Sennen joyû
Tags: historical, cult, psychedelic, romantic, sentimental

Plot synopsis:
The film opens with a woman leaving to embark on a spaceship from the moon to Earth. An earthquake occurs and it is revealed that this is simply a scene from a movie being played out on a television. Genya Tachibana, a TV interviewer, and his cameraman Kyoji Ida head off to a new job: Ginei Studios, a prestigious but bankrupt movie studio is being torn down and its best known star Chiyoko Fujiwara has agreed to do a rare career retrospective interview. When they meet, Genya gives her a key he believes she lost at the studio, which causes Chiyoko to reflect on her career. As she's telling her life story, Genya and Kyoji Ida, his cameraman, are drawn in literally to Chiyoko's past as they are blended into various scenes that concurrently reflect Chiyoko's filmography and life story at once.
Chiyoko, as a girl in 1930s Japan, is approached to become an actress by a famous director. While walking on the street, Chiyoko encounters a man running away from a certain scarred military policeman, and she manages to hide him away in a storage barn. It turns out he is a revolutionary against the war in China, as well as a painter; he escapes, but leaves a key behind. After his departure, she decides to become a film actress in hopes that he will see one of her movies, and heads to Manchukuo with the film crew for her first movie to try and give the key back to him. She meets Ginei Studios' lead actress, who treats her with contempt, as well as the director's young son, also planning to be a director. On a train however, local bandits attack. At this point, scenes are played from different movies from Chiyoko's career, ranging from samurai to kaiju: all with the theme of Chiyoko chasing down the mysterious painter. Various characters are seen again and again, such as the military policeman, and even Genya and Kyoji, who continually save Chiyoko and allow her to continue on her quest.
Through this narrative, it is seen that a younger Genya became an assistant at Ginei Studios. Chiyoko loses the key during filming one day, and resigns to marrying the director's son, who has become the lead director himself. Eventually, after the war, Chiyoko finds the key hidden away in one of the sets, and confronts her husband about it; the other lead actress reveals that she stole it for the director out of jealousy for her youth. Right after, the military policeman, now a crippled veteran, comes to the studio to apologize for his war crimes, and gives Chiyoko a letter from the painter. After Chiyoko leaves to resume her desperate search north, Genya hears from the scarred policeman that the painter was tortured and killed after his arrest.
As Ginei Studios begins filming the last scene of a movie, an earthquake shakes the studio and causes the roof to collapse on to the set, a spaceship. Genya jumps in and saves Chiyoko by shielding her from debris with his body, but after the earthquake, she runs away inexplicably, leaving behind the key for Genya to pick up. Finally back in the present, Genya asks why Chiyoko abandoned her search, and she replies that she was no longer the girl of her youth; the painter would no longer recognize her now.
During the interview, another earthquake strikes, and Genya once again shields her from debris. He and the cameraman drive her desperately to the hospital, but despite their efforts are told that she won't make it. On her hospital deathbed, Chiyoko surprises them by saying that it doesn't matter if she finds the man or not. As the film returns to its opening scene, she explains that despite never seeing the man again, she realized that it wasn't the man she loved, but the chase for him -- before blasting off in the spaceship to continue her search.

Review: Here at his second feature film, ripe after a four years hiatus, he makes the wait well-worthed with a cunning cinematographic experience that literally plunges the viewer into the wonderful world of film.Using the animation medium to push storytelling in film to new levels of effectiveness, Kon tells the story of a legendary actress who's life and career sparks the interest of documentary director Genya Tachibana.
Along with his trusted cameraman, he undertakes to interview the now very old Chiyoko Fujiwara, spotlight actress in her hay days, and together they delve into her past.This session blooms into a captivating narrative, blending elements of her life with roles in some of her films, and exploring her great search for love.
I just tried to project myself in the future, and thought of what I might be able to bestow to a younger inexperienced person like myself, with this increased wisdom that comes with life's trials and tribulations."  I admit I am paraphrasing just a little (my japanese is not that good in any case), but that's essentially what he said, and this confirmed my belief, based on the artistic genius and masterful integration of complex thoughts into a simple, flowing, living piece, that this man is gifted.
I admit, I was teary eyed for several scenes in the movie, it's cinema at its best.The story, like Kon's Perfect Blue, is told in a way where reality and fantasy are blurred and joined.
They met just briefly, he gave her the key to "the most important thing in the world," and Chiyoko and the film characters she plays spend the next 1,000 years and the rest of her film career and the rest of her life trying to return it."Millennium Actress" and the techniques of animation were made for each other.
So-called live-action movies would have buried a live actress under layers of Yoda-like plastic to achieve the same effect.Presumably you will be watching this on DVD; after you have watched this movie through once or twice, go back and select scene 12 and just watch that: it begins with an apprentice Geisha, (as played by Chiyoko), risking everything to pursue the human-rights activist (in this generation he is a rebel Samurai.) A merciless Javert-like pursuer barges in to ruin everything, but a Quixotic stranger rescues her for sake of idealistic love and sets her free to ride through the land of Japan to continue her search.
After you have checked this out, look into Satoshi Kon's most recent movie "Tokyo Godfathers." Then investigate the movies of Hayao Miyazaki, who is the world's greatest maker of animated films, and also Miyazaki's fellow geniuses of Studio Ghibli.
The life story of an actress told to reporters that blurs the line between reality and fantasy as the movies she made become he life and vice versa.A wonderful continuation of of the ideas in the brilliant thriller Perfect Blue, we once again have our perceptions turned upside down and sideways.
If you have seen any other movies by Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers), you get the idea that he knows how to tell a story.
The scenes we see are from the movies she has made, but the story is her own life; her reality and her imagination have just crashed into one another.The animation here is just visually amazing.
What i find great is that Satoshi Kon adds that tiny bit of surrealism; adding more dimension and thought, here its how Chiyoko's memories meld into the movies she's starred in.
Her reaction in each flashback and present to one particular entity is another indication of her perspective on her love, one of many signs of deep implication that enhances the film.The animation in the film tends to be minimalist except for a few instances where it is cast in significant passage of film (for example running), but the art direction and technique which realize various era of Japanese history and provides a fluid transition between fictional flashbacks to accounts rooted in reality is most elegantly and superbly executed.
So much so that it seems almost as if Chiyoko itself transcends to some abstract form of ideal love, only unrequited, and therefore something of great potential but not wasted; since it essentially defies time and space, as allegorically portrayed in her various film roles.The director Satoshi Kon commented in his interview on his pleasure with the music, which seems to be electronically assembled with a lot of repetition.
This film further reinforces my belief that Director Satoshi Kon is a master of depicting abstract ideas, especially love, time, and dreams.
He is a consistent example of how anime can create a work of art that can't be shown through live-action films.The Millennium Actress follows Genya with his camera man, Ida, as they interview Chiyoko and learn the life story of the actress, who has since retired and secluded herself in bamboo forests and hills.
The film does an amazing job of telling Chiyoko's story through the various movies she made throughout her life and showing the idea of forever chasing your dreams.The storytelling method by Satoshi Kon, where he puts Genya and Ida into the depiction of Chiyoko's past and movies, is fascinating and undoubtedly effective.
It was refreshing to see the two interact physically and emotionally with the past world in order to "shoot" Chiyoko's story, as well as helping her "bring the movies to life." The editing, as expected from Satoshi Kon, is phenomenal.
The depictions of Japan's historical eras all the way to the Space Age are not only well designed, but they are never too long nor too short, and they keep the viewers constantly engaged as they piece together Chiyoko's life story.As an aside, I personally think that I've never seen someone direct and edit scenes of running/chasing better than Satoshi Kon.The soundtrack also helps to bring the animation to life and works in unison with the film to draw out emotions.Overall, Millennium Actress is a touching story told in the most creative, beautiful, and elegant way.
Millennium Actress is a stunningly beautiful piece of animation.The movie begins by showing a pair of documentary makers, an old interviewer and his younger cameraman, who have been given the privilege of interviewing one of Japans biggest female movie-stars ever, Chiyoko Fujiwara, about 30 years after she unexpectedly retired from film-making.
As they start the interview they are shown the actress's story from two angles - her real life, and the movies she has made.
We are shown action, drama, science fiction and horror, often without any narration where the real characters can explain what is really happening on- and off-stage as other movies have thought us to expect - this most likely leads to some (or many) viewers not really understanding that what we see in Chiyokos movies at the same time is her real life story, in turn perhaps leading to a sense of unfulfilment.
Director Satoshi Kon plays with us, using refined techniques from his previous movie "Perfect Blue" in binding the two lives of Chiyoko together and making us question what we are watching.
Once again Kon proves himself to be a one of the worlds best directors.Now, if the two different perspectives doesn't make it complicated enough, the interviewer and his camera man also get to join in on the fun - appearing in the memories and films of Chiyoko's life.
Satoshi Kon's animated and directoral style has matured in a big way, and the fast-edits, obscure angles and incredibly rich colours used to convey the dream/memory sequences bordered on perfection.
Blending seamlessly through modern-day reality, cinema, fiction and history, Kon tells the life story of an actress, very much designed to make us reflect upon our own.
The story was incredibly moving; one of those films where you leave the cinema and wander around for an hour or so in heavy contemplation-mode.Loved the obligatory head nods to classic cinema greats.Millennium Actress is a heart-warming journey through cinema, life, love, loss and acceptance of one's fate..
This is probably the best movie from Satoshi.Life story of a very successful actress in her last days that she narrates to a hyper fanatic reporter.
The way the flash-back scenes transition from one point in time to the next is really well done, the main character Chiyoko is nicely developed and fleshed out as a three-dimensional character, the humour from the interviewer Genya, in the way he interacts with Chiyoko's past memories, is both hilarious and brilliant in the way it advances the story and the whole structure and ending to the film defies all expectations.
Millennium Actress is one of Satoshi Kon's finest works, and considering just how respected he is as a film director, that's saying something.
It's a story about an aging actress who reminisces about her life as a young film star in the early 20th century Japan.
All the flashbacks intertwine, making it one of those film you almost have to see twice to fully get.The voice acting is also topnotch, the character designs are fantastic and even though the way the story is told is almost better than the story itself - journey over the destination - it's not a bad story at all, dealing heavily with Japan's film history.Millennium Actress is a treat for all that appreciate non-conventional storytelling, deeply layered characters and gorgeous animation.
Though it has been over a decade since its release, Satoshi Kon's "Millennium Actress" continues to hold its place as a masterfully engineered film.The story begins with the demolition of an old movie studio that held a mystery pertaining to its most famous actress: Chiyoko Fujiwara.
Genya Tachibana, a movie director for Lotus Studios, hires camera man Kyoji Ida, in order to film a documentary concerning the runaway actress.
The gift opens up Chiyoko's long forgotten memories, and she begins telling her story to the documentarians."Millennium Actress" is a 2001 entry to the Anime industry, and earned the Grand Prize of the Japan Agency of Cultural Affairs Media Arts Festival; truly a film that rivals the success of Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away." This particular film became a landmark in the anime industry, due to its innovative and clever use of visuals that brought the art of story-telling to a transcendental level.
As Chiyoko tells her life's stories to the two gentlemen, the true meaning of "Millennium Actress's" title materializes, as her tale is masked over by 1,000 years of Japanese history.
The film's presentation quality proves that Satoshi Kon's film crew paid sincere attention to the tools they had, creating an extraordinary woven set of stories, sounds, visuals, and drama that invites viewers on a seemingly innocent journey towards the discovery of "the most important thing in the world.".
When I watched this movie last night - date reviews - proved helpless to control their emotions.Who truly appreciate the film Millennium Actress I think it is important to analyze the history / story without writing "spoilers", so as not to ruin your first viewing.So the story about the director Genya Tachibana, who comes to visit with his assistant operator to the once popular and still great actress Chiyoko Fujiwara movie to make a documentary dedicated to her interview .
Over time, Chiyoko accepts the offer to act in films for the sake of traveling the world in search of the man, holding his key .To interview the actress is like a time machine .
Different images , scenery , music, but the story is the same.Journey actress in life, "which leads its audience wherever movies have not led" to the final summing up and leaves an impression as a tribute of admiration and love of life.I strongly recommend that you see Millennium Actress, if you are from those who are looking at the art of cinema and sure almost 100% sure you will not stay indifferent..
This sweeping anime epic follows an aging actress and she tells the story of her life to two documentary filmmakers.
And in the end, when the connection between actress and interviewer becomes apparent, it all ties together.It is a beautiful film, both visually and stylistically, both story-wise and in its construction.
How glad I am to say that "Millennium Actress" is focused, nuanced, deeply touching and one of the best animated films I have seen.The story about two documentary producers visiting a retired actress somewhat reminiscent of Setsuko Hara starts off a little awkward when the duo physically enters the world of her memories as she tells her story, but by regularly cutting back to the interview, it is suggested the visualisation may be part of the actress' imagination.
When he presents her with a key she had lost, it unlocks the secrets of her life in unimaginable ways.Co-written & directed by Satoshi Kon (best known for Perfect Blue & Paprika), the film begins on a calm note but things gets more n more intense as plot progresses.
Also, the shifting perspective never allows the viewers any moment to settle down.On an overall scale, Millennium Actress is an inward journey into one's own past that also serves as Satoshi Kon's ode to both Japanese history & cinema.
An elderly woman recalls her life, mixing facts with the stories of her films, accompanied by a fan in an interview, where reminiscing of the past makes them feel young again..
In this interesting, very attractively drawn anime from Japan, a TV journalist gets to interview Chiyoko Fujiwara, a once famous actress who mysteriously became a recluse after retiring from acting some 30 years ago.
A more straight- lined screenplay would have helped.Note: Though she doesn't look terribly like her, Chiyoko Fujiwara is obviously inspired on Setsuko Hara (born in 1920), the beautiful actress who starred in many of the best films of Yasujiro Ozu (she was the understanding daughter in law in Tokyo Story), and also in some films of Akira Kurosawa and Mikio Naruse.
Genya Tachibana is a documentary film maker, he searches for Chiyoko who was a great actress but had left acting 30 years ago and disappeared, somehow he tracks down Chiyoko and finds her and asks for her interview, he gives her a key which belongs to her, key had memories attached with Chiyoko's life, Chiyoko tells him about her life journey.
'Millennium Actress' is made a few years before 'Wall-E' and may have benefited from less technical expertise but it's consistency, sensitivity, and reverence to the history of the Japanese cinema make it memorable and most remarkably thing, this animation film is one of those fabulous stories about cinema actors that made so many great movies especially in the American cinema.The story of a TV anchor and his cameraman visiting a retired actress who lives in seclusion many decades after quitting film-making immediately reminds the story of life the fabulous Setsuko Hara, the star of the Japanese screen in the 40s and 50s and preferred actress of director Yasujiro Ozu. The reporter brings the actress a souvenir from her old life, a key which is related to the story of the love of her life, a key to her past life and career that triggers the retelling of her memories in a filmed interview.
Some of the IMDb comments suggest that the director denied being inspired from the life of Setsuko Hara, but the animated character in the film looks exactly like one of the heroines Setsuko brought to screen, and as viewers we love her as one.
And I wasn't disappointed, though if I would rate this movie amongst the others I've seen, then my preference will be in reverse chronological order, not that Millennium Actress is no good, but you do see the scaling of new heights in the newer works.I'm quite amazed at how a single theme (at least to me) managed to weave itself into a compelling story, and one which paid homage to the history of Japan, and to Japanese films.
And after you've slogged all the way through to the end - there's no ending!Basically the movie uses the paper-thin story as an excuse for a lengthy animated romp through a bunch of emulated scenes from various periods of classic Japanese films.
Millennium Actress is another great movie from Satoshi Kon, who also directed Perfect Blue.One amazing point about this movie is how well the movie blends the `reality' and the `fiction' of the story, which is her real life experience or which is only parts of movies she had been in.There are also some parts left unexplained, but that is the spice of the movie.
Told through the eyes of a Producer documenting the life story of Chiyoko through her films and roles, Kon plays tribute to various Japanese film genres during the course of this feature.
Millennium Actress is a multilayered story told in a succession of beautifully composed, film-inspired moments, which traces the fortunes of Japan during the twentieth century through the prism of the experiences of screen star Chiyoko Fujiwara.
Satoshi Kon's latest film Millennium Actress is even more of a pleasure to watch than his first film, Perfect Blue, not only from a narrative perspective but also from a self- referential one.
The film focuses on an actress and an obsessed director that is making a documentary on her life in movies.
He finds her living in the countryside, now a recluse, having retired from acting some 30 years ago.Much of the film watches as Chiyoko recounts her life's story for Tachibana.
This film is quite different to Setoshi Kon's previous film there is no roughness to the animation and nothing in it that would be offensive to anybody.The story is rather surreal; a journalist and his cameraman visit Chiyoko Fujiwara, an elderly woman who had been the top actress at a studio until it was hit by an earth quake many years before.
It's interesting watching a movie where you don't really want the character to get what she wants in the end, because she already has it...I like the idea of a documentary about an actress turning her roles into reality.