The Paramount Vault, Paramount's YouTube channel dedicated to full-length films and clips that are mostly no longer in print, has just posted Satoshi Kon's
Millennium Actress in its entirety! This is the first time the film has been available for legal streaming by anime fans.
Originally released in 2003 in the USA,
Millennium Actress won many awards including the Grand Prize in the Japan Agency of Cultural Affairs Media Arts Festival (tying with
Spirited Away) and Best Animation Film and Fantasia Ground-Breaker at the 2001 Fantasia Film Festival. Check it out below!
Following up on his highly acclaimed animated psychological thriller Perfect Blue, Satoshi Kon spins this mystery about a documentary filmmaker and a legendary actress. In honor of Gin Ei studios 70th anniversary, a small production house run by Genya Tachibana is selected to make a commemorative documentary. Genya decides to focus his film on actress Chiyoko Fujiwara, a massive star who at the height of her popularity retreated from public life. Accompanied an eager young cameraman, Genya doggedly tracks her down to discover her living a hermit-like life of charmed isolation. He also learns that in spite of her advanced age, she has lost little of her famed charm or elegance. As he interviews her, Genya learns of Chiyoko's troubled past and eventually the reasons for her sudden retirement.