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| The Art direction is perfect, and the Soundtrack too. Satoshi Kon really was a genius. |
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| Beautiful yet undoubtedly tragic story. As mentioned above, the storytelling in the film was on another level - we were literally the audience, witnessing her life from start to finish. Really loved the soundtrack, the scene where she jumped onto the horse followed by the series of time skips hit me in the feels. |
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| I guess she really loved the chasing until she died, probably she will still chase him to the afterlife. I didn't call that romance I called it obsessive behavioral, she was so obsessed with chasing that man's shadow even though they never mentioned his name or her remembering his face. I called that being mentally disturbed and nothing about it was romantic, because she was clinging to shadows. On the upside is the story telling which was displayed with scenes from her movies, what better way to tell an actress's story. Truly marvelous indeed, so 7/10. |
How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb --- Dr Strangelove  |
| The BD I've ordered months ago finally arrived this morning and I waited not even a minute to watch this masterpiece again. I was in tears for at least 1/3 of the movie and spend the rest with gilittering eyes, again. As other have said above, the seamless transition between scenes and eras was unbelievable even for current standard. The unique way of approaching the story was a joy to watch. Beautiful cinematography and superb animation (comparable to today top tier anime), added with Susumu Hirasawa's masterpieces, and you got one of the best movie of all time, not just anime, but movie in general. p.s I just watched Setsuko Hara movies (esp Tokyo Monogatari), waow just waow. |
| The art was nice. But this reminded me of the trippy shit that Paprika was. The story had no conciseness and just alternated between films and reality to just move the story forward. I am never watching a Satoshi Kon movie again. Otherwise, I might get nauseated from all the dementia stuff in the movie. I understand why others say this is a good movie, but for me, these kinds of trippy movies aren't for me. They should have classified this movie as dementia for all the fast as fuck transitions. If they had made the movie more smoother than being so jarred, it would have been better. I get this is a historical movie, but jumping so fast between eras is just cheating. Transitions must be slow, calculated and focused to work. Take Stanley Kubrick's bone cut. It took the movement of a bone and interposed it with the space ship nicely. Contrast it with this movie. It just seems like one moment the actress is riding on a cart, and the other moment, when the driver falls, the cart rides over and then the girl was on a bicycle the next instant. I was scared with the implication that the driver was dead, but this movie just passes it off as a woman's delusions. And that woman running around and just bumping and hitting other men and dropping the fucking key and then running and falling in the snow and chasing and then running around and just bumping and hitting other men and dropping the fucking key and then running and falling in the snow and chasing.... TAKE A FUCKING BREAK woman. I wouldn't be surprised if more of Satoshi's movies are about women going in and about dementia stuff. |
 Without change,we end up becoming the very person we hate. I was dead until the moment I met you. I was a powerless corpse pretending to be alive. Living without power, without the ability to change my course, was bound to lead me to a slow death. |
| I had a feeling the guy was dead, but to think he was dead from the jump... that’s kinda tragic. Overall, this was a great movie, and I really like the collage of events in her films coming together at the end to describe how she felt. |
RenaPsychoKiller said: If this is actually the best movie of Satoshi Kon (RIP), my disappointment becomes even bigger. I watched Millennium Actress, my first movie by this author, a few days ago, and I was expecting a lot more. The story is confused, messy, non-linear, and inconclusive. The characters, apart from being very few, were nothing great, and Chiyoko was almost irritating. All she does in the movie is running and chasing for her beloved non-existant man while holding that goddamn key. lol @ the "omg, I lost the key, help me find it now!!!11!!1" scene. The only things I liked were the animation, the character design, the music, and the "feudal Japan" parts. These things only are what makes the movie watchable. I can't stand those productions that forcefully want to be poetic and touching at all costs, and seem sparkling masterpieces on the outside, while (in Millennium Actress case) they don't even have a coherent and well-written story or likeable main characters. And neither I will ever understand those who rate such things 10, saying "ooohh, it's so deep and graphically beautiful, let's all rate it 10". Not a bad movie overall, but surely not a memorable one. I feel the same way, like I am confused as to how this movie is so great. I mean yeah its sad that she has been chasing a shadow but I don't get how everyone loves this movie so much. |
| Unique way of storytelling. I agree with that one review of the two film makers being an anchor to avoid confusions. I honestly really liked how Kon managed to insert the two without looking too out of place. I really can't understand people who do everything for love but I do appreciate the effort they make and to think such an encounter would greatly affect someone's lifestyle. Transitions are still on-point as far as this movie goes that's for sure. 8/10 but I still think nothing beats Perfect Blue, and Tokyo Godfathers was a tad bit better than this one. I guess the saying "It's not about the destination, but the journey" applies to this movie |
EGOISTMay 7, 2018 3:13 AM
| There will never be anything quite as hypnotizing and breathtaking as Satoshi Kon's directing. Transition to sublime fantastical heights, this man truly achieved bliss with this one. Plus the OST was so dream like and heart pulling, almost to the point of tears. Stunning, absolutely. |
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| Dang, beautiful movie. It was a fantastical experience seeing the journey of Chiyoko from her early days to her final day. The directing of this movie was topnotch! It's so different aswell from the other work I've seen from Kon Satoshi, shows how good of a director he was. Unique way of story telling and it was amazing! 9/10 |
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| personally i wouldn't call chiyoko chasing after him love. it felt more like it was she was obsessed with him, or that she felt obliged to give him the key back and later grew some sort of feeling. it doesn't change a lot of the message that "its the journey, not the destination" any less beautiful though. the directing, storytelling, and art also made up for some things i didn't like about it storywise. |
| This was great. I love that last line - the idea that the journey is worth more than the destination. Even if she didn't know him, he still gave her life meaning and color, and in the end it didn't matter that she was chasing a shadow, she resumed her journey after him. It leaves me teary eyed. And the concept of the old ayakashi lady was so great. I need to watch it again to truly grasp everything about this movie I think. |
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| It was ok. I feel like Kon is a hit or miss director, I liked Paranoia Agent and Perfect Blue, but I thought Millennium Actress was average as well Tokyo Godfathers. |
| Following Chiyoko's life story as she chased that mysterious man to the ends of the earth ever since he had first left behind the key to his art supplies with Genya and the cameraman was quite an experience that left me hooked right until the end. It was pretty confusing at the beginning with me not being able to tell which parts were from the movie and from her actual life but considering that she is an actress, there's no better way to tell her story than to completely blend the two most important aspects of her life together into one big movie. It was so satisfying for me when the pieces started to fit together with everything finally making sense later in the movie. It was amusing to see Genya fanboy over her movies then starting to fill in for the other roles of her movies right before revealing that he actually had a way bigger role in her prime years after all. He was even the one who found out about the tragic twist of fate that befell on the person she was looking for all this time. She might not have returned the key to him when both of them were still alive, but he ended up letting her go on the biggest and most eventful journey she'd ever had. I have to say that I cried a little bit at the very last moments of the film and seeing her departure scene that was never really completed was beautiful. I'm more of a fan of Kon's light-hearted movies with Tokyo Godfathers being my favorite so I loved this one as well. |
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| Watched it theaters today! I honestly wasn't expecting the movie to be directed in such a way, what a pleasant surprise! It was sort of confusing at first, but I think it started making sense as the movie continues. Each filmChiyoko acted in, she put her feelings for the man. While he was her goal, the chase was the best part. After all, he was the biggest reason why she decided to become an actress, and a great and loved one at that. What happened in the movies were a part of her, just like her real life was a part of the movies. What a unique way of storytelling, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy, only for it to come together so perfectly in the end and closing the loop. I wasn't expecting to cry at all, but I did when my fears came true, that the man no longer exists, that Chiyoko would never reach him...except in death. The final scene where Chiyoko shot off into space was so beautiful, symbolic of her passing into the unknown, and as Genya said, never coming back. She confirmed the universal theme that the audience must've all figured out by then, that what she really loved was chasing after him. The journey is always the most enjoyable part! Also, the OST was amazing! I honestly didn't know I'd come out with wanting to listen to the OST again. The ending theme was wonderful as well, end it with a bang! The Fathom Event had an extra interview part at the end, where one of the questions was "Why animation and not live-action?" I really don't think a live-action movie would be able have such smooth transitions as this movie did, as well as having Genya and Kyouji show up everywhere without it feeling awkward. They also talked about how this movie came to be, brainstorming with Kon Satoshi. It's funny how they thought of something about an actress, and then ended up with this phenomenal storytelling. Honestly, the reason this has been on my PTW since forever is because I thought it was just a slice of life following an actress who grew to fame. I wonder why it never occurred to me that it'd be very different, given the high score and praise. I'm glad I was able to watch it in the cinema, what a wonderful experience! |
| Good movie, saw it two days ago at my local theater but I got preoccupied and forgot to post here. Definitely has a very unique style to it and the presentation of the story is interesting and has it's own charm to it. I think my biggest issue with this movie was that despite it's unique style, it wasn't all that gripping or captivating, Perfect Blue was definitely superior in that regard. I think the transitions were the most incredible thing in the movie, so subtle, yet so sharp and so beautiful. The first one caught me totally off guard and that's the point at which I started wondering if everything upto that point was also just another story. If the entire movie had the same impact as the transitions between the different stories I think I would've liked this way more than I did. The final few minutes were great, it was the chase she loved. :) 7/10 |
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| Across all mediums of entertainment, this is one of five perfect "10"s I've ever given. Simply flawless. For those who may not have fully understood the movie's purpose or message and would like to take a deep dive into what makes it such a stroke of genius, I strongly recommend taking a look at this video essay and then following up with a second viewing. |
 "I am not sure that I exist, actually. I am all the writers that I have read, all the people that I have met, all the women that I have loved; all the cities I have visited." ― Jorge Luis Borges [url=]Goodreads[/url] | [url=]Letterboxd[/url] |
Greyleaf said: A true person of culture I seeAcross all mediums of entertainment, this is one of five perfect "10"s I've ever given. Simply flawless. For those who may not have fully understood the movie's purpose or message and would like to take a deep dive into what makes it such a stroke of genius, I strongly recommend taking a look at this video essay and then following up with a second viewing. Thank you for sharing that video, I want to consume all Satoshi-kon related content I can, especially related to Millenium Actress <3 This movie is, to me, a celebration of japanese cinema and art itself through animation - I always get chills and at least a tear is shed in that beyond perfect final scene! |
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Nostalgik said: This movie is, to me, a celebration of japanese cinema and art itself through animation - I always get chills and at least a tear is shed in that beyond perfect final scene! Absolutely. It's one of the few anime that make me tear up every time I watch it. Definitely check that video out! iirc, the guy who made it spent upwards of 6 months doing the necessary research. Man, it really put so much about the film into perspective for me, especially regarding the symbolism of the lotus and the crane. |
"I am not sure that I exist, actually. I am all the writers that I have read, all the people that I have met, all the women that I have loved; all the cities I have visited." ― Jorge Luis Borges [url=]Goodreads[/url] | [url=]Letterboxd[/url] |
| Personally, I couldn't really connect with Chiyoko. When I first started watching, maybe the first half hour, I was completely confused as to what was happening. I couldn't differentiate between what was reality and what was cinema. But that's exactly it, and what I think is the best part of this movie: the blurred lines between reality and cinema. At first, I thought the plot was incoherent and difficult to follow. But as it went on, I started to appreciate how seamlessly the movie blurred the aforementioned lines. Unless it was really obvious, you couldn't really tell which part was real, which part was cinema, which part was a combination of both. It is a story within a story. Those movies weren't just movies for the sake of movies being there because the protagonist is an actress, but those movies themselves illustrate the very journey of life that the actress went through. Each of her characters seemed to share the same desire: to see and meet the enigmatic "him". I think it was quite a great artistic expression as well as an interesting storytelling and animation method. As others have also said on this thread, I enjoyed around the last 20 minutes of the movie. That was the best part. The final quote was what put a lot of it into perspective: it was the chase she loved. I came in here expecting some sort of masterpiece. Unfortunately, I just can't bring myself to call it a masterpiece. I don't regret watching it, it was interesting. It was a good movie. But that's as far as I can say about it. Not sure yet how to rate this. |
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| I'm speechless. It's going to take me a few days to digest what I just watched, as this was full of symbolism and really had a lot to say about living life. There are a lot of things upon which I can reflect, and leaving a story with this feeling of fullness and completeness is something I rarely get to experience. I sobbed my eyes out at the end. Absolutely beautiful and unforgettable work of art... |
| Loved this movie. It was so unique. An 8/10 for me. |
| This movie was definitely a grower, not that I didn't love the set-up or the premise of telling her story through lens of the movies in her career, but for a good portion I thought this was going to wind-up as a 7/10 for me because the plot itself was becoming so repetitive. It felt like I was essentially watching the same scenes over again with just a different coat of paint for awhile there, once Genya started including himself in the roles particularly (although I absolutely loved the scene where we saw what was actually there, with the cameraman kinda just standing there while Chiyoko & Genya were sitting down and acting out the scenario) but once we got to the climax so to speak with Chiyoko running towards Hokkaido with all the different movie scenes being spliced in and out, I was in love. It felt like the movie's structural conceit was really paying off, and the whole last several minutes of the film were absolutely perfect, I was on the verge of tears for most of it. I suppose the movie being mostly predictable could be seen as another flaw, though with execution as flawless as returning to the astronaut movie for the ending while she says her final line it's hard to criticize it for that. Ultimately it winds up as just a beautifully constructed film, with several amazing transitions between different movie styles and some incredible shot composition, a fantastic soundtrack and the visuals were perfect. 9/10 for me, though I'll be honest and say I was debating between an 8 or 9 for awhile there. Oh, and I also loved the consistent use of the colour red throughout the film, the way it stood out on Chiyoko's outfit when she met the painter and how it came back as a signifier for him in the later portions (also his blood from the first part too), and the parallels with her devotion to him and Genya's to her will definitely be giving me something to ponder for awhile. |
TerrestriousJul 8, 2020 12:44 AM
| The format of this movie is unique. I love how they portrayed the interview as if the interviewers were there. |
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| I feel like there is a giant meme going on and I simply wasnt invited to it. This movie is not amazing at all. What are you all talking about? It was very good on a technical level, but the characters were non existent to the point that you can describe the 2 main character with a single word. SIMP. And the story can be told in 3 minutes. This would have worked better as a short movie, the middle part was just too repetitive and simply uneventfull. Repeating this chase scene for an hour didnt improve the movie and only served to bloat its screentime. Dont get me wrong, its not a bad movie, its just the weakest movie from Satoshi Kon. 7/10 for the unique way of storytelling and good production quality. |
| "This emotion is mine alone. It is for Madoka alone." - Homura or how I would descripe Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. |
| What is the meaning in anything? That is what I thought watching this movie. Your life is free that. Great way to tell a story about an actress. 8/10 |
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| Many people can write stories like this but probably not produce it as good as Satoshi Kon. The directing is just excellent. Definitely isn't as heavy as Perfect Blue or ambitious like Paprika but this is the standard of his film making. Pretty high, yes. A very solid 8/10 for me. |
| It was a bit confusing but it was so good. Ngl i did cry a bit for no reason lol. |
| With this I have seen all 4 Satoshi Kon movies, and unsurprisingly all of them were amazing. Perfect blue is considered the best of the lot, tho personally I think all the other 3 are better than Perfect blue. Tokyo Godfathers has better dialogues, Paprika has a better design but tbh it was this movie that I can say was the best overall. The movie is absolutely amazing from the get go and hits you right in the feels again and again. Thank you Satoshi Kon for this and RIP.... |
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| Yeah, no, this movie was not my cup of tea. I liked the idea and the execution behind the "movies & reality blend together" concept but I seriously felt like introducing the interviewer and the camera-man into those scenes while also acting as observers of the "movie" made it worse. I feel like it would've been much more powerful if both them just occupied roles without their lame humor. 5/10. There are some very interesting things about this movie but I don't really think that's enough. |
| I wasn’t expecting to cry, but I did. Such a beautiful story. 9/10 |
| That was an emotional ride. Time changes, people age, but her love for the painter remains the same. Unfortunately he died a long time ago and she was chasing his shadow all this time. Her last line concerns me. She actually doesn't love him as much as chasing after him? |
| Based Certified. I love anime armpits. |
| Very unique and good looking movie for it's time. 8/10 That ending hits pretty hard. |
 .Go watch Gintama boyo/grill My discord server for gaming and anime/manga: https://discord.com/invite/4mqXfNEJ9A |
| Even though the story didn't touch me much, the direction was stunning, and I'll always add another bonus point for Susumu Hirasawa's work on the OST. 8/10 |
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