in Millennium Actress, and just to twist its well-constructed components further, the buildup isn’t very interesting either. None of the characters aside from Chiyoko have much to them aside from supporting her in any way they can, making them a little boring in the process, and the story is conveyed by going through different movie set pieces the same way Ryan Murphy goes through different media projects. Yes, they’re nice to look at and I appreciate all the detail gone into portraying them accurately and how they represent time passing in Chiyoko’s life, but the film doesn’t exactly say anything definitive about movies in general other than “this is how it was back then”. Interesting trivia, but nothing that affects the core too much.

So I never really buy into the importance of what’s going on. Sure there’s the fact that Chiyoko was doomed to never be able to reunite with the guy, but that’s inherently tragic by nature in regards to these types of stories and using that for your conflict is like utilizing the actual death of a cancer victim in your hospital drama. There’s a point in the film when Chiyoko moves on and marries another man, but once she finds out that man manipulated her, she pretty much tosses him aside and goes back on the chase with a happy face. Even the ending of the film just reaffirms her views as positive and there’s just nothing all that meaty I can sink my teeth into regarding Millennium Actress’s story other than it’s told really well in terms of pacing and historical accuracy and all those other technicals. That makes it a good movie on an objective level sure, but if you’re hoping for objectivity on the Internet, you’re more forgiving than Jesus after he conformed to Mormonism.

I liked 5/cm because it portrayed the main character’s chase for romance throughout the years as detrimental to his health and life, and Millennium Actress just won’t stop the fantastical tone even when reality ultimately overcame fantasy. And even when it did, said overcoming never really deterred Chiyoko to the point that she kinda came off as a creepy stalker in the end. I know she comes from a different culture and generation than me, but if I was the revolutionary she was chasing, I’d hope that they have restraining orders in heaven. Probably don’t though, because as has been proven multiple times throughout my life, God is a lazy douchebag.

Ultimately, I feel that Millennium Actress is best enjoyed by those who either don’t think too hard about what’s actually being told, hopeless romantics who haven’t quite been able to draw the fine line between touching and mental, or hardcore movie buffs who think Hugo is one of the best films in years. Give it a watch, but regardless of your opinion on it, know that you get no sympathies from me.

There isn't much I can say about this but...WOW. Between the art, the music (oh, the music), the storytelling, and the overall surrealism of the whole experience, it's at the very top of my MUST WATCH anime list. The last line, if nothing else, gets me every...single...time. Yes, that's right...real tears! The story is THAT good. Man, I'm getting a lump in my throat just thinking about it. The whole movie is a roller coaster and the ending is one of the best written in all of cinema, in my very humble opinion.

I think one of the reasons this is so good is the ... way the story is told. An actress' life story re-told as a blend of both factual memory and through the eyes of the characters she portrayed in film over the years. What makes it truly unique is how the ones conducting the "interview" aren't just idly sitting, taking notes...they get sucked right into the stories as if they were actually there! Believe me when I say that this is hardly just some boring movie about a has-been actress. It's a story about love, discovery, betrayal, and forgiveness. This one STAYS in my collection if I have to sell every other movie I own.

I haven't seen any of Kon-san's other works, but believe me when I say that I'll be snatching up every single thing I can get my hands on. I dare say he may be better than Miyazaki-san! (and that's saying something...I happen to be a big fan)

This film proved me one thing: Only can Satoshi Kon make something like this and have it branded good. I don't want to say it's bad or terrible, because it does have several redeeming qualities to it. M.A. is a very diffrent kind of anime which I jump at in a heart beat most of the time. The storyline is told in a non-linear fashion which will confuse you the first time around. The story is diffrent and it is an almost tug at your heart strings, at the same time it will make you scratch your head.

As ... I mentioned before the story is told non-linear in that it jumps all over the place. Non-linear storytelling has been an effective story telling tool for ages, used in movies like Star Wars, it usually can enhance the story telling, but for the most part, I think it tends to hurt MA more than help. You often find your self more lost and you get thrown off into something so quickly that you can't keep up. It's very easy to lose your suspension of disbelief in this case. At other times it works very effectively in telling the story. The idea of course of a girl constantly chasing a man, is a very creative plot device but the final line in the end completely destroys it. We find out that she wasn't interested in the man, she just liked the chasing part. To me, it was completely unneeded and was a change of the world of the play that had been established. And to top it off, the interviewer constantly interfering with the story. When he first showed up in her retelling, I was fine, it was like they were there, but when they actually had him intervene that was really silly.

The animation style is typical of a Kon film, sometimes it looks good, other times just plain ugly. Chiyo's character is very adorable looking in a non-traditional moe fashion and in the Kimono she looks adorable. The color pallet isn't as bland and lagging as most MadHouse animes, and sometimes they use certain colors to really enhance the scene.

The music was drop dead gorges and has to be among the finest scores for an anime I've heard in a while. There are some memorable cues that really would be moving to hear isolated, this is a soundtrack I'm going to be on the look out for in the time to come.

Overall MA is probably a movie you'll want to watch several times. If you prefer the more coherent plots then this isn't the anime for you. It's interesting, but I wouldn't put it on my MUST SEE list. I would say check it out mostly if your a Kon fan.

*spoilers ahead*

Millennium Actress is a spellbinding film. Satoshi Kon’s second cinematic masterpiece is a harrowing drama that plays with reality and fiction to tell an intricate tale full of powerful twists and turns. In many ways, it’s like a novel, sucking us into their world and forcing us to observe. More than that, it gives us the power to interact with the story in some way, as our interactions both suck us in further and become our only link to reality.

The film features a former star, Chiyoko Fujiwara, and her two interviewers, Genya Tachibana and Kyouji Ida. As they sit down and prepare for filming, ... our leading lady invites us and these two men into a life story so mesmerizing it takes on a life of its own, blending and camouflaging reality with the eight fictions that embodied her life as she starred in them. We along with these men are mere witnesses to the tale that unravels before us, as everyone is suddenly thrown from her true story to her work and back again, and both life and art begin to imitate one another. Everyone enveloped in her story act in different ways. Genya enacts some of the roles with her, fully immersing himself in her films as both an avid fan and loyal crew member of her works. Kyouji reacts with bewilderment, often taking shots at his superior and cohort, and remarking on the absurd situations behind his camera. The former becomes the immerser, the latter becomes the spectator. We, the audience, become both. We witness and take part in every scene, even those they only hear instead of enter. At the same time, there are moments where only they can interact with her, namely when an outside force disrupts her, including her own vulnerability.

You see, she is dying. On top of that, she is mournful. Her life and stardom were built on a promise that could never come true. An injured man showed her a key, one she would bestow upon herself after having found it in the ground soon after. The man lived, for a time, but she would never see him again. All he left behind are a key and a painting, the latter of which she only knew about years later. Not even a glimpse at his face was left for her. Her career, which was ever so reminiscent of the life she led as a result, was predicated on a childlike fantasy, one where she would meet him again and proclaim her love for him. Only late in life, divorced from industry, does she recognize this. It wasn't the man's death that taught her this, for the man who killed him told the person who would interview her, and he kept it a secret until the very end. Instead, it was reality that did this to her. The old, spiritual hag that cursed her to wander in one of her roles, and the excitement and questioning from other children, were what killed the child that propelled her through the industry for so long. The old and jealous misled her constantly, and the young teased her just as much. After eight movies, once both had gotten to her, she knew she was done. Perhaps the films she starred in embodied her life too well.

It isn't just the narrative that pulls us into this picture. Satoshi Kon's masterful cinematography and the powerful, blistering chaos he instructed the team at Studio Madhouse to emphasize in every scene immersed us even further. Minor details add a sense of urgency to every scene, and hint at what's truly going on, creating a tremendous sense of rewatch value. Considering the film's gorgeous use of sepia tone in its backstory, which not only evolves with the narrative, but was actually done manually, add further layers to this rich tale. Susumu Hirasawa's electrifying score added further weight to this sense of depth and rewatcability, and I can't even begin to do either of these two factors enough justice. Every single one of these factors intersects into this whirlwind spinning us and Chiyoko's interviewers around, forcing us to act and react upon every new twist and turn thrown our way. It's immersion as powerful and intricate as the tale itself. Only towards the end does our puzzle fully reveal itself. Only at the end do we know what happened at the final scene of Chiyoko's last film, one that Genya is forced to pause and rewind so he can meet her and learn of her life's story. Only then does Chiyoko's life end, understanding that the fantasy that kickstarted and embodied her life didn't really matter after all. The physical and metaphorical key was only there to unlock her purpose, not some ending where she and her love lived happily ever after.

Written and Edited by: CodeBlazeFate
Proofread by: Peregrine

Millenium Actress is a critically acclaimed film depicting the life of a fictional actress in search of love. Fictional biographies have been done before (one that comes to mind being Citizen Kane) and they don't seem to be something that are best told through the medium of anime. But the name Satoshi Kon is involved, which means that this isn't going to be an ordinary portrayal of this kind of film.

The narrative begins with a local interviewer meeting a successful actress who has become a recluse since retiring from the industry. It does not take long before the plot develops. The premise for the ... film may not seem entirely believable at first; a young girl pursuing a career in acting to look for a stranger whom she fell in love with over night. But, as the story progresses, it becomes clear that this love is a form of escapism for Chiyoko. Nevertheless, it is the style of storytelling that makes the film interesting.

Being a Satoshi Kon film, it is expected that reality will be twisted and bent as the story progresses. In Millenium Actress, this is achieved through transitioning between the real world and movie scenes, melding both together to portray both the stage of Chiyoko's career and the direction her real life is heading. However there are still several scenes where the divide between her films and her real life is clear, making it easy to keep up with the story.

The settings used in this film add to the charm of Millenium Actress. The film manages to cover some major points in Japan's recent history as well as depicting some of the changes in Japanese cinema. It begins with current day Japan, but travels from early WW2 through to the 70s/80s where sci fi became massive. The pacing for the film is done correctly, allowing time to absorb the historical scenery while still being engaged with the plot.

There are only a few minor criticisms to be made about this film. The soundtrack doesn't stand out much, but it does its job well enough to complement each scene. Apart from Chiyoko no other characters receive any real development; only the interviewer gets some minor character exploration, but that gets a pass since it is clear the focus is on Chiyoko. The plot itself is fairly standard for a romance film of this kind; the only standout being the ending.

Millenium Actress is a film that shows the talents of Satoshi Kon once again. He is able to change a simple romance story into something visually appealing and entertaining from beginning to end. This is definitely one of the better anime films that I have seen and I recommend everyone see it, especially if you are a fan of romance.

When Satoshi Kon died in late 2010, the anime industry had lost one of its greatest talents. Kon’s movies were imaginative, unmistakable works of artistic majesty. His stylized explorations into the human psyche exemplified the strengths of animation like nothing else, while also pushing the possibilities of the medium even further. The striking surreal dreamscapes he conjured up were more than just aesthetically beautiful, they were integral to the stories he told, exploiting the power of visual storytelling to its fullest. The perfect showcase of Kon’s talent is his 2001 sophomore directorial effort, Millennium Actress, a love letter to movies and life itself that stands ... as an incomparable masterpiece of modern cinema.

Though Millennium Actress was his second movie, this Kon’s first original work; Perfect Blue being an adaptation of a novel. Watching the film, it is clear that a lot of passion was put into it, as is Kon’s love of movies. The story chronicles the life of an actress named Chiyoko Fujiwara, who had at one time been the most prominent actress in Japan, but had suddenly disappeared from the public eye 30 years ago. When the movie studio she worked for is closed down, a devoted fan of Chiyoko and his camera man track her down to get an interview, and Chiyoko tells them her life story. Now, what I described might sound dull or trite, but really, no plot synopsis can do this movie justice.

As Chiyoko recounts her life, the interviewers (and the audience) are transported to a different time and place, almost as if they were experiencing her life first hand, except in a strange stream-of-thought dreamscape where movies and reality meld together. The film is an odyssey through Chiyoko’s memories, with the real events of her life intertwined with the movies she stared in. Real events in her life take place in the settings of her movies, and at times the two are almost indistinguishable from one another. Parallels form between the roles in her movies and what is happening in her personal life at any given time, often reflecting her mental state. The two interviewers become so involved with Chiyoko’s account of her life that they themselves become part of her story, filling in roles of characters in her movies or people who helped her along the way. Of course, in reality none of this is actually happening, Chiyoko is simply telling the interviewers about her life and her work in film. It is an unconventional stroke of narrative brilliance that truly feels like someone reflecting on their life, rather than just an extended feature film length flashback.

This unique brand of storytelling gives us a complete portrait of who Chiyoko is as a person. We see her desires, aspirations, joys, affections, doubts, regrets, insecurities and everything in-between; beautifully framed in the recollections of her life. These are often expressed through certain scenes from her movies, which serve as reoccurring metaphors and motifs throughout the film. Other times they are encapsulated in certain items or images, such as the key Chiyoko was given by the painter with whom she is infatuated, or a portrait of Chiyoko the painter made later on. All of this works because in spite of her fame and accolades, Chiyoko is not a larger than life character. She begins acting in movies on the whims of a youthful crush, and her decision carries her to places she never expected or imagined she would be, all the while never quite attaining what she originally set out for. Her life takes unexpected turns, often influenced by the political climate of Japan and other worldly forces much bigger than herself, as well as her own personal relationships and internal issues.

Perhaps the most beautiful thing about the storytelling in Millenium Actress is that it is complex without being complicated. The movie is essentially Chiyoko recalling her life in an interview, a rather simple concept for a story when you think about it, yet it possesses a soulful depth and thematic weight few other movies achieve. Through Kon’s artistic flourishes and narrative quirks, the movie explores how a person defines and remembers themselves. Chiyoko’s films are intertwined with her memories because of how deeply connected they were to her life, to the point that they are inseparable. Certain events reemerge and juxtapose with one another because of how Chiyoko perceives them, and how they shaped her as a person. Certain scenes from Chiyoko’s movies resonate so strongly with her that they take on a new meaning. It’s an astonishing feat of filmmaking, one that is only accomplished through every aspect of the film coming together in perfect consonance.

Kon’s direction in this movie is quite simply masterful. Every shot in the movie carefully constructed; every image meaningful. Not a single frame is extraneous or wasted. He uses an array of varied and unique shot compositions to bestow the movie of a sense of both grandeur and intimacy. Montages exquisitely punctuate Chiyoko’s emotions as she shuffles through her memories. Sharp editing techniques are used to keep the film moving at a brisk pace as well as being used to great comedic effect; while dissolve transitions are used to create a dreamy texture that endows the movie with a sense of nostalgia. Kon uses a multitude of color schemes throughout the movie, all of which he uses brilliantly to paint the emotions running through every scene. Sometimes scenes will be tinted in browns or grays as if they were old photographs, other times they will be brimming with vivid colors. The movie benefits from being animated, as it captures someone sorting through their memories in a way live-action could never accomplish. Though Kon uses an impressive assortment of visual technics, it never feels as if he is needlessly showboating, everything is done in service of the story.

Satoshi Kon often used the music of Susumu Hirasawa’s to score his work, and Millennium Actress features some of the composer’s best. His electro-pop opuses are as musically complex and unique as ever, but are gentler and warmer here, infused with a sense of humanity and emotion which is rarely found in electronic music. There is also a wonderfully frantic piano piece which is incredible at creating tension. Of course, a soundtrack is only as good as it is implemented, and the music in Millennium Actress is used magnificently. It often starts softly, as if to illustrate Chiyoko recollecting how she felt at a certain time; then swells at times of revelation, encapsulating the emotions attached to that memory. It is a wonderful soundtrack that is a joy to listen to, and compliments the movie’s material and visuals perfectly. Of special note is the track ‘Run’ which accompanies a breathtaking montage of Chiyoko’s movies that illustrates the passage of time.

To put it simply, Millennium Actress is a pretty much flawless movie. It is a fine example of what makes movies and animation so magical; taking the audience on a journey through a lifetime of memories that would otherwise be impossible to experience. It is proof that film is an essential art-form, and that animation can be a vehicle to tell mature and deeply profound stories. Satoshi Kon was a true auteur of his time, and it is a shame that he was taken from us when he had so many more stories to tell. Thankfully, he lives on in the movies he made, and Millennium Actress is his crowning achievement.

I never knew cinema could be this, honest...

THERE'S A CHUNK OF SPOILER AT THE END, BECAUSE SCREW IT! THERE'S NO OTHER WAY TO PROPERLY GET THIS FEELING OUT OF MY CHEST!

After faithfully spending so much time marathoning Satoshi Kon's work with a very messy order, it's kind of a miracle that the finish line just happens to be this. The second movie that i was accidentally skipped over. Millennium Actress, the most beautiful swan song i've ever heard, the perfect ending to this long journey!

This is the most honest, most sincere, most emotionally draining story ever told in the medium of animation. Although the basic ... foundation may seem familiar at first glance, and has its fair share of flat moments here and there, the many flaws actually came together as a catharsis to make the movie feels very human at the end. An ending that is guaranteed to break our hearts more than any other story ever has.

It's a story about obsession. Chiyoko's obsession with the idea of love. The painter's obsession with peace after the war. The documentary director's obsession with the actress's beauty and legacies. Even the main antagonist, Eiko and the movie director, are obsessed over her beauty and her youthfulness. It's about the pursuit, an unhealthy dream, but one that keeps propelling us further and further, until in the end, it becomes kind of a mirror for the audience itself, who's clearly obsessed over spectacle.

But the beauty of Millennium Actress is, even though we've seen how much all the character's struggles and eventually fail at the end, they never actually arrive at the goals of their obsessions. But there's one obsession that is secretly being fulfilled. Only one out of the entire sacrifices of the whole movie, and that is ours!

And if you ever wonder, what is the content of the golden key? The most "important" thing in this movie? Well, let me give you a clue,... it's us!

Obsession and tragedy, immersion and illusion...
wrapped in a poetic narrative to soothe your eternal transience.

Millennium Actress, 10/10!

At its core, Millennium Actress is a simple story about a simple desire. How far will you go to grasp it within your hands? How much will you sacrifice, how long will you wait, how fast will you run to see it come to life? It doesn't have to be a shadowy figure on the run from the law, his face glimpsed for just a second, it could be anything. I'm reminded of Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet: "Ask yourself in the stillest hour of your night: must I write?" It's a compelling question, and Kon paints ... his response through his dazzling storytelling, blurring the lines between fiction and reality and sometimes dashing them completely. Most of the narrative is presented through Chiyoko's memories and recollections of the movies she's done over the years. Art reflects life as her tireless quest for the "most important thing in the world" takes her through decades of Japanese film history, a kaleidoscopic array of sounds and colors. It's easy to get swept up, as the hapless director and his cameraman do, in the rushing force of Chiyoko's tale. It's almost jarring when we return back to the present day.

The crux of the story, Chiyoko's relationship to the man, may come off as superficial and contrived, but here's my interpretation of it. I don't believe that she falls in love with the man at first sight, but it's clear she's intrigued by him and wants to see him again. As she gets older and comes closer and closer to reaching him, only to be disappointed every time, that initial desire becomes a sort of love, maybe not for the man himself, but as the elder woman says at the very end, for the chase. She needs it; the chase for that man is the only anchoring point in her life. Without it she's a plaything to external forces, from movie studios to directors to domineering rival actresses. Time magnifies and distorts the feelings that may have been clear long ago, and this is how Chiyoko chooses to remember her past.

I'm a big fan of this movie, for both the central themes it addresses and the dream-like trance it sort of induces. It's certainly Satoshi Kon's most focused, vibrant effort.

Why do you watch a movie? Do you watch a movie for novelty or enjoyment, do you watch a movie that makes sense or do you like movies that are senseless? If you like movies for their novelty and senselessness (but not fun), if you want to feel smart and want to comfort yourself that you have exquisite tests, then the Millennium Actress is the movie for you. If you like the world that makes sense and love enjoyable movies then you will despise it. I am one of the few people who dislike this movie, as always I am sadly in minority. Now let ... us visit what this movie does right and what it does wrong.

Imagine that, you met a young man probably beautiful and he is wanted by the government for his crime against nation (don’t ask what crimes), you give him shelter for the night (don’t ask me why) but later that day police found out where he was hiding. He managed to escape leaving you an important key, telling you that is even important than his life. He was gone, but you fell in love with him. Now let me ask you, would you go to another nation to find him? would you go to a war zone for that man? A man you know for only a day, you also don’t know what crimes he has done, you don’t know his name or where he is from, And you are 16-17 years old. Let us say you grow up and have a happy marriage for 10-20 years then you suddenly know where this person is, would you leave your husband behind for a man you didn’t know more than a day? Hufff.. if your answer is yes then I don’t know what to say you can leave now. I can understand going to such lengths for father, brother, a childhood friend who you bonded with your whole life, but why for a man who is criminal (still don’t know what he has done) you know for only a day. He must be made of gold or something.

I don’t have any problems with tragic love stories, In 5 centimeters per second at least you know why he loved her so much, you can experience their love in the first arc then, second and third arc builds that love into tragic love. But here, there is no god damn character development for me to care about any person. Why should I care about a person who I got to know only for few minutes? why should I care about a person who is madly following a person that I don’t care about? I also don’t hate senselessness, but if you want to make a story that is senseless at least make it fun. The story of Black rock shooter didn’t make sense to me but it was intriguing, Gurren Lagann doesn’t make any sense but hell it was fun. It should be fun, it should be intriguing and it should be able to tear my heart out from my chest. A tragic love story should do that, If it doesn’t do that then it has failed the art of storytelling.

What Millenium Actress does well is the presentation, the direction is good and transition between scenes was something new and unique. The animation is good but that is to be expected for a movie, I can’t say I liked the color palette, still it was ok but forgettable. Millenium Actress had so much potential but in the end, the story makes or breaks an anime. No matter how good your animation is if the animation is not followed by a good story it worths nothing. Millenium Actress is a profound example of serving water in a gold cup, It looks good from outside but inside it is just water, sadly most people will not be able to recognize the trickery and will drink water thinking it was an elixir of life, what many people call placebo effect. People normally think that a good direction and a good artwork are always followed by good storytelling but unfortunately, it couldn’t be further from truth.

“After all, it’s the chasing after him I really love.”

As always, my reviews are spoiler free.

Millennium Actress is another work of the late Satoshi Kon, a man who had an amazing ability to blur the lines between reality and dreams, even in a medium of almost entirely fiction. And like his other works, Millennium Actress doesn’t just tell a story, but takes you on a journey through the world and through the human mind. In this film, the viewer travels through decades of the life of the famous actress Chiyoko Fujiwara, following her as she chases a man she once met and ... a dream that she is always one step behind.

Story - 10/10

The story begins when a reporter and fan of Chiyoko’s work, Genya, is sent with his cameraman to interview her about her rich career as an actress over the past several decades. In his possession is a key that belonged to Chiyoko that he had been in possession of for years, always looking for a chance to return it to her. When he presents it to her, she is taken aback. When Genya asks if the key was to something important, she responds, “To the most important thing in the world.”

What follows is one of the most beautiful and creative methods of storytelling I have had the pleasure to see. The “interview” that Genya has with Chiyoko transforms into a visual story of her life which Genya observes as a 3rd party. It begins with Chiyoko as a teenager growing up in late 1930s Japan. She has a chance encounter with a mysterious man, and her life changes forever. Chiyoko sees a hooded figure running from police, chooses on a whim to misdirect them, and shelters the wounded man. He tells her stories of his beautiful home promising to take her there when Japan comes to a time of peace. Noticing something around his neck, she asks what it is, and he answers that it is “the key to the most important thing in the world.” She asks to ponder what it could be over night, and they promise to meet again the next day. However, he is gone, and lines between reality and film begin to blur. Suddenly she is chasing the mysterious man on a train down railway station, collapsing to her knees in tears. She vows to find him. Genya, having observed this, remarks that “he cried 53 times at this scene.”

What follows is a story of Chiyoko’s life as an actress, traveling around the world and through time, always chasing down a man whose name she didn’t even know. Through place and time, the viewer and Genya follow her through movie sets and reality, demonstrating some of the best cinematography in the animated medium, full of flawless transitions and symbolism. It has to be seen to be believed.

I cannot go into the ending without revealing spoilers, but it contains one of the most amazing twists and beautiful endings I have seen in any film.

Animation - 9/10

Anyone familiar with other works of Satoshi Kon and animated by Studio Madhouse will be familiar with the style of Millennium Actress. Though it has aged significantly, being aired over 10 years ago, the detail and fluidity of the animation is still quite apparent. Character models are detailed and constantly varying to fit the time and place they happen to find themselves in. This is another strength of the animation; unlike many series and movies which confine themselves to the same locales, this film takes place in dozens of completely varied sets, from science fiction to feudal Japan. It makes these transitions so smoothly that it can be almost startling; a few minutes pass and without your noticing time has changed by decades, all demonstrated through the films that Chiyoko stars in. The amount of effort that was taken to put in this level of detail must have been monumental. While some may be bothered by the dated style at first, you will likely lose yourself to the story in no time at all, and come away actually enjoying the art style at the end.

Sound - 6/10

Unfortunately, the soundtrack was not especially impressive. While it always matched the ever-changing setting, it was never memorable. In fact, large portions of the movie are totally silent. The voice acting was quite good, however.

Characters - 9/10

Chiyoko is really the only notable character here. Genya is at heart an insert or companion for the viewer, and the mysterious man she chases is treated as closely to an object as a person.

Chiyoko, however, has beautiful development throughout the story both as a person and an actress. Her motives are a bit unclear, but her single-minded determinedness to track down the man from her childhood gives her a level of development that few movie leads can match. In fact, the only competition in my mind is Mima from Perfect Blue, another of Kon’s fantastic works. By the end of the film, the viewer has lived Chiyoko’s entire life with her, and will be so invested in her story that the ending will feel unbelievably personal. She feels like a lifelong friend by the time the credits finally roll.

Enjoyment - 9/10

This film was captivating from beginning to end. Only Kon can make movies like this, where the viewer feels more like a character than a simple observer. The level of detail and thought that went into the cinematography and settings this movie explores is simply phenomenal.

Other Thoughts

I’ll end with the same quote I opened with: “After all, it’s the chasing after him I really love.” By the end of the film, the very exploration of a life itself, these words will hit you like nothing ever has before.

Love is an act of will, an emotion that can usher individuals to take monumental, illogical actions; be it sacrificing yourself for the person you long for, or the endless chase after your beloved one. In the case of Sennen Joyuu, or Millenium Actress, it made shape the life of a young girl in her quest to find the love of her life. It is a fantastic journey with a fascinating approach in the narrative of the story.

Genya Tachibana reaches out to the enigmatic idol of his youth, Chiyoko Fujiwara, leading actress for nearly three decades, to make a documentary of her. This may seem ... as something simple at first glance, yet the approach it took on the narrative was truly captivating: both Genya and his companion find themselves spiraling through the life of Chiyoko as she reminisces about her past, blending in with her memories as well as the reality.

The way this was portrayed was very fitting for the story, jumping from one scene to another from the actress's different movies she acted in. These transitions were very smooth, with each scene portraying a distinct reality. The interactions with characters twists the reality, where Genya plays an active role in the movies with the actress. These situations often managed to crack a smile of my face, as viewers could really understand their devotion and how the characters felt, in addition to being quite amusing as well.

The reason on why Chiyoko became an actress in the first place seemed rather weak and not plausible, having only spend a few hours as a child with a man she didn't know anything of - which will probably be what most viewers think at first. While this is certainly a debatable topic, first love can induce people to do reckless things. What however is of importance here, are the events in her life that happen afterwards, in which the anime explores the loss of innocence and youth. In addition, these events are surprisingly realistic, and relatable to the viewer.

The cast of characters in Millenium Actress played an important role to the overall narrative of the story. First of all, the devotion of Chiyoko to the mysterious man seems rather far-fetched, yet as the story progresses, audiences observe how she ages and struggles with finding that man. It is remarkable how she ultimately confesses in enjoying the chase after said individual, rather than meeting him. As a character as a whole she was rather uninteresting, which was nevertheless compensated with her "journey".

The man itself remains a mystery throughout the whole duration of the movie, which from a point of narrative and story is a positive thing. This nevertheless makes it hard for the viewer to understand Chiyoko's devotion to him, as no information is given at all, which can be a drawback for some audiences.

What however struck me as the most interesting character was Genya; he is introduced at first as a simple filmmaker, yet as the story unravels, his past and motives becomes clear, which were introduced subtly, besides of working as an anchor for the viewers to follow the story and be able to distinguish between reality and mere memories. His dedication on why he revers Chiyoko remains however a mystery.

The animation of Millenium Actress was well done, fluid in motions and transitions in scenes: after all, the viewers were shown differnt scenes from the movies the actress played in, which blended well with the narrative of the story. Backgrounds and characters were compelling to look at, audiences recognizing the typical designs of Satoshi Kon's characters. The soundtrack used was overall not that impressive, though certain themes were wonderful to hear.

Overall Millenium Actress was a very enjoyable anime with a fascinating approach on the narrative, which blended reality and memories. The motives of the characters may seem rather lackluster in comparison, yet the fleshing out of those was certainly well done. I would personally recommend this movie to anyone, as it shows the viewer that the chase after something can be an interesting journey full of twists and turns - or rather, life itself.

Thank you for reading.

"In this business, we flatter both the audience, and the actress."

Millennium Actress is the second feature film by Satoshi Kon- and in a departure from the psychological, brand bending narratives that he has been known for, Mr. Kon took a vastly different approach to his third work in creating a wonderfully sentimental drama. Kon blends his signature flair for a fast paced, quick cutting narrative with a classic edge to it- flawlessly flowing from one scene to the next through clever cinematography, match cuts, and playing with the perspective of the viewer. Millennium Actress watches almost like a stream of consciousness style narrative, told through ... the ages- much like James Cameron's "Titanic".

In fact, Millennium Actress and Titanic have a lot in common, particularly from a storytelling point of view. Perhaps Kon was even inspired somewhat by it, as Titanic uses an excellent plot device that allows it to shift times and scenes in a memoir type style. Titanic features an elderly Rose, a survivor of the fateful shipwreck receiving her long lost pendant from a diving crew who found the wreck, and proceeds to tell them her story as the memories come flooding back. In Actress, when presented with her old necklace- a key on a string, Chiyoko retells the story of her journey through the decades of being a movie star, as if a door had been opened with the returned key. (or the Blue's Clues closet, take your pick).

Chiyoko's life is the subject of a biopic/documentary being made by one Genya Tachibana, a former stagehand in the studio that Ms. Chiyoko Fujiwara once ran. Tachibana idolized her in the past, and when he discovered the key that had been, well, the key to her success, he sought to return it to her, and with it, gain an interview with the enigmatic, reclusive, actress. The elder Chiyoko gratefully accepts his gift, and proceeds to begin with her earliest life stories- and her entrance into film. The viewer is as much on a journey as Tachibana and his faithfully snarky cameraman, as they begin to relive the highlights of Ms. Fujiwara's life, told through her films and anecdotes- which seamlessly blend between the present day, clips from her movies, and pure memory.

Her movies throughout the decades range from traditional Japanese Edo-period work, 1920s drama, 30s expansionism, WWII war films, film noir, and more- but each with a central theme. Each of her movies revolves around the point of love lost and the chase, the journey to reclaim said love and become one, and like Titanic, it's a story of discovery for the documentary makers, who also insert themselves into the story, reliving the the moments of heartbreak, triumph, tragedy, and yearning along with the elderly Chiyoko.

We see different characters in her movies, but who represent the same obstacles to Chiyoko thematically: people in the way of her quest to find her lost love- the giver of the key so dear to her. The jealous older actress. The manipulative director. The borderline abusive husbands. The story seen in many an actress in the golden age of film in Hollywood as well. Sunset Boulevard is another fantastic film dealing with a reclusive, mysterious actress with a past- and like Millennium Actress, is based in reality.
Millennium Actress is based, in part, on the life of one Setsuko Hara, who was essentially the Gloria Swanson of Japan. She was known for achieving her best successes almost exclusively with Yasujirō Ozu (like Swanson, who worked with Erich von Stroheim in an early role, and later in a comeback, the same as her character in Sunset Boulevard) and never married. After Ozu's death in the early 60s, Hara's career, which spanned three decades from the 30s-60s, abruptly stopped. She became a recluse, and lived in an area where several of their films were shot for the rest of her life. Like Setsuko Hara's life and Swanson's character in Sunset, Chiyoko also takes to living reclusively after the loss of her key.

The story itself is a touching drama interspersed with a few comedic moments, but mostly deals with life, love, and the pursuit- and all that comes with it. Seeing the parallels between Chiyoko's characters and her life match up with the films and her career creates a beautiful pair of stories developing simultaneously, encompassing life across genres, time periods, hardships, and personal tragedy and triumph. The story melds not only Chiyoko's life, but also entangles Genya in it as well, tying up all the ends in such a way that he was not purely a vehicle for the audience to view the movie through, but also integrating him and making the audience further invested. A masterfully told tale- and yet another anime film that anyone who considers themselves an enthusiast should see.
In the end, the old adage is true; love conquers all.

“Hmm…I wonder how he’ll mind f—k me this time?” — Krunchyman


While the narrative shuffling between film (i.e. fiction) and reality seemed a bit jarring, it simply disguised the insipidness in the overall theme being pushed forward. Sure, it’s a creative method of presenting a “love” story, but it felt, more or less, forced down the viewer’s throat. Let us remember that Chiyoko fell in “love” with this fellow after a brief encounter, then decided to concentrate all of her effort on chasing him down for the rest of her life. But is anyone that “psychotic” to devote their entire life for a ... person they hardly know? Haven’t we learned from our own and/or other’s experiences, that love is fickle, and emotions have a high likelihood of changing, particularly over an extended period of time? Furthermore, the whole notion of finding your “one” true love is sort of a redundant narrative in the industry of cinema, making it a disappointment that the talented Satoshi Kon chose such a prosaic theme for one of his “landmark” films.

In terms of the remaining characters in the film, they were nothing to write home about. In fact, the insertion of Genya (the interviewer) and Kyoji (the cameraman) into the movie scenes of Chiyoko’s past seemed inessential to the plot, making their presence awkward and unwanted. Additionally, the faux attempts at comedy did not meld well with the solemn action sequences. It gave the impression that Mr. Kon was attempting to indulge a subset of the audience that might not otherwise watch his films in the first place. That being said, however, he alienated a sizable segment of moviegoers that do not hold an affinity the anime genre.

In his magnum opus (Perfect Blue), Kon did a wonderful job of detaching himself from the cliched stigma’s of the anime industry, producing a work that was truly remarkable; unfortunately, he seemed to regress in his later works. Perhaps the changing paradigm of the industry seeped into his unconsciousness, altering his approach in ways he was not cognizant of — similar to one of his characters in his movies.

I think it's important to note that I have been in an altered state every time I have seen Millennium Actress. I've seen it more times than I can count, and the most sober I've been was stoned as hell.
That out of the way, this is, without a doubt, my favorite anime film of all time. It has made me shed a tear at least once every time I see it (a couple times there was straight weeping), usually in a different place each time.
Why is this movie so incredible to me? In short, I think this movie in large part taught me what love ... is. Maybe not in the most general sense of "love", but in terms of love of fiction and love of... Well, love. If I had to nail this movie's themes down, I'd say it's a movie is about how those two things can affect us as human beings.
Every time I see this movie, I find new things to appreciate (probably because I've been really screwed up each of those times, and I don't plan on changing that any time soon). I feel like I have a bit of the relationship with this movie that the protagonist has with her love interest: Almost getting there, but never quite.
Nowadays, this movie is a special occasion for me. I pretty much have to be in the mood to laugh and cry like a baby (and also be tripping on something). If I ever get the chance to be laying on my death bed, this is the movie I want to watch. It encapsulates all of the best parts of being human for me (and that includes a lot of pain). It's not perfect, perhaps, but neither is life. There are plenty of movies that I might say are better, but there are very very few that come even close to the level of emotional attachment that I have with Millennium Actress. It's the closest I have ever come to a piece of art.
In a word? Beautiful.