It is easy to become "spoilt" with the luxury of TV anime. Even a quarter-year season would provide approximately 5 hours of storytelling opportunity; more than twice the length of an average movie. This is why I tend to experience more disappointment than not with movies, with that strict budget of time that condenses and chops plot and character development into disfigurement. Add to the fact that I typically find horror or psycho thriller themes pretty lame, I could not see much going for Perfect Blue. But, this first encounter with Studio Madhouse and the unearthly genius of Kon Satoshi has brought me great relief and reassurance that the movie is a still good vessel for delivering brief yet deep pounding.
And what a pounding you will get from this movie. Right into the centre of your brain.
The setup is not exactly the most unique though. Who would have been surprised by the psychopathic repercussions when Mima, a member of an increasingly popular pop idol group CHAM!, decides to call it a day with her singing career and gives full-time acting a shot. Of course, in a violent thriller format, the decisions and actions of the protagonist directly means somebody else is unhappy with it. ;-) Which will show up in due time. In fact, the pacing and flow of the first portion runs along so mundane it almost seems like a deliberate attempt to unprepare the audience for the shocking leap into the realm of the fantasy and delusionment. And I am not exactly talking about the gratuituos violence and nudity here, although I can see how they all add up to form a critical whole to the plot. What I am referring to is the completely seamless transition from actual events to dreams to surrealism that the audience has to witness while being gripped at the neck.
As the plot progresses and more killings happen with increasing brutality, Mima must combat her ownself in trying to discover what her true personality and desires really are, and goes through repeated cycles of fear and confusion over what she is doing, or may have done. This confusion flows to a great extent to the audience as well, as it gets more and more difficult to tell what is real and what is not. Everything appears so real, especially when this is accentuated by the potrayal of contemporary pop culture that audiences are most likely able to identify and live with. Most people have no problem with believing this can appear on the newspapers tomorrow. Here lies the true beauty of the movie; characters in this story could very well just be your family or friends.
Thankfully, unlike another depressed director, the psycho-romp is still regulated by insulin, and enough cues have been left around to allow making sense out of the scenes. All the loose ends are even settled by the end in quite a satisfactory way, and is one of those truly rare titles that does not leave me asking frustrating questions when the credits start scrolling. This story really tells and completes itself in such a short timespan. The only single problem I have with this title, is at one of the ending scenes a woman can leap off a building a number of storeys and does not break her leg or crack her skull. Just because she thinks she is a fairy who can float. For all the realism this movie has maintained, that one moment really broke the rhythm in a ridiculous way. But really, given how perfect Perfect Blue is, I'd just overlook that.
Before Perfect Blue, I thought only Anno Hideaki was capable of taking anime to the next psychological level. After Perfect Blue, I was filled with great delight for this industry. I eagerly await whatever Kon Satoshi releases from his sleeves. My brain is free for him to smash to pieces, and to reconstruct.
Overall Rating: 10/10
- gripping boundary between sanity and insanity; frigtheningly real
- Outrageous physics