[thechat] Anime Update: Millennium Actress

Ben Dyer bendyer at swbell.net
Tue Sep 9 19:19:36 CDT 2003


Just wanted to drop a note for a bunch of you who I know are cursorily 
interested in anime that there's a new anime film to be hitting a 
limited release this weekend in the U.S. called Millennium Actress.

If you are lucky enough to be in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York 
City or Boston (it may be playing in other cities, but those are the 
only ones I know of), Millennium Actress will be opening up this 
Friday, September 12 and it would behoove you to check it out.

The film was created by Satoshi Kon, who is fast making a name for 
himself as a superb anime filmmaker (Millennium Actress is only his 
second film - Perfect Blue, a wonderfully-crafted psychological 
thriller, was his first).  Satoshi Kon is the kind of creator who 
absolutely engrosses you in his work and storytelling.  The story is 
about an actress who dropped out of the limelight many years ago being 
interviewed for a documentary.  As she describes her life, the stories 
of her films (ranging from the Warring States period of Japan to the 
Meiji Restoration, through World War II and into the future) intertwine 
with her own story to create this massively intriguing work.

It's really hard to describe, but this is the best review I've seen (by 
one of the best anime reviewers out there):

<http://www.animejump.com/cgi-bin/go.cgi?go=video/millenniumactress>

If, like me, you are one of the many who doesn't live anywhere near 
where this film is playing, there will be a DVD release on October 28.  
This is the first foray into anime for Dreamworks (or, more accurately, 
their new independent film label, Go Fish Pictures) and will be 
released for as a Japanese-language-only DVD (there is no English track 
for this film) for the low, low price of $19.98 retail.

And here's the official web site, it gives a much better feel for the 
movie than I can describe (and has a trailer for your viewing):

<http://www.millenniumactress-themovie.com/>

If you get the opportunity to view it, I'd love to hear your 
impressions on it.

--Ben

--------------
Radical Bender
http://www.radicalbender.com/



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