# Perfect Blue (1997/I)

### reviewed by
Michael Dequina

    _Perfect_Blue_ *** (out of ****)

Mima, a member of the bubblegum girl singing trio Cham, decides to quit the group in pursuit of other interests (think Ginger Spice)--namely, an acting career. As Mima's pursuit of a new professional image takes a much darker turn--she lands a role that calls for a violent rape scene; she poses for nude photos--people around her start to die bloody deaths, and the spitting image of her former pop idol self begins to haunt her. Could it be the work of a shady-looking fan who watches her every move? Or is she imagining the whole thing, including her break from Cham? Or is her entire showbiz career a figment of fantasy?

_Perfect_Blue_ is the latest entry in the hot new subgenre of the thriller, the "what is reality?" thriller. The crucial difference with this Japanese import is that it is an animated film, and with the freedom of animation comes a more effective blurring of fantasy and reality; when the world is entirely drawn, everything can plausibly be real. Director Satoshi Kon takes his time to get this adaptation of a novel by Yoshikazu Takeuchi off the ground, bringing to light the horrendous acting of a number of the English-speaking voice actors, but by the film's end, _Perfect_Blue_ has become an exciting and haunting exercise in psychological horror.

Michael Dequina twotrey@juno.com | michael_jordan@geocities.com | jordan_host@sportsmail.com | mrbrown@iname.com Mr. Brown's Movie Site: http://welcome.to/mrbrown CinemaReview Magazine: http://www.CinemaReview.com on ICQ: #25289934 | on AOL Instant Messenger: MrBrown23

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