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Directed by: Satoshi Kon Starring: Mami Koyama, Fumiko Orikasa, Shozo Iizuka, Masaya Onosaka, Hirotaka Suzuoki http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0291350/ The impending demolition of a defunct film studio inspires a documentary maker and his reluctant cameraman to seek out an interview with the studio's most famous actress of the mid-1900s, the reclusive Chiyoko Fujiwara. The delivery of an old key that once belonged to her prompts Chiyoko to tell the duo her life story, depicted on screen in the form of a series of flashbacks brought on by her vivid memories, interweaved with the films she starred in over the years. I spent a decent amount of time with those two sentences above. The reason being that for a film like this, it's hard to give someone an idea of what it's about without risking giving away too much; this is one of those movies I just tell people "hey, watch this because it's a good movie." Of course, that's not acceptable on a message board devoted to movie reviews. Either way, the true appeal of this film can't really be summed up by simply describing the story itself, nor can I really narrow it down to a particular genre. If I could choose multiple genres, I might have ended up with Romance/Comedy/Fantasy, and some would add Action to that list as well. What makes this film truly memorable is the imagery and the manner in which the story is presented. Much like Kon's previous film Perfect Blue, there are times in which the line between reality and fantasy is hard to distinguish between, and the end result is that this movie may be construed by some as unnecessarily confusing or sad; I believe it is neither. Suffice it to say that this is perhaps the best of Satoshi Kon's films, and anyone who likes this movie is encouraged to also see Perfect Blue in addition to the far more accessible Tokyo Godfathers. While this movie is generally praised universally online, among people I personally know this is a "love it or hate it" affair. Even if you generally dislike Japanese cartoons as a whole, consider watching this. I know, I'm sure fans of Japanese cartoons probably say that all the time when describing works they enjoy, but I'm more trustworthy than them. 
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May 3, 2004 05:50
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| # ? May 3, 2024 10:46 |
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I have no idea what Satoshi Kon is drinking/smoking/snorting, but I want some. And I had been wondering how he could top "Perfect Blue."
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May 3, 2004 06:07
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I really liked the style of this movie. It was told in a way that you just wouldn't expect from any movie, and it was done very very well. It's been about 6 months since I first saw it so I'm definitely due to watch it again soon, and I still have to watch my Tokyo Godfathers DVD.
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May 3, 2004 21:50
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