Perfect Blue - flying to close to the sun

Perfect Blue is one of the most disconcerting films I've seen in a long time, and not only do I feel this was intentional on the part of its director, Satoshi Kon, but it's precisely what elevates the film as one of the most important in the history of anime.

Characterized by a warm and nostalgic atmosphere, Perfect Blue tells the story of Mima, a Japanese singer who is part of a trio called CHAM, who have a rather passionate fanbase.

Although Mima enjoys her performances within the J-Pop group, her professional ambitions go beyond that, and so she decides to separate herself from her fellow members to pursue a serious acting career. In the process, Mima ends up performing a sex scene for a soap opera, something she feels is necessary to leave behind her cute idol image and begin to be considered "mature" within the acting world.

However, things get complicated when several people connected to Mima begin to appear murdered, and, amidst various hallucinations, they begin to doubt what is real and what is not.

Many filmgoers have drawn connections between this film and Darren Aronofsky's irreverent Black Swan, a work with which it not only shares the psychological horror genre, but also deeper themes such as the desperate search for perfection and the true price of success.

Perfect Blue uses a friendly aesthetic to impress upon us a rather harsh reality. It is masterfully edited and filled with iconic moments. In fact, it is surprising how relevant its plot remains almost 20 years since its original release in 1998.

Obviously, it requires more than one viewing to absorb its most confusing elements, but again, I feel that disconcerting the viewer is a voluntary decision that works in favor of the experience, making us fall into the same madness that its protagonist is facing

Perfect Blue tells a timeless and painful story, which sharply criticizes the world of entertainment but at the same time knows how to celebrate its most striking aspects, is realistic and knows how to take full advantage of the creative possibilities of the medium in which it was conceived, so I hope Hollywood never rushes to adapt it to live action.

This score was taken from my Letterboxd account.