Surreal and yet totally grounded in human emotion, Satoshi Kon's first feature holds up incredibly well. Although it suffer from a weak ending.
What better film to start off the holiday season than a dark psychological thriller with not one, not two, but three scenes of sexual assault?
Satoshi Kon is a genius, and one that I have talked about several times on this blog. Around one year ago I made my first foray into his work and was floored by his incredible film Tokyo Godfathers, which I would since consider one of my favourite animated films of all time. Since then I have become far more knowledgeable in terms of animation and wished to revisit his small but remarkable filmography.
Perfect Blue is a psychological thriller, and by that I mean truly psychological. It is both a thrilling mystery, and more importantly a dark journey into the sub-conscience of a very interesting leading character.
Mima is a pop idol, a recognisable but largely disposable pop figure in Japanese culture. The kind to amass a large and rabid following, without much in the way of substance or future prospects. She decides to leave the group she was a part of to strike out in acting, a decision she makes to further her seemingly limited career prospects, and she experiences a swirling descent into madness and abuse.
The film's perspective is largely situated in Mima's mental state, with benign yet significant aspects of her life (her fish, her new computer) coming to represent the disastrous changes that occur in her life. Unlike say, the thrillers of David Fincher, who invites the audience to view the drama unfold from an outsider perspective, Kon gives us front row seats. We are inside Mimas head, experiencing her paranoia and increasing separation from reality along with her.
This brilliant perspective comes to crescendo during an extended montage sequence wherein Mima repeatedly skips moments in her life, waking up in various location with no idea how she got there. At this point, the film becomes truly disorienting, with reality becoming difficult to perceive or understand. Furthermore, Mima slowly give sup trying to understand her world, submitting to her lack of attachment to her own life.
This deeply unsettling mental breakdown comes as a result of the various humiliations and abuses she undergoes in her new career as an actress. Her initial part in the tv show she signs onto is tiny, however by agreeing to participate in a rape scene (to boost ratings) her part is increased. I wonder how many dozens of budding actresses have been forced into the same decision, it is a disgusting thought. The pain of moments like this is so sharp, easily some of the best and most unsettling use of character decisions I have ever seen in a film.
The film is also gorgeous to look at. Anybody who accuses animation of being a lesser form of film can officially go fuck themselves, Kon has one of the most precise and inventive cinematic eyes I have ever seen and some of the simple images in this film took my breath away. In terms of editing, the opening performance from Mima and her musical group is one of the most engaging and well put together opening sequences I have ever seen and the aforementioned psychological montage never lost my interest.
Before I finish up I may as well give a comment on this film's relationship to Black Swan. Director Darren Aronofsky is a gigantic fan of Kon's work and took a lot of inspiration from Perfect Blue not just in that film, but also in certain images from Requiem for a Dream. Some have even labelled Black Swan a pseudo remake of Perfect Blue, and I have to disagree in this area. The two films share a lot in common, however popular opipion and that nature of obsessiveness in fans is a key theme in Kon's film that Aronofky's lacks. The two films also have radically different styles of editing and totally different settings, important as the cramped Tokyo apartment Mima occupies in this film is as much a reflection of her mental state as the editing is (her room becomes more and more messy and unkempt as she begins to unravel). So although the two films are certainly kindred spirits, calling one a remake of the other does them both a severe disservice.
Finally, the films ending. My one big grip with the film. The film ends far too cleanly, the person who has been stalking and threatening Mima is caught, her acting career has taken off, and Mima has regained control over her identity and her life overall. I do not like this. For such a jagged and bold film this ending feels to clean, like ending Apocalypse Now with 'and then the war ended and everyone got back to their normal lives happily'. No, the damage dealt to Mima in this film was too crushing and harsh to be so easily swept away, the film almost seems to believe that catching the stalker was all Mima needed tp get things together. Absolving to television studio that figuratively raped her of any guilt, along with Japanese society on the whole.
This ending really bugs me and prevents me from loving the film as much as I truly want to. This film could have been one of my storytelling Bibles, and I suppose it still is, but I cannot call it a true masterpiece.
What a damn shame.
By Jack D. Phillips
A Zoom Film Review
No comments:
Post a Comment