The events of Perfect Blue at the simplest level depict a pop singer named Mima who decides to become an actress and slowly has a mental breakdown. As she becomes more involved with her acting career she progressively loses track of what is real and what is not, and as this process continues it becomes increasingly difficult for the audience to discern what is happening "in the real world" and what is happening "in her head". This is a false dichotomy, however, because ultimately everything only happens "in her head". Instead of depicting a straightforward plot with definite events, Perfect Blue portrays visually the inevitable psychological uncertainty underlying identity as such. Through the film's narrative, Mima experiences the same struggle to define herself that we all continually deal with. The point is not to "figure out" the events of the film, but to realize that the film itself is a visualization of a psychological phenomenon. And of course this is just one reading among many.
Final Notes:
- According to Darren Aronofsky, Perfect Blue was one of many influences behind his films Requiem for a Dream (2001) and Black Swan (2010), and the director now owns the American filming rights to the movie.
- Perfect Blue was originally set to be a live-action, direct to video series, but the budget was cut after an earthquake damage the studio (ref). For what it's worth, I couldn't be more pleased with the result.
- TotalFilm ranked Perfect Blue as the 25th best animated film of all time.
I watched this movie once, but I can't remember anything about it. Supposedly there's a sexual assault, but I don't even recall that. Japanese animation is pretty hit and miss with me. 'Ghost in the Shell' didn't interest me, and who knows if I'll like 'Akira' if I ever get to watch it. I grew up with 'Dragon Ball Z' and though the animation was flashy in a repetitive way, I liked the storylines. But I feel like I'm missing out on some good Japanese stories sometimes by staying away from anime.
ReplyDeleteYeah high quality anime generally works for me but I never seek it out specifically. I like Hayao Miyazaki and Satoshi Kon, but they're just great directors who happen to work with great animators.
DeleteI personally love Akira. There was a week a little while ago where I watched it every day. The story is strange since it's the kind of thing where the protagonist doesn't shape events around him as much as he is simply caught up in them. I watch it because the world it creates is awesome, not because the characters are particularly striking (although they certainly work well enough). Hope that helps!