Millenium Actress (2001) Analysis

By Adam Cook
24th May 04

Millennium Actress is the second feature film directed by Satoshi Kon. His earlier work, Perfect Blue (1997) is widely regarded as one of the best suspense anime's ever produced, and both films share similar themes. Millennium Actress has won many awards since its release, not least sharing the Grand Prize for Animation at the 2001 Japan Agency of Cultural Affairs Media Arts Festival along with Miyazaki's Spirited Away (2001).

The story begins with a famous movie studio being demolished, and an interviewer (Genya Tachibana) tracking down one of the studios most famous actresses (Chiyoko Fujiwara) to interview. Chiyoko has been a recluse for many years, and the film centres on her recounting her career. Genya's gift of a key result in memories of a lost love she had been searching for and the real world and film world begin to interweave to create a tapestry of emotion and intrigue.

Taro Maki (producer of Tenchi Forever 1999) approached Satoshi Kon to make a new feature film. His one wish was to make a film with a similar style to Perfect Blue, in that it should be like a stereo gram (or Magic Eye picture). He wanted the film to have multiple layers where the audience would see new elements every time they watched it.

Kon-san asked Sadayuki Murai to work on a concept around the 'stereo gram'. Murai was responsible for the script of Perfect Blue and there are many similarities in the narrative structure between the two movies. The film follows two separate time lines. Firstly it follows 1000 years of Japanese history from the Heian period, through the Warring states era and into a future not yet realised. Adjacent to this time line is the history of Japanese cinema. Chiyoko's career represents the history of the Japanese film industry with many references throughout the film to iconic movies, such as the Godzilla franchise. The film history merges with the history of Chiyoko and the time echoes the feelings of Chiyoko. The pre-war period of optimism is characterised by Chiyoko's vitality and vigour whereas the World War 2 period is represented by Chiyoko's troubled adolescence.

Memories and time are very important throughout the film. In an interview after the release of Millennium Actress, Satoshi Kon said the film is more about time than the relationship between Chiyoko and 'the owner of the key'. The audience is always watching a subjective view of history; through the camera of Ida (Genya's downtrodden camera man) we watch the subjective memories of Chiyoko. In this respect the audience has a distance to the story and is never sure what is fact and what is fiction. Wood grain and 'growth rings' are evident throughout the film. These represent the passage of time and the shape of memories. In Chiyoko's mountain hideaway they are evident everywhere, but they also appear in other places, such as the castle where she meets the white wraith on the spinning wheel. Kon-san mentions that the wraith (and in particular the spinning wheel she is using) is a representation of time. Time in the film is not linear but cyclical. Whilst the body may follow a linear path, the spirit and memories are immortal and can be remembered. Chiyoko's memories are played out through the film roles she plays; each film role represents a particular state of mind for the character. For example she plays a warrior in a film, at the same time she is fighting to find the man who owns the key. Artistically memories are shown with varying degrees of colour. The more vivid and personal memories are portrayed in full colour, yet the distant and impersonal memories have a faded look and sometimes even resemble old static black and white photos. This is a very striking effect and helps distinguish certain scenes from reality and from fantasy, however as the memories become more recent the colour becomes brighter and the distinction between reality and fantasy is much harder to tell.

Movement is delicately handled throughout the film. Pre-production work on the movie took much longer than normal for a Satoshi Kon picture. The animation team spent a long time handling and photographing equipment, locations and people to make the animation look and move in a realistic manner. This is most evident in the scene where Chiyoko runs to the train station to find her love. Kon-san filmed a woman running down a street from several angles to understand the natural movement, and this was captured perfectly by the animation team. Along with the movement of characters, the movement of scenery is important to the understanding of the film. Chiyoko remarks at the beginning of the film that, �my fate seems to be tied to earthquakes�. These earthquakes seem to occur at important crossroads in Chiyoko's life and could symbolise how a part of her life has been destroyed. Just like Japanese history she learns to rebuild after these 'earthquakes'. This gives balance to her life; she loses an aspect of her life but rebuilds something new. For example, her mother dies but she is able to live.

The love story that gives the film its drive revolves around Chiyoko and the man who owns the key that Genya handed her. The film, although about time, is Chiyoko's quest to find the man again. The determination drives her forward, and is even the reason she becomes an actress. The love story is not played out in the typical fashion though. Chiyoko only ever sees the man once, and the viewer never gets a clear view of his face, be it because of a hood or shadows. The man's name is never revealed either and in the credits he is known only as 'the man with the key'. This is an interesting way to show the love story between the two characters and is further evidence of the fact you as the audience are only ever experiencing the subjective memories of Chiyoko. The key symbolises something private between the two characters and something precious. As no one ever knows what the key opens (although it is alluded to) it leaves the audience to ponder what it could be, and how important it really is.

Genya and Ida are the eyes for the audience, whilst we may see them in some of the scenes they are our interpreters. They provide the comic relief for the story, and try to see the film with objective eyes. However Genya begins to involve himself more and more in Chiyoko's memories, and even acts out certain roles in the films. The lines between reality and fantasy become even more obscure as our objective gatekeepers become the pawns in Chiyoko's subjective reality. Later in the film Genya is revealed to have saved Chiyoko's life in a past earthquake, and in many of the scenes in which he portrays other characters he can be viewed as her guardian angel.

The most visually striking scene in the movie is the scene in which Chiyoko is seen travelling through different time periods in the film roles she plays. The sequence seamlessly alters her costumes, her mode of transport and the backgrounds. Satoshi Kon speaks of this scene as looking at a nishiki-e or a brocade tapestry. This is a perfect description of the scene as it is reminiscent of old Japanese artwork. The static foreground runs in front of the horizontally moving background and gives a great sense of depth.

Like Hayao Miyazaki's work, Satoshi Kon enjoys adding 'subdued' scenes. These scenes that do not move the story forward, or tell an important aspect of the plot, but are tiny, inconsequential scenes of everyday life. Whilst this could be viewed as a negative to some, it offers a greater insight into the characters, and offers the opportunity to take in the beautiful and detailed animation.

The musical score was produced by Susumu Hirasawa (who worked on the series Berserk 1997). His score centres on the idea of loops and repetition. This is very fitting with the stories themes from the quest to find her lover, and to the reference of the spinning wheel and the cyclical nature of time in the movie. The score is very delicate and accompanies the animation perfectly. Whilst the audience is always aware of it's presence it is never foreboding.

Millennium Actress is a remarkable achievement in design and story telling. Satoshi Kon has built upon some of the ideas from Perfect Blue to produce a deep, interwoven story that explores such complicated themes as mortality, history, love and time itself. The animation is of the highest quality and at times looks lifelike. The music by Hirasawa is the ideal accompaniment to the images on screen, and helps draw the audience in. This film deserves all the awards and praise it has been receiving since release and I look forward to Satoshi Kon's next movie, Tokyo Godfathers, with baited breath.

-- Adam Cook 24th May 04