As February comes to a close, I come to the final work that I’ve chosen to cover by famed anime film director Satoshi Kon. All month I’ve talked about Kon’s ability to use surreal imagery to explore human nature and as he continued his career, he slowly but surely came to perfect his method of storytelling. His directorial debut however, was noteworthy in not only showcasing his potential but what the things that he would soon improve on in hindsight. Don’t misunderstand me, I absolutely adore his first film but it does have more than its fair share of differences from the rest of his work. How so, you ask? Let’s find out and wrap up my tribute to one of Japan’s finest directors by taking a look at the launch pad for his career, “Perfect Blue”.
Popular pop idol singer Mima Kirigoe has received much praise for her abilities in the entertainment arts, not only being a good singer but showing potential as an actress. Seeking to break out into an acting career, Mima leaves her group for a role on popular direct-to-video drama series “Double Bind”. Although things start optimistically, the camera shy Mima soon begins to crumble under the pressures of performing, which culminates in her hallucinating about her pop idol self demanding her to return to singing. In addition, she has also found an online diary of her life that she hasn’t written but is too detailed to be written by somebody else, begging the question of whether or not somebody is truly posting about her life without her consent or if she is subconsciously writing what she feels.
I have to say for a 13 year old animated film, “Perfect Blue” holds up exceptionally well. Technically speaking, the animation of the film still looks as great now as it did back then by any standards. The crisp and realistic movement animations combine with the dark, unsettling lighting of the movie to not only serves to fully immerse you into Mima’s world but make her descent into madness that much more disturbing as you not only experience it firsthand but feels as if your watching it happen to yourself.
The spectacular sound editing adds to the atmosphere of every moment. The music is tense when Mima is under pressure, the sudden stops in sound bring everything to a standstill for more contemplative moments, and despite a few instances of overacting at in the very begin, the voice work ranges from solid to stellar throughout the film. Mima’s sense of panic feels genuine as does the care that her manager has for her as she suffers from the stress of her shift in career along with the many other performances.
Mima’s ever growing pressure and concern over public image that is pushing her over the edge is demonstrated by the film’s editing to make almost every scene after she starts her acting job seem like an illusion. By doing this, the film regularly subverts the expectations one can come up with at the moment by immediately contradicting it, making the film hard to decipher until its climax, which is so tense and nearly horrifying that you’ll be up right and glued to the screen for the last 20 minutes of the movie. Unfortunately, this can lead to some confusion when first watching the film. In doing this, it somewhat sacrifices the overall quality of the initial viewing for rewatchability but it ultimately resonates powerfully nonetheless.
“Perfect Blue” is a fantastic character study that only gets better with subsequent views. Although Satoshi Kon would improve his filmmaking ability in the years to come, his creation of one of the greatest thrillers ever made, animated or otherwise, was a spectacular kick off to his career. He was an underrated genius as far as I’m concerned and he will be sorely missed.
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