Perfect Blue: Lust & Lost Identity
There are psycho-thrillers. There are mind benders. There are films that make you rethink your perception of reality. Then there’s this film.
Perfect Blue is the directorial debut of Japanese animator Satoshi Kon (about whom I’ve waxed poetic before) follows Mima Kirigoe, a Japanese pop idol transitioning into an acting career, and the image change that results from that. She begins to hallucinate a version of her pop idol self that insists it’s the “real” Mima. Not longer after this, people in her life start getting murdered. Fearing she might be responsible, Mima struggles to hold on to her sanity, her identity, and soon her own reality. Meanwhile, a fan — disillusioned with Mima’s new image — is convinced by the “real” Mima to take care of the “impostor” tarnishing her image.
I sit in front of my computer, for the first time in a long time, struggling to put words to the screen. I’ve watched Perfect Blue so many times — alone and with company — and I’ve loved it. I’ve never really been able to get into why I loved it all those times. And now when I really need the why to come to me, it just doesn’t come. And I think it’s because there’s so much that this film does right that it’s hard to actually say what about is appealing. Morbidly so, in this film’s case.
It’s easier to start with the cons, I suppose. The animation is dated. It was low budget even for its time, and if you’re the kind of person who thinks of anime in terms of Attack on Titan or Dragon Ball, the production value might be a turn off. Hell, Satoshi Kon’s next film looks much better in comparison.
The dialogue could be annoying sometimes.
That’s about it, I guess.
Anyone who loves thrillers will adore this film. I promise you. I defy anyone to watch this film for the first time and honestly know what’s going on. This film opened my eyes to the power of editing in animation (and film in general). The way the film flows so seamlessy into scenes — real and fictional — without any care to distinguish which is which is incredible. It pulls you into Mima’s growing stress at not knowing what is real and what isn’t any more. At the end, the audience themselves questions what in the film is “real”
And like every master at the craft, Satoshi didn’t just throw us into the confusion. He eased us into it. So well we didn’t realise it. Then small things start feeling off. And then the bomb explodes.
Mima is a lovely protagonist. On paper she should be annoying — she’s airheaded, and she doesn’t have much agency in her own story. But then you see why tropes are tools: this serves the story. The lack of agency in her story mirrors the lack of agency in her own life. She’s airheaded, but nice and genuinely wants to succeed. The former earns her ire from the fans that she may never actually satisfy. The latter earns her the sympathy of the audience. Watching her slip into insanity can be painful at a point. I promise you.
I still lack the words.
Perfect Blue isn’t a perfect film (ba dum tish), but it’s near perfect. It’s a trip. One I advise any one reading this to take. Watching this thriller again makes me wish that Satoshi Kon was alive to make more of these.
I honestly don’t know how to sell this film. Just watch it. Please.
And to anyone who does watch it for the first time… I envy you.
I give it a 9.5/10
