Sennen Joyuu (Millennium Actress)

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Alternative Titles

English: Millennium Actress

Synonyms: Chiyoko Millennial Actress

Japanese: 千年女優

Information

Type: Movie

Episodes: 1

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Sep 14, 2002

Producers: Bandai Visual, WOWOW, Genco, Kadokawa Shoten, KlockWorx

Licensors: Eleven Arts, DreamWorks

Studios: Madhouse

Source: Original

Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Historical, Romance

Duration: 1 hr. 27 min.

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

Statistics

Score: 8.27¹ (scored by 58,814 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #245²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #1167

Members: 128,556

Favorites: 1,954

8.27

Ranked #245Popularity #1167Members 128,556

MovieMadhouse

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Episodes: /1

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Trailer English dub version

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Synopsis

At the turn of the millennium, Ginei Studio's dilapidated buildings are set to be demolished. Ex-employee and filmmaker Genya Tachibana decides to honor this occasion with a commemorative documentary about the company's star actress: Chiyoko Fujiwara, the reclusive sweetheart of Shouwa Era cinema. Having finally obtained permission to interview the retired starlet, an enamored Genya drags along cynical cameraman Kyouji Ida to meet her, ready to put his lifelong idol back in the spotlight once more.

Hidden in this secluded mountain retreat is a thousand years of history condensed into one lifetime, waiting to be narrated. Chiyoko's recollections take them on an illusionary journey through Japanese cinematic history that transcends the boundaries of reality; the saga of her acting career intertwines with her filmography, the actors in her life blend seamlessly with the characters on screen, and the present melds with the past. Though the actress may have retired at the height of her career 30 years ago, the curtain on her life's stage has yet to fall.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

The film won the awards of Best Animation Film and Fantasia Ground-Breaker at the 2001 Fantasia Film Festival. It was also awarded the Feature Film Award at the 8th Animation Kobe. In 2002, it won the prestigious Ofuji Noburo Award at the Mainichi Film Awards, and was honored with the Orient Express Award at the 2001 Festival de Cine de Sitges in Spain. The film was nominated for four Annie Awards in 2004, including Outstanding Direction and Writing.

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Fujiwara, Chiyoko

Main

Orikasa, Fumiko
Japanese

Tachibana, Genya

Main

Iizuka, Shouzou
Japanese

Ida, Kyouji

Main

Onosaka, Masaya
Japanese

Man of the Key

Supporting

Yamadera, Kouichi
Japanese

Ootaki, Junichi

Supporting

Suzuoki, Hirotaka
Japanese

Ayakashi

Supporting

Scarface

Supporting

Tsukayama, Masane
Japanese

Shimao, Eiko

Supporting

Tsuda, Shouko
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Maki, Taro

Producer

Kon, Satoshi

Director, Script, Character Design, Screenplay

Mima, Masafumi

Sound Director

Murai, Sadayuki

Script

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Opening Theme

"Chiyoko no Theme Mode-1 (千代子のテーマ MODE-1)" by Susumu Hirasawa

Edit

Ending Theme

"Rotation [lotus-2]" by Susumu Hirasawa

More reviews

Reviews

Mar 21, 2009

1 of 1 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

Skadi (All reviews)

282 people found this review helpful

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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Feb 15, 2020

1 of 1 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 4

Preachee (All reviews)

63 people found this review helpful

Minor spoilers ahead.

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

Though to be frank, Millennium Actress comes across as something that would be praised as long as the aesthetics are nice, the plot is a little bit convoluted and that it is directed by Satoshi Kon. By no means do I utter this statement as an insult to Kon or an accusation to the movie's fans. This is just a statement that I genuinely believe after gathering my experience and coming to the conclusion: fans of the movie are completely oblivious of any criticisms, and their belief that this movie is a magnum opus will not change due to the mentioned reasons. So, I won't even try to convince anyone anything but only demonstrate my arguments. I will try to keep this review short.

The story is average. If I should be honest, this kind of story has been recycled quite a lot in Hollywood that I see no point in magnifying it. It’s just not special, but it however has a heart. I can clearly see where they were trying to go with, and so the intention is clear and rightfully consistent throughout. This means that the movie is predictable and has virtually nothing to anticipate other than “does the actress meet her love?”, which is kind of a dull story cornered to two sides of a coin; BUT, it is still a movie that feels complete and satisfying regardless. And certainly, the intent of paying homage to Japanese cinema is no good excuse for an average story, though it's still nice and somewhat exciting to witness the genuine affection of Kon towards the pridefully rich cinema history.

The execution, though, is arguably poor. As thin and uninspiring as the story is, the execution barely does anything to embrace it (unlike in Tokyo Godfathers). To be fair, all the director does for the movie is dragging this nonexistent storyline for an hour and a half. And so coming upon the second problem, the expendable convoluted nature of the narrative. For a story with barely any philosophical weight or plot development, the messy confusing narrative is just absolutely pretentious. “Oh but it’s gorgeous, and it merges reality with memories...” well, fair enough. But this naturally would beg a question, “Why confusing, necessarily?”. While acknowledging that this goes to show how by the end of the actress’ life, she can recall the events so vividly and can’t differentiate what’s real and what’s not; yet forasmuch as this whole sequence solely focuses on that concept itself 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. This would have been so much more thematically powerful if it had included an actual emphasis, and that the acting career emergence didn’t just take up the whole second half for nothing. When an idea so superficial being told so grandiosely, it will inevitably give the impression of being overly self-indulgent. Unlike other reviewers, to me, the complexity (or quasi-complexity, because it's just convoluted, not complex) in this movie has no depth or thematic ideas.

The characters are fine. They are fun and likable enough to lead the audience till the end, but none of them were even remotely profound or memorable. The dialogues are honestly so corny. I could forgive everything these hombres verbalize throughout the movie, but for the last line, I simply couldn’t. It’s just melodramatic and corny and foreseeable. Unforgivable.

The tone is dexterously framed by a clearly talented director. Kon knows exactly how and when to implement comedic relief, or to build up our expectations for an emotional impact. And so, thanks to the tone, the story seems to flow much more seamlessly. Still, this is insufficient as a saving grace for an overall poorly-written and executed movie.

Nonetheless, taking all that aside, we actually have quite a fantastic audiovisual piece of art. The animation is simply flawless and the art is not your typical degenerate garbage (not trying to sound disrespectful, but it really does look mature and visually intriguing). The music is really good and is generally well used. I have nothing major to complain about the production and perhaps I am more than enthusiastic to praise this truly astounding audiovisual spectacle. I can rest assured anyone who watches this movie would concur.

That said, this movie, albeit aesthetically merited, is subpar in almost every 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 or Tokyo Godfathers, and even glimpses of greatness here and there in Millennium Actress. Nevertheless, with over-indulgence in style and uncalled-for narrative bafflement, Millennium Actress has become 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 think I could somewhat discern the mindset of conservatively marveling this movie. Yet have I verily changed to thus give my sincere final verdict upon this movie: How corny.

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Jun 10, 2008

1 of 1 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

kiriska (All reviews)

110 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 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.

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Jul 16, 2017

1 of 1 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

Fleure (All reviews)

70 people found this review helpful

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 read more

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