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Title:
Millennium Actress 

UK Distributor: Manga Entertainment

BBFC Certificate:  PG

Suggested Retail Price (SRP):  £19.99

Running Time: 87 minutes (approx.)

Audio Options:  English 5.1 & 2.0, Japanese 5.1 & 2.0

Subtitles:  English

Reviewer: Shay Marx (guest)
 

Firstly I absolutely adore this film. From beginning to end, narrative, pictures and sound, something about this film touches me and I can’t explain it.

Millennium Actress tells the story of Chiyoko Fujiwara a seventy-something screen goddess whose films and characters span a thousand years of Japanese history.  But this is not the only story the film tells.
Genya Tachibana a television producer has tracked down Miss Fujiwara who has been a recluse for over thirty years. Once Chiyoko begins her tale, Tachibana and cameraman Kyoji Ida are taken in to her memories. Tachibana handles this event without flinching, Kyoji on the other hand is understandably freaked out as is the unsuspecting audience member with no idea what to expect next.  From an advancing pre-war Japan and human rights activists to Ninja assassins and Godzilla oozes rich textual relevance that may be a surprising culture shock for some.  At times hilariously funny, Kyoji provides a link between the films world(s) and the audience’s world(s) with sarcasm in abundance followed by poignancy that always brings you back to our worlds past. Specifically when the characters find themselves in the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing.  Kyoji asks “So what’s this, Sci-Fi?.  Draped in glorious visuals with very little CGI (if any) Millennium Actress takes the audience as well as the films characters through both Japan’s history and Japan’s film history. Quite frankly it’s a cinephile’s wet dream.  A special mention for the genius yet surprisingly simple idea used in the opening credits. A video on re-wind, titles appear on the video but run forward. Sounds simple but looks great and hints the uniqueness of what is to follow.  Technically the film delivers with gorgeous contrasts in the visuals, that themselves tell a story. (Pay attention to the wood stain).  The soundtrack was composed by Susumu Hirasawa and is truly breathtaking. The bicycle scene in particular which should be a demonstration for those who look down on the art of animation is only realised with Hirasawa’s music.  Following from Perfect Blue Satoshi Kon and his team have realised a brilliant vision that truly lives up to Kon’s aim to make a film in the style of “trompe l’oeil”.  The first time I saw Millennium Actress I had a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye. The tenth time I saw it I still had a lump and still had a tear.  The stories in Millennium Actress can be interpreted in many ways; the one that stays with me is Chiyoko’s everlasting chasing of her dreams which she knows will always remain a shadow.

I can not recommend this film enough but if you are a fan of films please allow your self the time to appreciate a true piece of art.

Extras:

Millennium Actress is available in the UK by itself or in a box set with Perfect Blue. The features in either are limited to the US theatrical trailer and an interesting yet fun “Making of…” feature in Japanese.

The film plays in both Japanese and English in 2.0, 5.1 and DTS.   The English dub is exclusive to the MANGA released UK addition and is word for word for the captioned subtitles. This does bring in to question the validity of the subtitles. The main difference between the two is that Chiyoko is voiced by three actresses in the Japanese dub while the English dub has a single actress. 

Considering that it was MANGA UK who produced the dub with no involvement from the films US distributor DreamWorks, they have done a splendid job.
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