El Cosmico here, with one of the reviews I was hoping to have time for last week, but well, here it is. Last week, Manga Entertainment didn't JUST release Castle of Cagliostro, which I loved, check out my review here, they also released a MUCH different sort of anime filmmaking on DVD, an unrated director's cut version of Satoshi Kon's Perfect Blue, the website for which is here.
Perfect Blue is a very different sort of anime. Here's the synopsis from the DVD case:
Pop singer Mima Kirigoe looks forward to a bright new career when she quits her chart-topping trio to become an actress. When she lands a role in a sexually charged murger mystery, Mima's life begins to fall apart. Reality and hallucinations merge into a terrifying netherworld where innocence is lost and dreams become nightmares.
Quickly descending into a dangerous state of paranoid delusions, Mima discovers Internet sites describing every intimate detail of her life. Helpless and afraid, she watches as her associates are threatened and killed by a mysterious stalker.
In the tradition of great suspense masters, director Satoshi Kon (Memories), special advisor Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira), and Madhouse Studios (Ninja Scroll), bring Yoshikazu Takeuchi's thrilling suspense novel to the screen, in a tour de force that brings animation to a bold new level.
If you're expecting anime like you're probably used to, this isn't it. It's not overly perverted like a Yoju-Toshi, Demon City Shinjuku, that sort of thing, and it's DEFINITELY not suitable for children, rather, it's a very real effort to create a suspense-thriller in anime. In some ways, it doesn't match the quality of the best live-action films of that genre, but it does break serious ground as far as the world of anime goes, and purely as a film, it's a solid effort as well.
Perfect Blue genuinely kept me in suspense, and consistently confused me, which is both a good thing, and a bad thing. Of course, viewers of a suspense film need to be kept in the dark, they need to in some ways be kept as much out of the picture as the main character. The method by which this was done, though, was often a bit more confusing than it probably needed to be. It's a credit to the filmmakers, though, that I had NO idea what was really happening until the end of the film, when everything was revealed.
When I finally DID realize what had happened, I my evaluation of the film instantly leapt up, and I liked the film a lot more. During some parts of the film before that, however, the movie occasionally dragged on a bit. The trick is, once you see the ending, you realize WHY those scenes were put in, and it all makes sense. Before that, though, you may find yourself saying "What the heck is going on here? What does this mean?"
Rest assured, there is a reason for the confusion, at least, most of it. On balance, I'd say I'm really glad I saw this film, and I've got to say, Manga did a heck of a good job transferring this thing to DVD. Crystal-clear video and audio tracks, a nice, 5.1 surround track in both English and Japanese, an interview with the director, interviews with the voice actors, the original theatrical trailer, a freaky musical photo gallery, and lots of other fun stuff, including the obligatory (and very well done, by the way) promo for all of Manga's video products.
So, should you see it? Well, if you're a fan of anime, you're going to be missing out on a unique part of the genre, so I'd say you really owe it to yourself to see this. I think it's safe to describe Perfect Blue as absolutely essential in a complete anime video library. Check out the site, there are an awful lot of reviewers who agree...including Roger Corman, who described Perfect Blue as "A startling and powerful film. If Alfred Hitchcock partnered with Walt Disney, they'd make a picture like this."
I'm not sure Disney would have a hand in something quite as hard-core as this, but I can definitely agree with the Hitchcock influence.
Well, I hope this gives you a good impression for the Perfect Blue DVD. Manga has to be commended for their role in bringing films like this to the US market. In fact, Manga also released this film theatrically, starting last year, and ending just recently. Before I saw this film, I heard a lot of good things about it. Now that I've seen it, I'm awfully glad to own it on DVD.
-El Cosmico
mail me at: elcosmico@austin.rr.com
