Millennium Actress is a slow yet beautiful transformative work

Posted Dec. 13, 2022

By Daila Galicia Zuniga

Cub Reporter

Millennium Actress, a 2001 animated film directed by Satoshi Kon and produced by Madhouse, is a slow yet beautiful transformative work that blends past and present together. 

Kon’s second animated film revolves around Television Reporter Genya Tachibana and his cameraman Kyoji Ida, who are tasked to interview Chiyoko Fujiwara, a retired and reclusive actress who hasn’t been in the public eye in 30 years. As she reflects back on her life, she tells a story about an artist who she helped escape from authorities, as he protested against the Sino-Japanese War. As a way to remember him, he gives a key to Chiyoko with a promise that they’ll see each other again. She begins a life-long hunt for him and establishes a career as an actress in hopes that her image will help him reconnect with her. 

The art style was one of its unique appeals at the time of its release, and still is. Many Japanese animated films at the time still produced sharp, simplified, and exaggerated features for its characters. Kon’s iconic artistic style creates designs that are subtle yet representative of who they are. Everyday people are thoughtfully crafted and those intended to have professions where beauty is crucial to they’re careers are designed with that in mind. Reactions are toned down except in moments of humor. Wrinkles from age or expression are never ignored, but enhance the performance of each character.

Despite his short catalog, Millennium Actress would be Kon’s last traditionally animated film before moving to digital animation. Each frame was hand-drawn, with around 250 people helping in its two year production. The film cost around 130 million JP Yen (about 1 million US Dollars) to produce, making it one of the lowest production costs for a Japanese animated film. The tight budget sadly bleeds into the film. The background of some scenes are still shots whilst the main character acts too rapidly to not be noticed. However, it’s also used to its advantage. Brief reminiscences of the past use the exact same technique, saving the team frames for more fluid scenes.

In order to blend past and present together, transitions are uniquely composed, which is Kon’s most recognizable trademarks in his filmography. Scenes that are introduced to us as exaggerated encounters are shown minutes after to be set for one of Chiyoko’s movies. Many of the main character’s acting roles purposely line up with the chase that wraps around her life. This all comes together in one of the most iconic sequences in the film; an almost 8 minute scene at the film’s climax that ties in previous scenes from her life and career as she makes her last attempt to meet the man that has curated her life. Foreshadowing is another thing Kon loves to utilize, using the same scenes later to change the whole perspective of the film. Before the 8 minute scene, we’re hinted that more was said before the main character embarked on her journey to find the artist. It is only the final 10 minutes that we’re told the information that changes our entire view of the pursuit. 

Millennium Actress is not just a film that’s buried under Kon's other acclaimed works, it is a love letter to Japanese cinema and to the actresses that inspired the life of Chiyoko. It’s a film that takes us on a chase with Chiyoko, not because we’ll know the end, but because we loved that we went with her.

Millennium Actress is available on Youtube and on Amazon.