Millennium Actress Details

[Highly rated reviewer]

good natured fluff

Director Satoshi Kon generally has two styles: surreal & disturbing (Perfect Blue) or humourous & touching (Tokyo Godfarthers). This is the latter. An elderly reclusive actress recalls her past, a succesful film career which she only got into because she was searching for a man she fell in love with. The films she stared in all take place in different time periods and the anime can be seen as a historical glimps of Japanese film or a homage to the Japanese actress Setsuko Hara, who worked with the great Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu. After he died, she retired did one interview saying she was never really interested in acting and became a recluse. This could be reading too much into it. It's a very light somewhat sad love story. Didn't really grab me. as far as Kon goes, I much prefer his disturbing surreal films, Paranoia Agent is great.

Good animation and plot, but annoying characters

If not for the guy interviewing the 'Millenium Actress', the film would have been much better.

The interviewer character is quite annoying, in love with the actress, but never coming out and saying it as her heart is someone elses, and not getting on with his life.

Other than that, the story is quite good and the animation is excellent.