"Perfect Blue" (1997)

• Directed by: Satoshi Kon
• Written by: Sadayuki Marai & Satoshi Kon
• Starring: Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Masaaki Okura

     The news of renowned director Satoshi Kon's passing is a shocking and unexpected piece of news. Kon's death has not only saddened anime fans, but it has saddened film fans as well, myself included. Kon's films had a universal appeal that broke through the usual trappings of their medium, so rather than being appreciated merely as good anime films, they are widely appreciated as great films in their own right.
     My own experiences with Satoshi Kon have been memorable and rewarding. I first became aware of his work in middle school, when his hallucinogenic fever dream, "Paranoia Agent", was running through the airwaves. I found it very surreal and a bit hard to understand, but it was incredibly creative and a visual treat, as well as giving the viewer a lot to think about and offering no easy answers as to who or what "Little Slugger" was.
     The first feature film of his that I saw was "Paprika", during Freshman year. I identified very highly with the surreal story of exploring dreams, and found myself sucked in my it's "whodunit" style storyline and it's colorful images and characters. Once again, Satoshi Kon had floored me.
     However, I haven't seen all of his work, and so, in honor of his passing, I've decided to review his first proper feature film, an 80 minute psychological thriller entitled "Perfect Blue".
     Mima Kirigoe (Junko Iwao), a famous pop-star, decides to abandon her musical duties as part of the girl group named CHAM!, and instead decides to focus on becoming an actress. She has trouble finding a part at first due to her previous fame as a pop star, but soon she lands a role on a very controversial, violent cop show. This sudden change from her clean pop-starlet image causes many of her most ardent fans to react in anger, and soon Mima begins receiving strange letters and faxes from a stalker who refers to himself as "Me-Mania" (Masaaki Okura). However, after performing a scene in the show where she is traumatically raped, Mima begins to slowly lose her grip on reality, and members of the cast and crew begin to be grotesquely murdered, arousing questions as to whether or not the killer is Me-Mania, Mima herself, or someone else entirely.
     The first thing that struck me about the film is how much it strays from the traditional anime narrative. Of course, that's something that I've always liked about Satoshi Kon's works, they don't fall into the traditional trappings of the medium, but this film is surprisingly disjointed and experimental in the way it tells it's story. There are layers of unreality in the film, dreams within dreams that increase in frequency until we're not sure if what we're seeing is a hallucination or if it's actually reality. This style perfectly sets us up for the film's constant red herrings and psychological twists. As the surreal tone of the film increases and becomes more prominent, it feels as if we are seeing these events through Mima's eyes, which greatly helps us feel for her and leaves us just as confused as she is, which makes the film much more effective than it would have been if it was just a straightforward story.
     The tone of the film in general is fantastic. It relies mainly on it's atmosphere and it's characters to tell the story, with very little expository dialogue, and it's very subtle and well-implemented, which is incredibly rare in modern film and even rarer in anime, where every character must go on a monologue to explain their backstory and what they are going to do. In fact, the look, tone, and pacing of the film are very much like a late 70s Italian giallo film. There are lots of quiet, suspenseful sequences, and when the death scenes come they're very violent and bloody, but depicted in such a way that they're almost artistic.
     It's also a surprisingly surreal film. As I said before, there are lots of nightmare sequences and reality begins to blur, but it's a subdued, intriguing type of surreality, that wraps around you and draws you into the film. There's a great scene where a photographer who took nude pictures of Mima is being murdered by Me-Mania, and while he is being stabbed the murderer's body is silhouetted against the big-screen TV in the background, which shows a large, grainy image of Mima (this is the scene depicted on the poster). It's strange and disturbing, and it, like the rest of the film, is hypnotic and fascinating.
     Yes, there is a twist ending, but in the case of this film the twist is unexpected, subtly implemented, and surprising. I'll tell you right now that if you watch this film, the murderer is not who you think it is. However, it's not a twist that feels tacked on or out of place. When looking back at the film it fits perfectly, it's just unexpected and surprising, as I said before. The film also explores the theme of identity and the notion of fame. If a celebrity builds their entire life on their persona, is that persona who they are? What if that persona became detached from the person and became something all of it's own?
     It's these complex questions and the creepy, surreal atmosphere that rises this film up above a generic anime thriller and into the grounds of great film. Even if you don't like anime, I'd seek this one out. So far Satoshi Kon is (or was) on a roll, and I'm very impressed with his output. It only makes it that much more heartbreaking that he won't be able to bring us any more strange, surreal, thoughtful work like this, but at least we have his previous efforts to look up to and admire. Satoshi Kon, you'll be missed.