OKAY, FINE. I FINALLY saw Perfect Blue (1997)
Thank you to kissackreviews for finally getting me to watch this!
You can watch it here, and read a more in depth synopsis here.
First of all, let's talk about my trajectory with this one. It's been on my radar for 14 years.
Back in ye olden days of the mid-late 1990's, I was a huge anime fan. Sailor Moon was my gateway drug, as it was for so many, and I was part of the anime trading community back when it was fan subs, vhs tapes, and LiveJournal or Yahoo! groups. Oh YES. Oh Y E S. My friends and I saved pennies, nickels, and dimes to get copies of Shōnen Jump and Animerica and Animerica Extra! to share. I had the infamous Pokémon/ Gundam Wing issue of Animerica(which I am sure exists SOMEWHERE in the boundless realm of my stupid shit I have collected over the years. Yes, friends, I was THAT kid.
In 1999, Perfect Blue was released on VHS (subbed) in the US, and there was a LOT of buzz around it in Animerica Extra! . You could also buy it at Suncoast (RIP). We knew it was scandalous, but didn't really know why. We knew we could have potentially gotten away with buying it from Suncoast (RIP) because this was right before people started understanding that anime wasn't just for kids, but because it was subbed right out of the gate, it was more expensive. It also had had a theatrical release and lots of American press. Everyone in the kid gang was captivated by the image of the pop singer covered in blood, completely devoid of context.
Other than the basic premise of the pop idol that goes crazy, I didn't know anything about it. A few years ago, it was rereleased in theaters for some special anniversary of the movie and I took a pass on it.
I also know the director of Black Swan admitted to ripping off this movie. But that was really my extent.
I would like to say, that I am so glad that I did not see this as a teenager. I am so glad that I did not see this film in 2018 in a theater. I am so glad I finally caved and gave into peer pressure to see it on this day, when I am mentally well enough to see this movie, in the comfort of my own home. Had I seen it under any other circumstances, I wouldn't have been able to handle it.
This is a rough watch. All the trigger warnings for this film.
Rough synopsis: Perfect Blue is the story of Mima Kirigoe, who is a member of the pop group CHAM, who decides to leave CHAM to become an actress. Issues with stalking and the budding internet culture, and gruesome murders pop up. Neither Mima, nor the viewer, has any idea what is reality and what is fantasy.
I don't know if I liked it.
First of all, I tend to not like this kind of psychological thriller, and find the "IS THIS THE REAL LIFE? IS THIS JUST FANTASY????" thing more annoying than anything else. I found myself being mostly annoyed at the end more than anything else. I also tend to dislike narratives that are like "IS THIS HAUNTED ROOM ACTUALLY STRETCHING, OR IS IT JUST YOUR IMAGINATION???" Not because they are disorienting, but they just annoy me, especially since they are almost never done well, and give themselves away really sloppily.
I was also NOT aware that there was a VIOLENT rape (which I ended up just skipping over) and some really gross violence against women in general, both elements made the rest of the film sort of soured for me. Knowing that before it was a film it had been a hentai doesn't surprise me in the slightest, although it makes me HARD side-eye.
The violence in general in this movie is pretty brutal, and a lot of the time feels pretty left field. There were several times during the course of the film, where I exclaimed out loud, "Oh DAMN!" It is very disarming, which is part of the crux of the narrative.
For whatever reason, I didn't know she had stopped being a pop idol. I didn't know that she wanted to be an actress going into this film, and for whatever reason, thought this had more to do with the way the pop industry is so horrible to its artists. It DOES touch on that, but more in the movie pictures arena, but I still for whatever reason, though it was going to be a little different than it was.
If there is one thing I can say about this film that I can definitively say that I enjoyed, it was Mima herself, and how cute and sweet and relatively normal she is in her cute, sweet, charming little apartment. Also, it being set in 1997 when it was made, and the Dawn of the Internet and the (even THEN) TOXIC AF Internets culture. How much she loves her fish is also very sweet. I also liked her every day outfits. The first outfit she has when she goes home to her cutesy apartment after quitting CHAM, I made a note where I was like, "oh, I would wear the FUCK out of that!!!!"
This film was definitely ahead of its time, and I give it mad props for that. Especially considering that social media has created a culture of fakeness, and how people love the IDEA of someone instead of who they actually are and how curated this artificial world is. It's spooky that it's a more relevant story now than it was in 1997. I feel this is especially relevant, considering the rise of incel culture and how men obsess over the image of women instead of loving actual women as human beings. It's another reason why I am glad I waited to watch this film. It's also kind of strange to think about it in that sense, with that framing, because this film so obviously was rendered and created by the male gaze for the male gaze in a lot of ways, especially considering its dubious origins.
All in all, it's a gorgeously rendered film, although I remain neutral on it as a film itself. If you have ANY kind of anxieties or mental health issues, this might not be your film. Also, after the rape scene I almost turned it off, even though I had skipped over most of it, it was super unnecessary, and spoiled my enjoyment of this film.