Perfect Blue (1998)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Satoshi Kon

Writers:

Sadayuki Murai (screenplay)
Yoshikazu Takeuchi (novel)

Release Date:

28 February 1998 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The color of illusion is Perfect Blue. (Japanese)

Plot:

A retired pop singer turned actress's sense of reality is shaken when she is stalked by an obsessed fan and seemingly a ghost of her past.

Plot Keywords:

Singer | Fan | Obsessed Fan | Rape | Actress

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Junko Iwao	...	Mima (voice)
Rica Matsumoto	...	Rumi (voice) (as Rika Matsumoto)
Shinpachi Tsuji	...	Tadokoro (voice)
Masaaki Ôkura	...	Uchida (voice)
Yôsuke Akimoto	...	Tejima (voice)
Yoku Shioya	...	Shibuya (voice)
Hideyuki Hori	...	Sakuragi (voice)
Emi Shinohara	...	Eri (voice)
Masashi Ebara	...	Murano (voice)
Kiyoyuki Yanada	...	Kantoku (voice)
Tôru Furusawa	...	Yada (voice)
Shiho Niiyama	...	Rei (voice)
Emiko Furukawa	...	Yukiko (voice)
Aya Hara	...	(voice)
Shinichirô Miki	...	(voice) (as Shin'ichirô Miki)

Also Known As:

Pâfekuto burû (Japan) (promotional title)

MPAA:

Rated R for animated sequences of violence and nudity, and for brief language.

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Japan:R-15 | Taiwan:R-18 | Australia:MA | Canada:16+ (Québec) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Ontario) | France:-12 | Germany:16 | New Zealand:R18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | USA:Unrated

Company:

Rex Entertainment

Trivia:

The "Big Body" pizza box in the infamous stabbing scene usually gets a few chuckles from English-speaking viewers, who are no doubt thinking about the food's fat content. However, "Big Body" is actually an homage to Susumu Hirasawa (who would later compose music for Sennen joyû (2001) and "Môsô dairinin" (2004), also by director Kon) and his electronically band "P-Model." Big Body is the name of their tenth album, released in 1993.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the English dub version, Cham sings their song at the beginning in English. Later on, when the writer is waiting for the elevator, the radio is playing the song in Japanese.

Quotes:

Mima's Ghost: Let's end all of this. We don't need two Mimas now, do we?
Mima Kirigoe: I am Mima!
Mima's Ghost: [laughter] That's funny. Mima is a pop idol... and you're just a dirty old imposter
Mima Kirigoe: You're the imposter! I'm not gonna take this anymore!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 21 Grams (2003)

Soundtrack:

Season

Not quite Perfect, but still a great movie

The first time I watched PERFECT BLUE I was underwhelmed. I disliked what I perceived to be the 'supernatural' element of the movie. I watched it again several months later, intending to get rid of my DVD, and realised that I had missed the whole point of the film!

PERFECT BLUE is actually a very good, intelligent movie. Director, Satoshi Kon, was employed to make an exploitation flick using the original PERFECT BLUE novel as his source material. Kon disliked the script the studio provided and, when he asked how rigidly he had to stick to the plot, was told that he had to keep three elements of the story: a singing idol, a stalker and horror. Using these elements he and writer Sadayuki Murai created what is effectively a coming-of-age story about a young woman leaving one stage of her life and entering another.

The plot can seem contrived and the ending is a little silly (though it is quite meaningful when looking at the film as a story about growing up). Also the animation is not too great -this was only a straight to video feature, after all. However, if you can get past these problems, this is a very enjoyable movie.

7/10