As you may know my favorite movie is Black Swan and when I read that director Darren Aronofsky bought the rights to Perfect Blue I knew I had to watch it. In Requiem for a Dream he has remade one of the scenes exactly. Watching Perfect Blue I could also see that Black Swan has some similar subject matter.
The movie revolves about Mima (Junko Iwao), who is part of a very successful all girl singing group with lots of (or should I say almost onlY) male fans. After having done it for a long time, she decides to leave the group and start a new career in acting. She finds out that being a very popular singer doesn’t immediately give you a head start in acting and she agrees to some questionable jobs, including a photo shoot where she bares it all and a role in a Tv show where the character she plays experience some horrible situations. During this period she slowly starts to lose her sanity as she discovers a website written in her name, describing minute details she doesn’t share with anyone. As a viewer you know this is written by an obsessed fan, who wants to defend the image of Mima which she had when she was part of the singing group. He is willing to do anything to protect that image, even murder. Mima loses her grip on reality, no longer knowing what is real.
Perfect Blue, just like Black Swan, looks at the sanity of a young girl who wants to excel in something and who slowly begins to lose her sanity. Sexuality also plays an important role in both movies. In Black Swan it is her teacher who wants to seduce her, she dreams about having sex with one of her fellow dancers. In Perfect Blue Mima has decisions made for her to do a photo shoot and agrees to do a scene in a TV show where she is raped. Despite the similarities there are differences as well. Within Black Swan it is Nina who is fighting her inner demons, but in this movie there is an external factor contributing to Mima losing her sanity. Director Satoshi Kon was also responsible for Tokyo Godfathers and Paprika (movies also worth checking out). Just like in Paprika he expertly mixes reality with dreams and nightmares, leaving the viewer to join the main character in her descent into a confused state and her struggle to deal with it. A must see for Black Swan fans, but even if you are not I think you should give it a watch.
Good Review! I haven’t seen this one for like 10 years, time to rewatch it. It is a great anime!
Thanks, it was the first time I watched it and loved it. If you like this be sure to check out Paprika, which I liked even more.
Yes, I have seen it, indeed very good. I still prefer this one though. 🙂
I really liked this movie. I always laugh when some pretentious idiots on tumblr suggest Arronofsky stole the ideas from this movie to do Black Swan when in fact he bought the rights to the movie. He can do whatever he likes. Subject matter is similar but I think he did so to borrow some of the really cool shots from the film.
It is clear he was influenced by it and he should be able to use things out of this film like you say. The movie are similar, but are different enough to stand on their own.
Good review!
Thank you Marilyn
Still haven’t seen this film, hope to do so soon. Didn’t know about Darren Aronofsky connection.
I read Perfect Blue was an influence for David Lynch for Inland Empire (2006). You can see a visual comparison here:
http://thebluevial.blogspot.com/2012/10/blue-tomorrows_7446.html
Interesting, will check that out!