Millennium Actress (Sennen Joyu)
March 2004 Reviewed by: Robert Kohr Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

If you missed Satoshi Kon’s directorial debut in 1997, the acclaimed psychodrama Perfect Blue, then you missed one of the most innovative animated features ever made. Far removed from the eclectic fantasies of master filmmaker Hayo Miyasaki, Perfect Blue more resembles a Hitchcock film than a Disney Classic. Kon’s follow-up, Millennium Actress, is no less a masterpiece than Perfect Blue.

Millennium Actress is a window on the life story of a renowned fictional actress, Chiyoko Fujiwara. At the aged actress’s retreat, a former stagehand, Genya Tachibana, approaches her to request an interview. He presents her with a key supposedly found at the studio at which they both worked. Fujiwara grasps the key and, overcome with emotion, recalls her experiences in receiving it from the man she loved. She lost him in World War II and has spent the intervening 30 years as an actress, in hopes that he will recognize her visage.

What separates this film from other animated docudramas is how Kon tells his stories. The director disregards time and place, shifting plots as he delves into Fujiwara’s scattered and interlaced memories. The result is an unsettling sense that the actress is merging her real life with the lives of the characters she has played. Kon treats the actress with care, never leaving the viewer with the feeling that she is mentally unbalanced. He pokes fun at his editing and storytelling style by having the cameraman, Kyoji Ida, stare in astonishment as Fujiwara’s life seems to unfold before him.

Millennium Actress is the first release by DreamWorks’ new subsidiary, Go Fish Pictures. The dialogue track is offered only in Japanese, with subtitles, as is commonly requested by fans of Japanese animation. This is not a downside; an overdubbed English version would have destroyed the director’s intent and erased the original actors’ wonderful vocal acting. The animation is topnotch -- not as smooth and overacted as in most Disneyesque animation, but elegant in its own right. This is due, in part, to the work of the animation studio Mad House, also known for the productions Perfect Blue, Metropolis, Ninja Scroll, and a few segments of The Animatrix.

The sound quality is incredible, with lots of depth and spread, and Susumu Hirasawa’s score has an edgy, European techno-beat. The DVD has Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 tracks, with French or English subtitles. A 30-minute "making of" featurette includes interviews with the actors, director, producer, art director, and many others. The film’s American trailer is included as well.

Overall, I loved this DVD, but mostly for Millennium Actress itself. Go Fish has a long way to go in providing more desired extras, such as animation tests and stills of the art. I was rooting for this film to pick up an Academy Awards nod for the new category of Best Animated Feature, but it was omitted.

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