Perfect Blue [Pâfekuto burû] **** (1997) – Classic Movie Review 6053

Japanese pop singer Mima (voice of Mima Kirigoe) quits the hit pop idol group CHAM to pursue her dreams as an actress. She performs as rape victims and poses nude for magazines, and is haunted by her past when she is stalked by an obsessive fan.

Director Satoshi Kon’s rich and strange 1997 Japanese anime is really strong and good – it is so Black Swan. With the screenplay by Sadayuki Murai, based on the novel by Yoshikazu Takeuchi, it really goes for it! It seems very adult for an animation, wild and wayward, with sequences of violence and nudity, and some strong language too.

It is such fun to look back on the dawn of Internet era too. Re-released in 2017 20 years after its original appearance, it is the ideal antidote to all the mainstream American movies around right now.

Darren Aronofsky owns the American filming rights to Perfect Blue, which he bought for the equivalent of $59,000 to use the bath scene in his 2000 film Requiem for a Dream, and its influence on his Black Swan is everywhere.

It was planned as a live-action feature but became an anime when backers pulled out in pre-production.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 6053

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