I don’t know what Perfect Blue’s title has to do with the movie itself, but as an adult anime feature about the complexities of celebrity (and celebrity worship), Satoshi Kon’s 1997 debut is quite enthralling. A sugar-coated “pop idol” named Mima decides to abandon her music career for a shot at acting stardom, but her role on a murder-mystery soap opera about a schizophrenic serial killer leads to semi-pornographic work that’s far removed from her former squeaky clean image. Shortly thereafter, Mima finds a creepy website purporting to be her diary that features intimate details about her life, begins receiving visits from a ghost that looks like her old pop star self (or are they merely hallucinations?), and starts losing the ability to decipher her dreams from her waking life. Kon’s animation can be uneven (some sequences seem far less detailed and expressive than others) and the dubbing is, in a word, abysmal. Yet Perfect Blue is nonetheless an astute examination of the obsessive, addictive nature of fame for both wannabe stars and fanatical fans – in the film’s finest moment, Mima’s ghoulish, obsessive stalker seems to be cupping the singer in the palm of his hand – and the uneasy relationship between a celeb’s public image and off-screen personality. Expect some graphic violence and some unnecessary animated nudity throughout Kon’s Dario Argento-influenced “what is reality?” narrative, but just don’t expect to understand the meaning of the film’s title.
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