Millennium Actress: A Masterpiece In Disguise?

If you know me well, you know that Satoshi Kon is one of my all-time favourite directors. Not just in anime, but overall. His name would not look out of place if sat next to names like Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorcese, Brian De Palma, Woody Allen, Steven Speilberg and so on. His time in this world sadly ended back in 2010, but his influence is still felt today. His many works all stand out as milestones in the way directors in anime approach storytelling.

Perfect Blue (1998)

Satoshi Kon is most well known for his work on what is most popularly assumed to be his masterpiece, Perfect Blue. While the film remains a true tour de force of Kon's filmography and is most certainly his masterpiece, I can no longer confidently say that it's his best film ever. This is not the fault of the film but rather the existence of another that can challenge it head-on.

Millennium Actress (2002)

Millennium Actress aired in Japan in 2002 as the follow-up project of Perfect Blue. Satoshi Kon's reputation was still riding high with the critical acclaim that Perfect Blue brought, and what better way to continue that trend by writing a film so similar, and yet so different from its predecessor. I would best describe Millennium Actress as a "sister story" to Perfect Blue. Two sides of the same coin.

It's been a long time since I've seen a storytelling method on screen that I could never have predicted. The film's style of storytelling and exposition makes it just that much better. The film follows famed Japanese actress Chiyoko Fujiwara who is now well into her ripe years who is interviewed by an enthusiastic fanboy slash filmmaker, Genya Tachibana about the story of her life.

Chiyoko Fujiwara in Millennium Actress

The story then starts to flow in a non-linear fashion, as you would expect but what sets it apart is the numerous storylines being told simultaneously in a synchronized yet chaotic method all while maintaining the original storyline we had in the beginning. An unprecedented feat from an anime, but one I should've seen coming. Nevertheless, the beautifully knitted storylines start to blur and make the audiences question what is real and what isn't.

Pulp Fiction (1994)

I liken Millennium Actress to Pulp Fiction. They both exhibit non-linear storytelling that converges back and forth with each other and eventually comes to all their respective conclusions. While Millennium Actress converges into one ending, Pulp Fiction has several. Written by Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary, Pulp Fiction ranks as the 16th script out of the 101 greatest screenplays of all time according to the WGAW or Writer Guild of America West. In my opinion, there is a very strong case for Millenium Actress to be included in that list. I dare say it even deserves to be alongside Pulp Fiction in the rankings. No disrespect to the other films, but that's just how convinced I am with the level of storytelling genius that Satoshi Kon displays in his work.

Millennium Actress (2002)

This is film is a love story and a life story told through the eyes of a filmography and memories. This storyline is knitted together like a beautifully woven scarf. All the lines in the fabric perfectly placed and eventually give the illusion of being one big scarf. If you have already seen Perfect Blue, I highly recommend you check out Millennium Actress for it is storytelling, redefined.

As always, if you got to the end, thanks for reading! It means a lot that you stayed till the end of my little blog post. Scroll down and check out my other blog posts if you haven't already! Other than that, thanks for reading and stay safe!