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Perfect Blue is a psychological thriller anime, directed by Satoshi Kan, and released in 1997. Perfect Blue follows Mima Kirigoe, the star of the fictional Japanese pop band, Cham. When Mima decides to leave the band to pursue a solo career in acting, she has to battle an obsessed stalker, as well as her own fracturing mind. Perfect Blue is a great movie that has been on my mind since I first saw it. It’s definitely one of my favorite movies I’ve seen so far this year.
Technically speaking I have no issues with Perfect Blue. This movie has no glaring issues that hold it back in any way. The film is only 90 minutes long and runs at a perfect pace. It expertly balances fast paced, high intensity scenes, with slower moments, where the audience, and Mima are allowed to breathe. As such, the movie never feels slow or boring. Every scene serves a purpose whether it be to progress the story, develop its characters, or set the tone.
The animation in this movie is gorgeous, and I absolutely love it. I’ve always adored traditional 2D animation, and the art style and animation from Perfect Blue is exactly the kind I enjoy most. It has an older look to it that I really like. In fact the animation itself is what first sparked my interest in seeing the movie. However, putting my own preferences aside, this is still a stunning film. The art style is great and the use of lighting and color is incredible. Not only does the movie have a beautiful visual presentation, but it also serves the story, and the overall experience. One example of this is the film's use of the color red. It’s presence in the film increases as Mima’s mental state decays further. In fact, all of the colors and the lighting become much more harsh and bold as Mima falls further into madness. This serves as a subconscious visual cue that helps to show this change.
The music of Perfect Blue is also great. The score is made up of original songs performed by the fictional Cham, as well as traditional pieces. This is a very disturbing movie, and the horrific subject matter contrasts perfectly with the upbeat, and catchy pop songs. The traditional pieces in the score are also extremely effective. They’re haunting and nerve wracking, conveying the paranoia and anxiety Mima feels perfectly. Perfect Blue doesn't just let the audience witness Mima’s mental distress, it forces you to feel what she feels. The disorienting score helps to create and add to this effect.
The story is very interesting, but it’s how the story is conveyed that makes this film so memorable. The plot of the TV show Mima is acting in begins to mirror her real life horror. As this happens and Mima falls further and further into insanity, she becomes unable to separate reality from fiction. The way the movie is edited forces the audience to experience the same confusion and distress. It becomes hard to tell what is actually happening in the movie, what is a part of the show, and what’s in Mima’s head. Time begins to run together as do scenes of the movie. This works amazingly to help the audience empathize with Mima, it creates a shared experience, and makes her struggles more endearing. Because of this I think Perfect Blue is an experience, it takes you on a mental trip, and puts you in the characters shoes. This makes the story more frightening and engaging.
The characters are another highlight of the film. This feels like a very accurate depiction of the real world, and thus its characters feel like real people. Side and supporting characters feel real while also standing out as individuals in the movie. Perfect Blue also acts as a character study of its protagonist, Mima Kirigoe. Mima is one of the best characters I’ve seen in a while, and she’s now one of my favorite characters from any movie. As the audience we see both sides of her, the pop star, and the average person. The opening of the movie introduces us to her perfectly, as we cut between her going about her daily routine, and her performing. She has a realistic inner turmoil that I think a lot of people can empathize with. She’s very relatable and likeable, and the connection formed between her and the audience helps us grow closer to her. She, like the other characters, feels real. She makes realistic decisions and experiences real emotions and hardships. Mima struggles to find who she is, and who she wants to be. She struggles to separate the truth from what is in her head. She struggles to free herself from her torment and get past her trauma. These conflicts create a compelling character you can’t help but cheer and care for.
I have no issues with Perfect Blue, and I think it is a perfect film. That being said, this movie may not be for everyone. Some people may not like the structure, or the way the story is conveyed, and might find it too confusing to enjoy. The film also pulls no punches when it comes to its subject matter and how it’s portrayed. This is a very disturbing, and at times violent and graphic movie. It is brutally realistic, and it makes the movie very uncomfortable to watch at times, even for someone like myself who has seen many disturbing films. I personally loved it, and it's been stuck in my head since I’ve seen it. This is an incredible psychological thriller that is perfectly crafted, with one of the best protagonists in any film I've seen. With a great narrative told in an extremely creative, and thought provoking way. There’s so much to take away from Perfect Blue, and I look forward to seeing it again.
Objective Score:
10/10
Personal Score:
9.5/10
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One of the first films one encounters if one wants to deal with arthouse anime or arthouse as such is Perfect Blue. Among fans, it is truly considered the holy grail of meta-aesthetics. Whether the film can carry this, what influences it had and why meta is used correctly here is what I want to shed light on in this review.
Perfect Blue was directed by Satoshi Kon in 1997. The film profited considerably from the hype for animated productions in feature film format, which was mainly created by Akira. It became clear that this format could produce serious and challenging films that would still appeal to a large audience.
Satoshi Kon, whose films arguably served as the greatest inspiration for late 2000s productions by Nolan and Aaronofsky, negotiates an almost romantically cynical perspective on the ever-changing definition of identity, on such eloquent filmic presentation that they are arguably more like dreams. A stringently planned fantasy, like the Hitchcock of animation.
Perfect Blue thus deals with Mima, who, after an attempted change of profession, realises that not only the expectations of the outside world are catching up with her, but also her own idea of herself, diabolically embodied by Rumi. Perfect Blue incidentally anticipates the whole dialogue about dismorphism of body and mind in the digital age, when the first blogs and websites became accessible to the general public. A loop of social masks and interpersonal ones is torn from the viewer's face in impressive sequences in which it would not be surprising if Mima suddenly emerges from our screen and it turns out that our reality is also a level of Perfect Blue. Satoshi Kon casually creates such iconic images that even a purely aestheticistic viewing is a joy. Likewise, Perfect Blue works as a thriller, as the film has been marketed internationally, though of course it doesn't do it justice.
The profound philosophy of dehumanising a person in the limelight or the abysses of Mima's stalker, a rape where even the viewer doesn't know what to feel or the noir-esque series of murders....
This film has a lot to offer and even more to discuss.
You will certainly come across Satoshi Kon more often on this site, where you can also discuss how Inception by Christopher Nolan or Black Swan by Darren Aaronfsky are ultimately only afterthoughts to Kon's originals.
In Perfect Blue we see a collision. Of expectations, of realities, meta levels, truth and lies. A film that joins Akira in transforming a rammed genre. In the end, we have no choice but to ask where our alter ego lurks, how often we play something but don't mean it or, like Mima, find ourselves lost and unexpected in the digital.
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