Charles Herold (cherold) In Millennium Actress, a documentary maker and a cameraman interview an aged actress. As she tells about the beginnings of her career, the filmmakers find themselves within her memories, some of which are memories of her life, and some which are memories of her movies, which run along the same track as her life.This is fascinatingly perplexing. It is a simple, odd story told in a complex, imaginative way. I feel if I tried to parse reality and fantasy and find the logic behind it all that everything would fall to pieces, yet it all somehow makes sense. The script is amazing, as is the soundtrack. The story is involving and entertaining and the acting is excellent. Millennium Actress is a great work of art.

tijmenraasveld In many ways millennium actress is a masterpiece, which is to be expected from legendary film maker Satoshi Kon. However, I feel like the film also missed a lot of opportunities at the same time and I can't shake the feeling it could have been a really great film, instead of a film with great things in it.First of all, the concept of the movie is fantastic. Making a movie about a dying actress reflecting on her past through the movies she starred in has enormous potential and could make for a very emotional story. In my opinion, Millennium actress never quite manages to pull this off though, due to a couple of reasons. The main problem, I feel, is how detached we are from the main character, Setsuko Hara. We never get a grasp on who she is or what she aspires to, besides of course the man she thinks she loves. this is all due to the way the movie is presented. The movie is segmented into different chapters of Setsuko's life, each represented by the movie she starred in at the time. So we see her play a plethora of different characters throughout the years, ranging from a timid aspiring actress to a determined ninja, but never really get to know Setsuko herself. The moments that show Setsuko as an actual person instead of a character she played in a film are very scarce. If you'd ask me to describe her personality, I really wouldn't be able to.This is a direct result of how the focus is laid on how the story is presented instead of the story itself, which is next to nonexistent. The plot can be summed up in two lines. Setsuko meets a young boy from whom she receives a key. In her naivety she falls in love with him and chases him all around the world to give him back the key to what he claims to be the most important thing in the world. Between the beginning and the end of the movie, nothing much happens, but the uneventfulness of the story is disguised under a blanket of interesting, varied visuals. The jumping around between different movies from her career is sometimes difficult to adjust to, and personally it withheld me from getting invested in much that was going on. The movies starts relying on surprising you with each next setting, rather than actually getting you involved in the story and the characters.The only emotional scene in the movie, which admittedly is pretty great, takes place at the very end, when Setsuko passes away. We find out she'd been chasing a ghost for her entire life since the man she was after had been tortured to death in WOII. One of the last lines of the film is Setsuko saying right before she dies ''After all, it's the chasing after him I really love'' Her endless search for him kept her youthful spirit alive and gave purpose to her life, and overall I think it's a very fascinating message. I just wish the movie as a whole had had a little more substance. Satoshi Kon sacrificed a potentially amazing story for a gimmick that gets old pretty fast. I feel it should have focused more on the human element or been a short film.I would still say Millennium actress is a very good film by any standards, but also my least favorite of Sathoshi Kon's by that.

mishaa7 Millennium Actress masterfully executed film, an art film and the best representative of modern Japanese animation. One of the one and only movie so saturated vivid imagery and beautiful soundtrack that can make you cry. When I watched this movie last night - date reviews - proved helpless to control their emotions.Who truly appreciate the film Millennium Actress I think it is important to analyze the history / story without writing "spoilers", so as not to ruin your first viewing.So the story about the director Genya Tachibana, who comes to visit with his assistant operator to the once popular and still great actress Chiyoko Fujiwara movie to make a documentary dedicated to her interview . From this point the narrative style is a biography of this woman's life in the wreath with her roles in the films , the plots of which are closely linked with the history that happened to her as a child. This story of a little girl Chiyoko meeting with the artist - dissident, hiding from the Nazi authorities. Literally pushed their fate. She helped him hide it in gratitude gave her the key and offered to meet in the place where he works on his painting . Over time, Chiyoko accepts the offer to act in films for the sake of traveling the world in search of the man, holding his key .To interview the actress is like a time machine . She talks about their roles and what happened to her and presents itself as there is now , at the same time director Genya Tachibana and his assistant " follow" it. This narrative style mix that was actually with Chiyoko and what was in the movie, but it is always a he. Different images , scenery , music, but the story is the same.Journey actress in life, "which leads its audience wherever movies have not led" to the final summing up and leaves an impression as a tribute of admiration and love of life.I strongly recommend that you see Millennium Actress, if you are from those who are looking at the art of cinema and sure almost 100% sure you will not stay indifferent.

Amna Preet Pirzada Genya Tachibana is a documentary film maker, he searches for Chiyoko who was a great actress but had left acting 30 years ago and disappeared, somehow he tracks down Chiyoko and finds her and asks for her interview, he gives her a key which belongs to her, key had memories attached with Chiyoko's life, Chiyoko tells him about her life journey. Chiyoko is born when an earthquake hits Tokyo in 1923, war was looming in Japan. Young Chiyoko saves a guy who is a painter and revolutionary, he gives her a key. It's a story about how couple of minutes with a revolutionary made her fall in love and how she struggles to reach to him and to give him his key.This movie has a deep meaning to it, I loved the plot, animation and actors. The movie is filled with pain, love, and drama. The movie has a deep meaning to it, that no matter how much you chase after someone or something and how hard you try to get it or reach to it, you won't be able to get it if it isn't in your fate.