"Nobody likes you anymore. You're tarnished! Filthy!"
Super late to the party on this one, but hey better late than never. I rewatched Paprika the other day when my university's film club showed it in the student cinema and re-experiencing that film made me want to look at Satoshi Kon's other works, which I had never gotten around to doing. First on the list was Perfect Blue, which I watched last night.
It's a stressful movie, to say the least. I genuinely felt mentally drained and emotionally exhausted by the time the credits rolled and that upbeat jazz tune came on alongside them. Stunned and trying to process everything I had seen - let it sink in overnight (fully expected to have some nightmares about it honestly, which isn't something that happens typically) and read an essay on it today by Joji Sakurai (which I highly recommend, it's a great read) - I actually want to watch it again soon to see it more clearly and make my own impressions.
I know it comes off as pretentious, but "visceral" really is the best word I can think of to describe Perfect Blue. We could be talking about the rape scene, the murders, the big chase at the climax of the movie, or the famous bathtub scene. It's honestly really difficult for me to put my thoughts and appreciation for the movie into eloquent words like it deserves, but what more can I say? There were times I almost paused the movie just to give myself a break and some time to process everything that was happening, but I'm glad I didn't. The editing and direction were superb, and the movie proves without a shadow of a doubt that Satoshi Kon was a genius of his craft. Did Mima murder the photographer? I honestly don't know. The surreal string of events that made up the latter half of the movie are still a blur until I watch it again, and maybe even a third time. The nuances of Kon's direction and the lack of a big "a-ha" moment a la Fight Club even after the big twist really made this special for me. Oh, and of course the actual animation is incredible. LOVE the art style.
As usual after I watch a movie or show I care enough to read about, I checked to see any GAF threads and was sad to see that the most recent thread was from like three years ago. Curious to see what the GAF of today thinks of it!
P.S. How does Millennium Actress compare? Student cinema is showing that next week I think, I haven't seen it.
Super late to the party on this one, but hey better late than never. I rewatched Paprika the other day when my university's film club showed it in the student cinema and re-experiencing that film made me want to look at Satoshi Kon's other works, which I had never gotten around to doing. First on the list was Perfect Blue, which I watched last night.
It's a stressful movie, to say the least. I genuinely felt mentally drained and emotionally exhausted by the time the credits rolled and that upbeat jazz tune came on alongside them. Stunned and trying to process everything I had seen - let it sink in overnight (fully expected to have some nightmares about it honestly, which isn't something that happens typically) and read an essay on it today by Joji Sakurai (which I highly recommend, it's a great read) - I actually want to watch it again soon to see it more clearly and make my own impressions.
I know it comes off as pretentious, but "visceral" really is the best word I can think of to describe Perfect Blue. We could be talking about the rape scene, the murders, the big chase at the climax of the movie, or the famous bathtub scene. It's honestly really difficult for me to put my thoughts and appreciation for the movie into eloquent words like it deserves, but what more can I say? There were times I almost paused the movie just to give myself a break and some time to process everything that was happening, but I'm glad I didn't. The editing and direction were superb, and the movie proves without a shadow of a doubt that Satoshi Kon was a genius of his craft. Did Mima murder the photographer? I honestly don't know. The surreal string of events that made up the latter half of the movie are still a blur until I watch it again, and maybe even a third time. The nuances of Kon's direction and the lack of a big "a-ha" moment a la Fight Club even after the big twist really made this special for me. Oh, and of course the actual animation is incredible. LOVE the art style.
As usual after I watch a movie or show I care enough to read about, I checked to see any GAF threads and was sad to see that the most recent thread was from like three years ago. Curious to see what the GAF of today thinks of it!
P.S. How does Millennium Actress compare? Student cinema is showing that next week I think, I haven't seen it.
