This 93%-Rated Anime Is So Beautiful It Will Make You Want to Rewind Every Single Frame

Satoshi Kon is one of those directors whose films are completely unique. His worlds always teeter on the edge of reality and fiction, dreams and reality, and memories and fantasies.

Released in 2001, Millennium Actress is perhaps the most personal and luminous movie in his filmography. It tells the story of life, love, and cinema through the eyes of a legendary actress whose life is inextricably linked with the history of Japanese cinema.

What Is 'Millennium Actress' About?

Chiyoko Fujiwara, a legendary Japanese actress, disappeared from public view thirty years ago. Then, one day, she agreed to an interview with two journalists: a persistent documentary filmmaker and his cameraman.

We join them as they enter her home and delve into her memories. Each episode of her life unfolds like a scene from a movie of a particular genre: samurai drama, war propaganda, sci-fi, or monster movie.

The genres alternate, but a single thread runs through them: the search for a mysterious stranger whom Chiyoko met in her youth.

'Millennium Actress' Is the Quintessential Work of Cult Japanese Director Satoshi Kon

If Perfect Blue was Kon's exploration of the dark side of the human psyche and obsession with fame, then Millennium Actress was its brighter counterpart. The director himself said the two movies are two sides of the same coin.

In Millennium Actress, Kon reaches the pinnacle of his signature technique: magical transitions between reality, memory, and fiction.

Viewers move through eras of Japanese cinema without noticing: a frame from a 1940s film transitions seamlessly to a 1960s set and then to the heroine's memory.

Kon doesn't merely reveal the history of cinema, he uses it as a language to discuss deeply personal matters – love that never came true and dreams that proved more important than reality.

'Millennium Actress' Isn't Your Typical Fantasy Drama, but a Dreamlike Glimpse Into One Person's Memories

Millennium Actress cannot be retold linearly because Chiyoko's memory is nonlinear. It jumps from one event to the next, blending films she starred in with films she watched and real people with fictional characters.

All of this is permeated by one idea: the endless pursuit of the person who once gave her the key. In the final scene, when an old Chiyoko launches into space, we realize that she never found her artist. However, she found something else: the meaning of her entire life.

Cinema became a way for her to search, wait, and hope. Satoshi Kon made a film about how a dream can be more important than its fulfillment and how even the saddest story can be told with infinite tenderness.

What Did Critics & Viewers Think of 'Millennium Actress'?

• Millennium Actress has 93% from critics and 90% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.

• On IMDb, the movie has a score of 7.8/10.

• On Letterboxd, Millennium Actress scored 4.2/5.0.

Where to Watch 'Millennium Actress'?

Millennium Actress is available to stream on HBO Max and Crunchyroll.