"Sennen joyû" or "Millennium Actress" is a Japanese anime movie from the beginning of the new millennium, 2001, so this one had its 20th anniversary last year. Of course, it is also almost exclusively in the Japanese language and at under 1.5 hours, it is not a particularly long movie we have here. Interestingly, here we have a director who apparently was in charge of penning the original story, but not the screenplay and that is something you don't really see too often, neither with animation, nor with live action. The name is Satoshi Kon and he was still relatively young when he made this film. Unfortunately, he is no longer with us anymore, died from cancer over a decade ago, but this film he left us here is surely among his most known career efforts. I cannot really elaborate on the voice cast here except by saying that I felt they did a decent job overall, but it should not surprise anybody because the majority seemed relatively experienced already back then. Maybe they also worked on more projects than the ones you find listed here because with countries from a far distant continent you never know how complete the list is. I had the chance to watch this film yesterday on the occasion of an anime film festival at one of my local theaters. I did not regret the decision, even if I was not totally blown away by the movie and this is the first from quite a bunch I will watch over the next couple days. Let's say a few words about the plot first. We have a reporter or journalist (said chubby guy) and his cameraman who are climbing up a hill to a somewhat remote destination to reach a house in which an elderly lady lives, completely on her own with no real contact to the outside world, except her employee perhaps. This lady was once a most famous actress, but now nobody really remembers her anymore. This can also be seen through the camera guy who says something along the lines like why would anybody still care about her. That was a bit mean, but later on, he also brings in some okay comedy here and there like when he says the old guy is going wild again (not literally) or on another occasions says he is ready to retire if they make it out of a specific scenario. This was a nice reference to how the duo was in the middle of the action that took place decades ago. Like literally they were there.
The more interesting character from the comedy perspective is the interviewer for sure. He is really a huge fan of the actress. Always has been, always will be. This results in some funny moments, like most of all how he comes to save her really on a few occasons, even if she (her younger self) is not too happy about it or also how he is mad at the guys who are romantic opposition, like most of all the one the woman is chasing all her life of course. But also he deeply cares for her, cries hard when he finds out she is about to die. As for the saving part, there is an unexpected turn there because this reporter guy when he was younger back then and some kind of extra at the film set where the actress was working was really there and even when there was a serious accident he kinda saved her life. The actress had not forgotten about this, but she did not make the connection that it was him in fact. It was still a bit odd because he says on one occasion they caught him standing there when nobody could have recognized it/him and he must have said it himself. Despite how humble he appears, but still of course he wants her (old version) to appreciate him, which may explain why he said it. So you could say that he had always been as infatuated with her as she had been with the mysterious young man with the painting. Well, maybe not that much. The interviewer guy is mostly in it for comedy reasons. Another pretty funny moment I liked was very brief, namely when we see the three so much inside the story decades ago that their bodies are in the same positions in the now like their characters' were back then. This makes for a funny sight for sure. Also the moment when we see the housekeeper for the first time when she opens the door and maybe we mistake her for the actress was a bit on the funny side. There's more. As you almost always see it with anime, drama is key, but there are also some moments in here where you will laugh a bit. Or smile at least. Most of the jokes are somewhat linked to the aforementioned older, chubbier male character.
This film, like anime so often does, delivers fully in terms of comedy through exaggerated moments. On the more serious side,the female protagonist's idea about finding who she considers the love of her life was also well-done. Unfortunately, there I was repeatedly distracted because of the idea how they mixed up the movie back then and combined it with reality. You could never really be sure what was going on. So my thought in the end was that she somehow starred in a movie about her own life, fully based on what she had on her mind. Or who I should say. This would also fit from the perspective that she reenacts all this hoping that the man of her dreams will understand and come across it somehow somewhere. Also in terms of dramatic sequences, the film is not scared of exaggerations. The spacecraft opening pretty much did nothing for me and at some point she even ends up on what seemed to be the moon (maybe reflecting a saying that she would follow him to the moon even) and sees a painting there that could be from the one she is looking for. Also, from a completely neutral and unbiased perspective, it is a bit difficult to believe that this encounter there in the beginning could have really changed her life to such an extent. Sounds very much obsessive. But let's not go any further into detail there and stay optimistic instead and just enjoy the movie magic. Visually, I surely enjoyed the watch. I have to go back to the clashing between film and reality. Just to mention a few moments where it seemed like film in film we had the moment when the reporter guy says something like this is one of his favorite moments or even his favorite moment. Or when her character talks to her mother who as we find out was against the idea of acting from the very start and then we see and hear somebody say "Cut!" and realize it was just a scene they shot for a film.
The revelation at the end was extremely sobering then. We find out the man that everything is about had died very briefly after the events back then, so she has indeed been chasing a spirit. When she dies in the end (not too surprising, especially with the foreshadowing how she says on one occasion she might not remember her story the next day, even if I initially thought she had Alzheimer's or something), she probably knows herself that he is deceased as well and that's why she says she can now keep searching for him on a whole new level basically, i.e. Where she is going now and still hoping they will be reunited there. This is emphasized by the fact that she also still carries the mysterious key the moment she passes. Pay attention to how the chubby comedy guy never toold her about the man's early death. You could think he would, so that one will be less of a rival, but he does not want her to lose her dream and suffer by finding the sobering truth. Like so many times with anime films, there is also a supernatural component in here, namely an old lady and we understand she is a spirit somehow and has a beverage that gives somebody (almost) eternal life, but also eternal suffering from being lovestruck as she says on two or three occasions. Near the end, it feels like that character blends together with the now old female protagonist, even if the latter was of course not a millennium old, but I did not really understand this scene and character anyway. Also who does she love and despise? Her really young self? Because she would not let go of the man of her dreams? Well, there were no regrets at all from the character herself, so a bit doubtful. Or maybe it was the voice of reason inside her head.
Time to finish. I think I have made myself clear that there was stuff I liked from this film and other stuff I did not like too much, but the positive elements were more frequent overall. Music was nice too. Sometimes I felt that this film just tried to be a bit too much to be honest, to become too deep and memorable for its own good. It did not have to be like that. The story it was putting on display also could have been a huge success if they had kept it a little bit more simple. This also refers to a crucial war in Asian history that is part of the film on several occasions, especially in the first half. It was a bit of an enigma, also how they included several characters that had the same faces, so they were maybe not the exact same characters, but stood for the exact same pretty much. This refers to the one asking the girl where the bad guy went of course. On one occasion, he just follows what she said and on the second occasion he is more critical and gets out his sword and threatens her to tell the truth or he will kill her. Also with this other fairly mysterious female character I was struggling a bit. I felt she could have had her own film and story somehow, but here the way they used her as filler material I was not won over and preferred it if the film had been completely without her. That is all now. It is a good film for anime lovers who have seen a lot already, but if you are still relatively new to the genre of Asian/Japanese animation, then there are tons of other films you might want to see before this one. I still give it a thumbs-up, just not a highly enthusiastic one. Go check it out.
The more interesting character from the comedy perspective is the interviewer for sure. He is really a huge fan of the actress. Always has been, always will be. This results in some funny moments, like most of all how he comes to save her really on a few occasons, even if she (her younger self) is not too happy about it or also how he is mad at the guys who are romantic opposition, like most of all the one the woman is chasing all her life of course. But also he deeply cares for her, cries hard when he finds out she is about to die. As for the saving part, there is an unexpected turn there because this reporter guy when he was younger back then and some kind of extra at the film set where the actress was working was really there and even when there was a serious accident he kinda saved her life. The actress had not forgotten about this, but she did not make the connection that it was him in fact. It was still a bit odd because he says on one occasion they caught him standing there when nobody could have recognized it/him and he must have said it himself. Despite how humble he appears, but still of course he wants her (old version) to appreciate him, which may explain why he said it. So you could say that he had always been as infatuated with her as she had been with the mysterious young man with the painting. Well, maybe not that much. The interviewer guy is mostly in it for comedy reasons. Another pretty funny moment I liked was very brief, namely when we see the three so much inside the story decades ago that their bodies are in the same positions in the now like their characters' were back then. This makes for a funny sight for sure. Also the moment when we see the housekeeper for the first time when she opens the door and maybe we mistake her for the actress was a bit on the funny side. There's more. As you almost always see it with anime, drama is key, but there are also some moments in here where you will laugh a bit. Or smile at least. Most of the jokes are somewhat linked to the aforementioned older, chubbier male character.
This film, like anime so often does, delivers fully in terms of comedy through exaggerated moments. On the more serious side,the female protagonist's idea about finding who she considers the love of her life was also well-done. Unfortunately, there I was repeatedly distracted because of the idea how they mixed up the movie back then and combined it with reality. You could never really be sure what was going on. So my thought in the end was that she somehow starred in a movie about her own life, fully based on what she had on her mind. Or who I should say. This would also fit from the perspective that she reenacts all this hoping that the man of her dreams will understand and come across it somehow somewhere. Also in terms of dramatic sequences, the film is not scared of exaggerations. The spacecraft opening pretty much did nothing for me and at some point she even ends up on what seemed to be the moon (maybe reflecting a saying that she would follow him to the moon even) and sees a painting there that could be from the one she is looking for. Also, from a completely neutral and unbiased perspective, it is a bit difficult to believe that this encounter there in the beginning could have really changed her life to such an extent. Sounds very much obsessive. But let's not go any further into detail there and stay optimistic instead and just enjoy the movie magic. Visually, I surely enjoyed the watch. I have to go back to the clashing between film and reality. Just to mention a few moments where it seemed like film in film we had the moment when the reporter guy says something like this is one of his favorite moments or even his favorite moment. Or when her character talks to her mother who as we find out was against the idea of acting from the very start and then we see and hear somebody say "Cut!" and realize it was just a scene they shot for a film.
The revelation at the end was extremely sobering then. We find out the man that everything is about had died very briefly after the events back then, so she has indeed been chasing a spirit. When she dies in the end (not too surprising, especially with the foreshadowing how she says on one occasion she might not remember her story the next day, even if I initially thought she had Alzheimer's or something), she probably knows herself that he is deceased as well and that's why she says she can now keep searching for him on a whole new level basically, i.e. Where she is going now and still hoping they will be reunited there. This is emphasized by the fact that she also still carries the mysterious key the moment she passes. Pay attention to how the chubby comedy guy never toold her about the man's early death. You could think he would, so that one will be less of a rival, but he does not want her to lose her dream and suffer by finding the sobering truth. Like so many times with anime films, there is also a supernatural component in here, namely an old lady and we understand she is a spirit somehow and has a beverage that gives somebody (almost) eternal life, but also eternal suffering from being lovestruck as she says on two or three occasions. Near the end, it feels like that character blends together with the now old female protagonist, even if the latter was of course not a millennium old, but I did not really understand this scene and character anyway. Also who does she love and despise? Her really young self? Because she would not let go of the man of her dreams? Well, there were no regrets at all from the character herself, so a bit doubtful. Or maybe it was the voice of reason inside her head.
Time to finish. I think I have made myself clear that there was stuff I liked from this film and other stuff I did not like too much, but the positive elements were more frequent overall. Music was nice too. Sometimes I felt that this film just tried to be a bit too much to be honest, to become too deep and memorable for its own good. It did not have to be like that. The story it was putting on display also could have been a huge success if they had kept it a little bit more simple. This also refers to a crucial war in Asian history that is part of the film on several occasions, especially in the first half. It was a bit of an enigma, also how they included several characters that had the same faces, so they were maybe not the exact same characters, but stood for the exact same pretty much. This refers to the one asking the girl where the bad guy went of course. On one occasion, he just follows what she said and on the second occasion he is more critical and gets out his sword and threatens her to tell the truth or he will kill her. Also with this other fairly mysterious female character I was struggling a bit. I felt she could have had her own film and story somehow, but here the way they used her as filler material I was not won over and preferred it if the film had been completely without her. That is all now. It is a good film for anime lovers who have seen a lot already, but if you are still relatively new to the genre of Asian/Japanese animation, then there are tons of other films you might want to see before this one. I still give it a thumbs-up, just not a highly enthusiastic one. Go check it out.