Millennium Actress (2001)

Ambitious and beautifully animated

When a documentary filmmaker gains an interview with a reclusive actress, he is treated to a great love story. As a young girl, Chiyoko Fujiwara fell in love with a dissident artist during the time of fascist military rule in the 30s. She spent the rest of her life searching for him. As she tells this story to the interviewer and his cameraman, it is interspersed with scenes from her films in which she is always seeking reunion with an absent lover. To add yet another layer, the interviewer himself has always harbored a secret passion for the actress and appears as her protector in many of these scenes.

This fascinating movie produces an effect that is difficult to put into words. The inclusion of so many film scenes in lieu of flashbacks elevates Chiyoko's story above the particular circumstances of a single human life, giving it the iconic power inherent in great films, so that it seems that she suffers and loves on behalf of us all. And isn't that, in a sense, what movies and the actors who appear in them mean to those who really love them? The extraordinary animation does full justice to this ambitious conceit.
October 12, 2008

Beautiful Animation

Breathtaking animation and wonderful scenes of historic Japan. Romantic story line. Enjoyed it very much. July 24, 2008

Anime at its best...for ANY Millennium!

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!!! March 26, 2008

Quick Overview

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 February 12, 2008

Another great masterpice!, a touching story....

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. February 9, 2008

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