Adventures From My Netflix Queue: Millennium Actress
It took me three sitting, but I finally finished Millenium Actress. The first time it put me to sleep in twenty minutes. The second time just under ten. This last time was the pure sitting and then I found out how good of a love story it was.
Millennium Actress is an animated film by Satoshi Kon. He’s another celebrated Japanese animation director famous for Paprika and Three Godfathers. I’ve seen Paprika but didn’t think anything of it. I’ve partially seen Three Godfathers but didn’t think anything of it. I almost didn’t finish this film, but glad I did. Satoshi Kon while not as great as Miyazawa is a cut above Makoto Shinkai.
In Millennium Actress, a documentary crew goes to interview the reclusive titular actress, Chiyoko Fukiwara. Her story is told in flashbacks that are filmed like the movies she starred in. It plays around with the settings. What era are we in? Is this one of her movies? Are they saying the script or what she said in real life? And her story is one of finding the love of her life. She helps an left-leaning artist escape for a time from the police and falls in love with him. She doesn’t seem him again until she follows him to Manchuria under the guise of being an actress. But the times are tough for them to meet as war follows and he is imprisoned because of his politics.
The movie plays out in how she yearns to reunite with him. She lives her life always looking for him and a chance to find him once again.
There is a prop that reminds me of Notorious. It is a key that Chiyoko longs to return to her love. And just like the key to the wine cellar in Notorious that was given back to Hitchcock from Ingrid Bergman at a celebration before he died. I liked how Millenium Actress reminded me of that.
One thing I love about animation is that it can tell many stories well. It is a stylistic choice that a strong creative person can use to great effect. I wish it would expand from the children story ghetto we’ve currently got it slotted into in the US.
4 of 5 stars.
3 Replies to “Adventures From My Netflix Queue: Millennium Actress”
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20 minutes? That’s like close to the end of the film. Heh.
I really dug that movie and I agree that I wish America could further explore this style. It’s just a great way to tell story and create something unique and emotional.
But the sad truth is, that it’s not part of our culture.
That’s not part of our commercial culture. When someone looks to make a serious film, they turn to 3d actors and actresses because it is all to often deemed necessary to tell it with flesh and blood. Yet, there should be time that animation is a viable alternative. I really liked Coraline just for that way, because the director chose to animate it with stop motion figures. I wish more filmmakers and producers would take a chance with animation.
Linklater is the only one who had really tried, but those were photoshopped video footage. What I meant is that it’s not something America acknowledges. There isn’t any source for adult themed animation drama. There’s no imports playing in theaters and there’s no director pushing forward in that direction. It’s just nonexistent in our culture. I’m not too disappointed by it, because the Japanese do it so well. In fact I can’t think of any other country that really does that besides them.
“9” looks cool. It’s not animation, but it looks interesting.