Customer Reviews
Beautiful Animation 
2008-07-24
Breathtaking animation and wonderful scenes of historic Japan. Romantic story line. Enjoyed it very much.
Anime at its best...for ANY Millennium! 2008-03-26
This is certainly one for the ages! I only started viewing
Anime within the last two years, and was I ever pleased that
my brother recommended this one. The artwork is fantastic,
the storyline bitter-sweet (keep a couple Kleenex handy, just
in case), and the ending appropriate...I don't understand why
some seem to not get it?!? What I don't understand is why no
English dubbing (at least not on the DVD I watched). This is
the only thing I found to be annoyingly distracting...but not
enough so to give Millennium Actress less than 5 stars!!!
Quick Overview 2008-02-12
Wow, a powerfully moving drama with such an interesting art to it. This is hard to describe, but it follows a man who was a great admirer of a famous actress who has since left the stage. He is granted an interview and relives her famous movies, placing himself into them a the story unfolds
Another great masterpice!, a touching story.... 2008-02-09
This is another great masterpice from Satoshi Kon, he has made 4 movies and one complete animated series, and there all great, he has a very unique touch for expresing his ideas, he likes to create diferent realities, play with symbols, and always give a message, and not something useless or typical, but somethin more pure, more related to daily life... he has a way of showing how "human" we can all be, showing we all have a sweet side, as dark one...
In this movie he shows the life on an actress through her movies, showing what moved her to become an actress and lead her from one movie to another; he shows that there is more than simple motives for what we do, and that somethimes we dont realize how deep impact our desicions have in our lives, and how life goes on so quick, becomes a great adventure, and finally comes to a conclusion, and maybe, only in the end we get to understand most of our steps along the way.
I think its an animation masterpiece, and anyone that likes anime should see it, you wont regret it. and for anyone who is starting to know about anime, you cant go wrong with this movie.
ENJOY!! i hope this has been helpful.
Excellent Movie 2007-11-30
I almost didn't watch this movie at first - it was a little slow getting started and I had other things to do. I'm glad I waited though. It's more than a love story, it's a story of finding meaning in life. There was a nice balance of the humorous and sentimental. I've given this as a gift before and I really recommend it to others.
A pleasant surprise 
2007-09-27
The second film by director Satoshi Kon and screenwriter Sadayuki Murai recalls
Perfect Blue, but
Millennium Actress is a more complex, subtle, and sophisticated work that evokes the history of Japanese cinema. After nearly 30 years of living in strict seclusion, the aged film star Chioyoko Fujiwara grants an interview to journalist Genya Tachibana. As their conversation begins, Kan intercuts scenes from Chioyoko's films with her memories of pursuing the mysterious artist she met as a young girl. Accompanied by his blasé cameraman, Tashibana finds himself within Chioyoko's memories and films, alternately observing and aiding the woman he adores. Kon's skillful direction and subtle use of color strengthen the intriguing story: Chioyoko's memories are rendered in shades of gray, with hints of muted color highlighting the overall composition. American viewers will find their appreciation of this shimmering, spiral narrative deepens with repeated viewings. (Rated PG: violence, mature themes)
--Charles Solomon
Praise for the Actress 2007-09-19
Millennium Actress is the first Satoshi Kon film that I've seen, and I have to say I was deeply impressed. If you, like me are picky about the Anime you watch I highly recommend this film.
We meet Chioyoko Fujiwara(the actress) as an elderly woman and travel bakwards into her past as she gives an extreemly rare enterview to enamored journalist Genya Tachibana, who has also come to return to Chioyoko a most precious object.
The viewer is submersed in Chioyoko's memories. we witness the chance meeting in her girlhood that would drive her future. We watch as she is "Discovered" and begins her career Hoping that as she travels from location to location she will be reunited with the mysterious stranger who has touched her heart, and return to him the treassured key that he left in her keeping.
For Chioyoko acting is a means to an end, but the longing in her soul is relflected by the films she chooses. A career filled with haunting romantic dramas mix with her memories of unrequited love. It becomes clear that Chioyoko can no longer distinguish between the two. The ending is sad but touching and made all the more heart renching beause of the knowledge that Tachibana has carried for decades.
I"ve heard this film called depressing. it's very sad that's true but as the credits rolled I found myself uplifed by the sheer beauty of this film.
Good intro to anime 2007-06-01
If you are an anime fan, you will enjoy this movie, but may find it unremarkable. If you have never seen anime, or you have not found anime that you liked, this would be an excellent point of entry into the finer side.
Creative and often downright stunning in its imagery, the movie opts to take a meta-meta-meta-drama approach. Okay, I just put in an arbitrary number of "metas" but the point is that the plots of different movies are constantly being woven and blended into the flashback sequence that covers the main story. You'll realize that, yes, it's partly surreal, but at the same time it is not too difficult to pick up on "what really happened."
What it all comes down to is that it's hard to say why, but this is one of those profoundly Japanese animated films that really plays to the strengths of the medium while avoiding all the pitfalls that can turn off Westerners.
All the lives of Chiyoko-san 2007-04-04
This is a very touching movie and an elaborate journey through time. We don't really get to see Chiyoko's inner character that much, but we still end up liking her. The ending is sad, but fits perfectly with the rest of the story. The only problem is that anime newbies might have a problem with the complicated story. But one good thing about anime is that some of it makes you really think. This is one of those anime. I usually rate Hayao Miyazaki's movies high on my favorites list, but this is up there too with the rest of them. Highly recommended!
Satoshi Kon's first animated masterpiece 2007-02-03
One of my big resolutions for 2007 is to travel through time more. But when I rented "Millenium Actress", I had no idea that that was what I would be doing. I merely knew that I was renting a film by Satoshi Kon, and that although his first opus, "Perfect Blue", had left me rather cold, I consider his "Tokyo Godfathers" one of the best animated movies I have ever seen.
But travel through time I did. "Millenium Actress" is a biographical film about a fictitious but incredibly attractive Japanese movie star (even at 60!), who gets to be interviewed by a life-long admirer turned journalist. As the audience discovers, her life simply summarizes one century of Japanese cinema (from silents to "Godzilla"), and her movies themselves, a thousand years of Japanese history (hence the title.)
"Millenium Actress" is a film that wraps the viewer into its perfectly imagined little world from the very first image and never lets him go. In fact, I was so immediately entranced by it that I realized I wanted it to end rapidly, afraid as I was that it might fail to fulfil its promise, and utimately lose momentum. But this obvious labour of love (from all parties involved) does manage to sustain to the end that unique combination of sweet and sour nostalgia, hopeless but ever hopeful romanticism, deliberately clicheed melodrama and occasionally overblown humour.
My only regret is renting the film rather than buying it with my eyes closed. I will not make the same mistake when Paprika is released on DVD.
