(#4) Perfect Blue (1997) - [8.5/10]

A crazy stalker movie!

A singer quits her band to become an actress and sheds her "good girl" image to further her career.

How would I describe this film in one word?

Creepy.

Note "What in the world was that?!" was my initial reaction after watching the movie.

Review

The first act of this psychological thriller, it's just a very interesting story. in the second act it becomes more of the thriller we were waiting for, in the third act it evolves into the psychological part of the genre which we were NEVER expecting. Simply put, this is a crazy stalker movie, but this isn't a simple movie and not only does that definition not serve the movie justice, it also is untrue because there is so much more unfolding in the movie. The kind of movie I hate cause it makes me go to YouTube for an hour to search for explanations. Now that I have greater understanding of the movie, the underlying subtext of the movie really needs to be told - it's a fight between the protagonist's own public persona against the individual itself who desires change which the admirers (stalkers or super fans) can't fathom to adjust to. Being made in the late 90s, it's aim was to represent the fame culture of celebrities, but with the modern social media age, the movie's relevance, importance and impact is so much greater. Not only is this a frightening piece of fiction, but makes you realise how frightening the real non-fictional world is. And for that reason, this is without a doubt one of the most terrifying movies I've ever seen. Which reminds me again why I don't watch horror movies.

RATING: 8.5/10

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Director: Satoshi Kon Rated: R Runtime: 1 hr 21 min Genre: Animation, Horror, Mystery Starring: Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shinpachi Tsuji