Or all of the above. Millennium Actress was the last of Satoshi Kon’s movies I watched, and once more he brings something unique to anime, yet still marked by his signature. Some have speculated that both films engage with the feminist concept of the male gaze. Chiyoko refuses to say anything about the man she loves, but Eiko says that feelings in men change. Chiyoko's life spans the tumultuous period surrounding World War II, while her characters in movies span a time period from the Sengoku period to a futuristic space age. They apologize for asking too much about her, but Chiyoko says she enjoyed every moment of it and thanks them for seeking her out. The scene changes to the moon, where Chiyoko rushes to the top of a hill. Suddenly, the train is attacked by bandits and Chiyoko escapes. Official trailer for Satoshi Kon's Millennium Actress feature film. Millennium Actress (千年女優, Sennen Joyū) is a 2001 Japanese animated drama film co-written and directed by Satoshi Kon and produced by Madhouse. The meaning of all this is explained by the same spirit when it says: I hate you more than I can bear, and I love you more than I can bear. At the end of the film, it is revealed that Chiyoko's love had already been caught and tortured to death by the military. We've looked at the work of Satoshi Kon's work previously on the channel but really focused on the darker sides. Despite not hearing from the mysterious artist, she never loses hope. Tachibana arrives and bails Chiyoko out with a lot of money. In Millennium Actress, he tells of a once famous actress and her past shaped by a single fateful event. However, these plans were stalled when the distribution company for Perfect Blue, Rex Entertainment, went bankrupt. Why I Think This Is A Classic. She attacks and cuts open the traveling prison, believing it would be the nameless man, but it turns out to be Eiko. Lead Actors: Miyoko Shōji, Mami Koyama, Fumiko Orikasa, Shōzō Iizuka. [13] Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan said of the film "as a rumination on the place movies have in our personal and collective subconscious, Millennium Actress fascinatingly goes where films have not often gone before". Is it history, a life story, a love story, or a film about films? Before leaving, an earthquake interrupts Tachibana, who is watching one of Chiyoko's movies. It turns out that Eiko took it out of jealousy. He informs that he is a marshal and he will accompany her return home. Millennium Actress Synopsis. TV interviewer Genya Tachibana has tracked down its most famous star, Chiyoko Fujiwara, who has been a recluse since she left acting some 30 years ago. The key was given to her as a teenager by … Chiyoko collapses and at that moment, an earthquake strikes, and Tachibana shields her from falling debris. Synopsis Millennium Actress Plot Summary: From critically acclaimed director Kon Satoshi (Perfect Blue), comes the award-winning masterpiece, Millennium Actress. Millennium Actress. Summary: Master animation director Satoshi Kon spins this mystery about a documentary filmmaker and a legendary actress. One day on the set, Chiyoko loses the key and the staff begins to look for it. Okati falls in love with Chiyoko, but she never returns his feelings. Tachibana Genya is a director of a small-time production studio. The 2001 film, Millennium Actress (千年女優, Sennen Joyū), directed by Satoshi Kon, uses distinctly Japanese elements to defy convention and create an animated work that fits within the umbrella of “Japan Gross National Cool” while inverting the concept of mukokuseki. Tachibana knew this, but has never been able to tell Chiyoko. Commercially, the film performed modestly on its US release earning $18,732[12] on its opening weekend and $37,285 during its full three-week release. She loudly exclaims that she will continue to look for him. Click to manage book marks. The dub has only ever been released in the United Kingdom, while releases in the United States were subtitle-only. Lead Actors: Miyoko Shōji, Mami Koyama, Fumiko Orikasa, Shōzō Iizuka. The synopsis of Millennium Actress is as follows: “Two men interview an elderly woman about her extensive film career.” This might not seem like much, because it isn’t. https://satoshikon.fandom.com/wiki/Millennium_Actress?oldid=6041. Millennium Actress is one of those multi-layered work of animation that will move if you only see the surface, but further analyze everything holds a greater meaning. In Kon’s feature directorial debut, PERFECT BLUE, a pop star … Once they arrive at Chiyoko's residence, Tachibana blushes as soon as Chiyoko enters, who is now elderly and frail. Eiko punishes Chiyoko for leaving the okiya and for visiting a prisoner about to be executed and orders a handyman, Tachibana in disguise to look after Chiyoko. [10] The film also presents various references to Japanese history, including the Edo period and Manchukuo, and gives it a nostalgic aesthetic. [11] The movie was previously licensed by DreamWorks' arthouse and foreign movie publishing company Go Fish Pictures. Tachibana delivers a key to her, and it causes her to reflect on her career; as she's telling the story, Tachibana and his long-suffering cameraman are drawn in. Take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat. She explains that ever since Chiyoko went into the acting business, Eiko wanted to get rid of her. The 2001 film, Millennium Actress (千年女優, Sennen Joyū), directed by Satoshi Kon, uses distinctly Japanese elements to defy convention and create an animated work that fits within the umbrella of “Japan Gross National Cool” while inverting the concept of mukokuseki. Then, Chiyoko discovers the key, hidden on a set, and Eiko confronts her. Director: Satoshi Kon. Initially reluctant, Chiyoko opens up when Genya reveals a missing key that once belonged to her. Thematically different from the likes of Perfect Blue and Paranoia Agent, Millennium Actress is no less impressive and is a shining example of how animation can be as much art as entertainment. In anime masterpiece MILLENNIUM ACTRESS filmmakers probe the memories of a reclusive former star. Fathom Events and Eleven Arts are bringing Millennium Actress back to theatres for two-nights only. Synopsis. Kon always had interesting stories to share and through equally interesting ways. He runs off into the park, just as the police chief arrives and asks if she saw a man with a suitcase. The viewer is put in a unique position of deciphering what is real, what is an act, and the path of the love story. Tachibana hands her a key, which shocks her, and replies that she thought she never find it. Get this from a library! A TV interviewer and his cameraman meet a former actress and travel through her memories and career. It is then, that both Tachibana and Kyoji are drawn into her memories. When Chiyoko was in middle school, a movie director of Ginei Studios noticed her and decided to call her in, along with her mother. The interweaving of Japanese national and cinematic history drives the film’s narrative about a famous actress whose life … The next morning, the man is found, and he is forced to flee, again. She plays anything from a World War 2 nurse to a geisha to an astronaut. Being a famous actress, Chiyoko has partaken in many films and Genya, us alongside, gets the opportunity to relive her varied roles. She runs after the man while going through a long tunnel, but then the scene changes to that of the Tokyo bombing during World War II. IMDb Plot Summary: In a rare interview, a reclusive actress recounts her life in cinema in post-war Japan. It is seen not as a sequence of events unfolding in real time, but rather in a retrospective, lighthearted point of view. TV interviewer Genya Tachibana has tracked down its most famous star, Chiyoko Fujiwara, who has been a recluse since she left acting some 30 years ago. Millennium Actress (千年女優 Sennen Joyū) is a 2001 Japanese anime by director Satoshi Kon and animated by the Studio Madhouse. When he presents her with a key she had lost and thought was gone forever, the filmmaker could not have imagined that it would not only unlock the long-held secrets of Chiyoko’s life… but also his own. Synopsis Satoshi Kon Double Feature! The elderly Chiyoko says from that day, she withdrew from the acting business and went into hiding. Along the way Millennium Actress treats us to a number of parodies of film classics. After Japan surrendered, Chiyoko and the movie studio staff did what they could to survive, but the thought of making good movies kept them going. Writers: Satoshi Kon, Sadayuki Murai. Anime Actress Chiyoko takes the upper hand, threatening to kill Eiko if she doesn't tell her where her lover is. As Chiyoko begins, the film becomes a surreal story within a story wherein events from Chiyoko's life are interwoven with scenes from films she has appeared in, while Tachibana and Ida appear within them as documentary filmmakers. Plot Summary "Although she never finds her lost love, she insists on continuing the search. [15] In February 2004, Cinefantastique listed the anime as one of the "10 Essential Animations", stating that the it "represents a new maturity for anime, one where the technical achievements of 40 years are finally put at the full service of an emotionally rich story."[16]. The latest anime to be pushed onto the American public is Satoshi Kon's Millennium Actress. Director Genya Tachibana is working on a documentary about a famous actress Chiyoko Fujiwara. The next movie memory is set with Chiyoko as a traveler on a dirt path and she comes across a group of men, taking a prisoner. Millennium Actress. Millennium Actress was favorably received by critics, gaining a 93% "fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes. This film serves as a "play within a play". Theatrical anime distribution company Eleven Arts acquired the North American rights. The back of the box summary is that Millennium Actress is about Genya Tachibana, a documentary filmmaker, and his cameraman Kyoji Ida, who interviews retired actress Chiyoko Fujiwara about her life and illustrious career in Japanese cinema. However, in typical Satoshi Kon fashion, the lines between reality and fiction begin to blur. Years later, Chiyoko finds the key hidden in their home and confronts her husband about it; former lead actress Eiko Shimao reveals that she stole it out of jealousy and gave it to Junichi. It is based on the life of Setsuko Hara. He has made Paprika and more. Kon’s love for his animated diva is supreme and he plays her romantic saga for delirious world-weary sorrow. Is it history, a life story, a love story, or a film about films? When producing Millennium Actress, Kon created a unique combination of both his memories and his imagination, striving to make Millennium Actress and Perfect Blue two different interpretations of the same concept; a story told from two different perspectives. Loosely based on the lives of actresses Setsuko Hara and Hideko Takamine, it tells the story of two documentary filmmakers investigating the life of a retired acting legend. Movie Title: Millennium Actress (千年女優 Sennen Joyū) Year: 2001. Chiyoko then attends to the wounded man and hides him in the back of her shop. Chiyoko decides to get started before the next one. [Tarō Maki; Satoshi Kon; Sadayuki Murai; Miyoko Shōji; Mami Koyama; Fumiko Orikasa; Shōzō Iizuka; Shōko Tsuda; Hirotaka Suzuoki; Hisako Kyōda; Kōichi Yamadera; Masane Tsukayama; Shout! After the bombings, Chiyoko returns to her home-town, discovering that it also has been bombed. Additionally, it won the awards of Best Animation Film and Fantasia Ground-Breaker at the 2001 Fantasia Film Festival. Following the release of Satoshi Kon's previous film Perfect Blue, Kon considered adapting the Yasutaka Tsutsui novel Paprika (1993) into his next film. This movie is another work of Satoshi Kon. Genya Tachibana is a director who is seeking her out in order to produce a documentary on her life. Millennium Actress (千年女優, Sennen Joyū) is a 2001 Japanese animated drama film co-written and directed by Satoshi Kon and produced by Madhouse. It was also promoted by its studio as a contender for the 2003 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but it was not nominated. She rushes to the palace, where she finds a man's body on the throne and she begins to cry. Though to be frank, Millennium Actress comes across as something that would be praised as long as the aesthetics are nice, the plot is a little bit convoluted and that it is directed by Satoshi Kon. MILLENNIUM ACTRESS is a unique piece of Japanese animation that splices together fantasy, drama, and history. Di Gi Charat Theater - Leave it to Piyoko! Occasionally you’ll come across a film where a plot summary cannot even scratch the surface of what it contains. ... Review of Millennium Actress Sep 5, 2003. Indeed, Millennium Actress is very much a love poem to cinema itself. Millennium Actress. [1] The screenplay was written by Sadayuki Murai,[6] who used a seamless connection between illusion and reality to create a "Trompe-l'œil kind of film". Millennium Actress ’s story far exceeds the boundaries of just a plot, Millennium Actress ’s true genius lies in the meta-story. The scene changes to Kyoto in the Edo period, with Chiyoko as a geisha, begging for mercy from Eiko, also a geisha. While on the set of another movie, Eiko says that there's a fortune teller that can help her locate the man she is desperate to find. Chiyoko gives up looking for it and later married Okati. It is based on the life of Setsuko Hara. The young Tachibana shields her from falling debris and she thanks him. Then, the police-chief arrives and asks Chiyoko if she saw a rebel, but he recognizes her and threatens to harm her. Documentary filmmaker Genya Tachibana has tracked down the legendary actress Chiyoko Fujiwara, who mysteriously vanished at the height of her career. Overview of Millennium Actress, 2001, directed by Satoshi Kon, with Miyoko Shoji, Mami Koyama, Fumiko Orikasa, at Turner Classic Movies The story references Japanese films including, "Setsuko Hara: The diva who left Japan wanting a lot more", "Satoshi Kon's Otaku: The Dangers of Technological Fantasy |", "Eleven Arts to Screen Satoshi Kon's Millennium Actress Anime Film in U.S. in August with New English Dub", "IMDb Sennen joyû (2001) - Box office / business", "The Americanization of Anime: 10 Essential Animations", Legend of the Galactic Heroes: My Conquest is the Sea of Stars, Cardcaptor Sakura Movie 2: The Sealed Card, Jubei-chan: The Secret of the Lovely Eyepatch, Jubei-chan: The Counter Attack of Siberia Yagyu, Space Pirate Captain Herlock: The Endless Odyssey. When Ginei Studios shuts down, filmmaker Genya Tachibana and his assistant are tasked with interviewing its reclusive star, Chiyoko Fujiwara, who had retired from the spotlight 30 years prior. It is a pleasure to flow seamlessly from one film to the next. The scene changes to a kingdom under attack and Chiyoko portrays as a princess. The movie took home the prestigious Ofuji Noburo Award at the 2002 Mainichi Film Awards, and was honored with the Orient Express Award at the 2001 Festival de Cine de Sitges in Spain. A movie studio is being torn down. It was awarded the Feature Film Award at the 8th Animation Kobe. Chiyoko is about to run off, when Eiko catches her, slaps her across the face for wanting to risk her life to save someone, and they rush back into the shelter. For context, Millennium Actress is the story of a bankrupt film studio that commissions a director, named Genya Tachibana, and his cameraman, Kyōji Ida, to interview legendary actress Chiyoko Fujiwara as a last-minute attempt to archive their history. When they meet, Tachibana gives Chiyoko a key he believes she lost at the studio, prompting her to reflect on her life. She orders him to leave, but he offers her a letter from the artist and it mentions Hokkaido. Tachiban explains to Kyoji about the time the elderly police chief visited Chiyoko and informs that the artist was tortured to death, without Chiyoko's knowledge. The film was theatrically re-released in its original Japanese version on August 13, 2019 with a brand new English dub on August 19, 2019. Tachibana helps Chiyoko escape from the okiya, disguised as an ordinary citizen. The meaning of all this is explained by the same spirit when it says: I hate you more than I can bear, and I love you more than I can bear. Millennium Actress is distinctly Japanese, and can never be completely understood on a universal level by all because of the bits of Japanese history that are incorporated into the story. She helped him escape from the authorities and after his departure, decided to become a film actress in the hope that he would recognize and find her. Now if you happen to be the type of anime hound … Though I am always a little hesitant about awarding such high marks to anything, this movie was one of the most riveting and unique anime experiences I have had. Chiyoko hears about this from an employee, who helped him escape, and she sees that the man left the key to his suitcase behind and she rushes to the train station. At the hospital, Tachibana and Kyoji receive the news that Chiyoko's time on this earth is about to end. In Summary Thematically different from the likes of Perfect Blue and Paranoia Agent, Millennium Actress is no less impressive and is a shining example of how animation can be as much art as entertainment. Summary. Known for his remarkable visual style, Kon seamlessly blends fantasy and reality into an exciting epic adventure of fate and destiny. Chiyoko leaves and runs into a man, who is fleeing from police. 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