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There's nothing out there quite like Perfect Blue. The film - about an emotionally fragile young starlet who starts losing her grip on reality when public backlash against her career change from a squeaky-clean pop singer to a provocative actress turns literally violent - was first released in 1997 and to this day it is the only (2D!) animated adult psychological thriller I can even name. That novelty by itself would probably be interesting enough to recommend it, but Perfect Blue manages to transcend any potential gimmickry. At times the movie has more explicit violence and nudity than Basic Instinct and features trippy moments of dream-like confusion and broken sanity as striking as Jacob's Ladder, and it all feels completely natural thanks in large part to the flexibility of the animated presentation. Even the background subject matter is handled in a way rarely seen in film - how many movies about fame and pop-culture stars aren't trying to fit some kind of A Star is Born or celeb biopic mold? - and it does it all with a Japanese backdrop and flavor (yeah, it's anime) while still being perfectly accessible to a western audience. I'll add some more tidbits in later posts: I mostly wanted to plug that Perfect Blue is being screened in some 500 theaters across the US in a special engagement this Sept 6 (that's today as of this OP!) and Sept 9, so if you've always wanted to catch this on the big screen or have never gotten to see it period this might be a good opportunity. As for this thread, feel free to chat about anything and everything Perfect Blue-related if you're so inclined! Also, here's Slash Film listing their own case for "Five Reasons to See Perfect Blue"
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# ? May 30, 2024 23:25 |
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Yeah, Perfect Blue absolutely rips. I'm not catching the subbed version tonight because I'll be seeing The Jesus Lizard, but I'll be there for the other one. Is the dub serviceable?
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^ The dub's always worked for me, but I think I probably have a higher tolerance for dubs than a lot of cinephiles. I can definitely say it compares favorably against most other anime dubs I've seen.
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Just got back from trying to see it in Denver.. the cut the theater was sent had the subs hardcoded below the video (you could see the tops of them when max zoomed out). They spent 20 minutes loving with the aspect ratio etc. before giving up and giving us all free tickets. Time to go watch it at home.
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Loutre posted:Just got back from trying to see it in Denver.. the cut the theater was sent had the subs hardcoded below the video (you could see the tops of them when max zoomed out). They spent 20 minutes loving with the aspect ratio etc. before giving up and giving us all free tickets. Time to go watch it at home. ![]()
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It is absolutely hilarious that a movie made during a time where a scene of an adult explaining the internet to a teenager made perfect sense also managed to be incredibly relevant in 2018 re: harassment on social media and fan culture This movie is good as hell and I’m very glad I saw it in theaters.
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Movie rules
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DC Murderverse posted:It is absolutely hilarious that a movie made during a time where a scene of an adult explaining the internet to a teenager made perfect sense also managed to be incredibly relevant in 2018 re: harassment on social media and fan culture The movie really is shockingly prescient. The movie uses fame as a kind of exaggerated take on the way people in general must 'present' for other people and must consider how much of themselves they want to compromise in the process, and nowadays all that's changed it's not even that exaggerated anymore! Relevant blog post: "How Perfect Blue predicted the disturbing possibilities of the internet" https://lwlies.com/articles/perfect-blue-satoshi-kon-anime/
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A reminder that there's another screening tonight (Sep 10) !
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Saw it Thursday. It was great timing as I had taken a deeper dive into this whole "anime" thing earlier this year and Satoshi Kon's works have always been on my mind to watch. Already got two of his movies physically. I would totally buy Perfect Blue, but this new restoration gives me hope for a better Bluray in the near-ish future. Hope it doesn't take... more than a year. On the plus side, a local theater I go to is playing the movie again later this month. Hoping to take my cousin. Friends Are Evil posted:Is the dub serviceable? While I can't speak to the dub's actual quality, from what I've heard it's mostly faithful. It WAS a dub from 1998, so.. I know a line during the climax isn't nearly as good as the original, but it works. Loses some personal meaning, but whatevs. Without spoiling the ending though, the last line in the movie was (most likely accidentally) changed. To be fair, most English speaking audiences wouldn't be likely pick up on it, at least on a first watch. I certainly wouldn't of if spoilers hadn't gotten to me first. But it's arguable if the line was even necessary.
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Caught a screening here in town last night, which not only served as my first theatrical viewing of this fine flick but also was my first rewatch in a number of years, was nice to get 're-acquainted'. Movie was as engaging as ever. Some thoughts:
While I'm at it I think I'm also going to revisit Perfect Blue's remake-in-spirit, Black Swan - geez, has it been eight years already??
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UnintelGen posted:Without spoiling the ending though, the last line in the movie was (most likely accidentally) changed. To be fair, most English speaking audiences wouldn't be likely pick up on it, at least on a first watch. I certainly wouldn't of if spoilers hadn't gotten to me first. But it's arguable if the line was even necessary. I'd figured you were talking about some kind of lost nuance in translation, but I googled and holy poo poo that changes, um, everything. I might have to side with the English dub, some mediocre acting notwithstanding, just out of principle. The ending suggested by the dub may be a little too cheerful considering the rest of the movie but the Japanese audio seems too clever by half and honestly kind of cheap. It also robs any pathos the movie's generated for the Rumi character, who you could see as a tragic figure in her defeat/ madness, but just becomes an evil witch in victory.
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lizardman posted:I'd figured you were talking about some kind of lost nuance in translation, but I googled and holy poo poo that changes, um, everything. I might have to side with the English dub, some mediocre acting notwithstanding, just out of principle. The ending suggested by the dub may be a little too cheerful considering the rest of the movie but the Japanese audio seems too clever by half and honestly kind of cheap. It also robs any pathos the movie's generated for the Rumi character, who you could see as a tragic figure in her defeat/ madness, but just becomes an evil witch in victory. What's the difference? I watched the movie on YouTube subbed and I'm curious what changed. Can't watch video for a bit.
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SamuraiFoochs posted:What's the difference? I watched the movie on YouTube subbed and I'm curious what changed. Can't watch video for a bit. In the dub, Mima looks into her rear view mirror and delivers the last line of the movie, “I’m the real thing.” In the sub, the line is the same but for spoooooky reasons, is delivered by Rumi’s voice actress.
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SamuraiFoochs posted:What's the difference? I watched the movie on YouTube subbed and I'm curious what changed. Can't watch video for a bit. Pirate Jet posted:In the dub, Mima looks into her rear view mirror and delivers the last line of the movie, “I’m the real thing.” In the sub, the line is the same but for spoooooky reasons, is delivered by Rumi’s voice actress. Upon first learning this, I presumed this meant that it was in fact Mima who was interned in the mental hospital, having apparently taken the blame for the murders and Rumi getting off scot-free. The more I think about it, though, the more I don't think there's any possible way for that to work. I don't think, between Rumi and Mima, that anyone would believe the deranged-Rosie O'Donnell-in-a-leotard over Mima, and I'm pretty sure there were witnesses who saw her chasing Mima on the streets. So yeah, it's more just "spoooooky reasons" than any last-second plot twists. Still not sure if it's necessary but I think my earlier objection was premature.
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"I'm always watching Mima's Room!"
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Pirate Jet posted:In the dub, Mima looks into her rear view mirror and delivers the last line of the movie, “I’m the real thing.” In the sub, the line is the same but for spoooooky reasons, is delivered by Rumi’s voice actress. Wait want what? That actress delivers the line? Holy gently caress that's horrifying, how did I miss that?
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SamuraiFoochs posted:Wait want what? That actress delivers the line? Holy gently caress that's horrifying, how did I miss that? Yeah I think I am voice blind because I definitely missed that
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# ? May 30, 2024 23:25 |
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It’s really quick and they have similar voices, I missed it on my first viewing and didn’t catch it until someone pointed it out to me so I YouTubed it.
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