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Title: Millennium Actress
UK Distributor:
Manga Entertainment
BBFC Certificate: PG
Suggested Retail Price (SRP): £19.99
Running Time: 87 minutes (approx.)
Audio Options: English 5.1 & 2.0,
Japanese 5.1 & 2.0
Subtitles: English
Reviewer: Shay Marx (guest)
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Firstly I absolutely adore this film. From beginning to end,
narrative, pictures and sound, something about this film touches me and I can’t
explain it.
Millennium Actress tells the story of Chiyoko Fujiwara a
seventy-something screen goddess whose films and characters span a thousand
years of Japanese history. But this is not the only story the film tells.
Genya Tachibana a television producer has tracked down Miss Fujiwara who has
been a recluse for over thirty years. Once Chiyoko begins her tale, Tachibana
and cameraman Kyoji Ida are taken in to her memories. Tachibana handles this
event without flinching, Kyoji on the other hand is understandably freaked out
as is the unsuspecting audience member with no idea what to expect next.
From an advancing pre-war Japan and human rights activists to Ninja assassins
and Godzilla oozes rich textual relevance that may be a surprising culture shock
for some. At times hilariously funny, Kyoji provides a link between the
films world(s) and the audience’s world(s) with sarcasm in abundance followed by
poignancy that always brings you back to our worlds past. Specifically when the
characters find themselves in the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing.
Kyoji asks “So what’s this, Sci-Fi?. Draped in glorious visuals with very
little CGI (if any) Millennium Actress takes the audience as well as the films
characters through both Japan’s history and Japan’s film history. Quite frankly
it’s a cinephile’s wet dream. A special mention for the genius yet
surprisingly simple idea used in the opening credits. A video on re-wind, titles
appear on the video but run forward. Sounds simple but looks great and hints the
uniqueness of what is to follow. Technically the film delivers with
gorgeous contrasts in the visuals, that themselves tell a story. (Pay attention
to the wood stain). The soundtrack was composed by Susumu Hirasawa and is
truly breathtaking. The bicycle scene in particular which should be a
demonstration for those who look down on the art of animation is only realised
with Hirasawa’s music. Following from Perfect Blue Satoshi Kon and his
team have realised a brilliant vision that truly lives up to Kon’s aim to make a
film in the style of “trompe l’oeil”. The first time I saw Millennium
Actress I had a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye. The tenth time I saw it
I still had a lump and still had a tear. The stories in Millennium Actress
can be interpreted in many ways; the one that stays with me is Chiyoko’s
everlasting chasing of her dreams which she knows will always remain a shadow.
I can not recommend this film enough but if you are a fan of films please allow
your self the time to appreciate a true piece of art.
Extras:
Millennium Actress is available in the UK by itself or in a
box set with Perfect Blue. The features in either are limited to the US
theatrical trailer and an interesting yet fun “Making of…” feature in Japanese.
The film plays in both Japanese and English in 2.0, 5.1 and DTS. The
English dub is exclusive to the MANGA released UK addition and is word for word
for the captioned subtitles. This does bring in to question the validity of the
subtitles. The main difference between the two is that Chiyoko is voiced by
three actresses in the Japanese dub while the English dub has a single actress.
Considering that it was MANGA UK who produced the dub with no involvement from
the films US distributor DreamWorks, they have done a splendid job.
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