Fantastic!

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

A young woman is cursed by a spirit to live a millennium chasing a man she's never known and has only seen once. There are 4 archetypes in the story: a tall dark stranger, a young naive wistful girl, an older jealous woman, and a caring brave 'nice guy' in the friend zone. These characters reappear over & over throughout her lives both past & future. The 4th archetype is reminiscent of Forest Gump. In the present, she is an actress retelling her memories to a small documentary crew who are drawn into her past, present, and future lives. The scenes transition between eras of Japanese history artistically but abruptly and without logic or reason. Scenes also transition between eras and present movie sets without real rhyme or reason. This is similar to the style of Mr. Nobody. (Some reviews said it could not be made live action but was done effectively with that movie.) There are some questions in the movie that do not get answers. The story telling is very artistic and unique, more so than Deadpool. I'm quite OK with artistic movies (Princess Kaguya), but the scene jumping was a bit too illogical and without motivation. I tend to prefer a bit more coherent stories. (I also believe I gave Mr. Nobody a 7.)

This film further reinforces my belief that Director Satoshi Kon is a master of depicting abstract ideas, especially love, time, and dreams. Kon never lets the limitations of reality interfere with his imagination and creativity. He is a consistent example of how anime can create a work of art that can't be shown through live-action films.The Millennium Actress follows Genya with his camera man, Ida, as they interview Chiyoko and learn the life story of the actress, who has since retired and secluded herself in bamboo forests and hills. The film does an amazing job of telling Chiyoko's story through the various movies she made throughout her life and showing the idea of forever chasing your dreams.The storytelling method by Satoshi Kon, where he puts Genya and Ida into the depiction of Chiyoko's past and movies, is fascinating and undoubtedly effective. Genya and Ida are like ghosts from the future looking into Chiyoko's life as she chases after the man she loves. It was refreshing to see the two interact physically and emotionally with the past world in order to "shoot" Chiyoko's story, as well as helping her "bring the movies to life." The editing, as expected from Satoshi Kon, is phenomenal. The transitioning between Chiyoko's stories and her movies are beautifully done. The movies and characters all have recurring themes as the stories shift genre backgrounds and time periods. The constantly changing settings and stories seem to reflect Chiyoko's feelings at a particular time in her life. The depictions of Japan's historical eras all the way to the Space Age are not only well designed, but they are never too long nor too short, and they keep the viewers constantly engaged as they piece together Chiyoko's life story.As an aside, I personally think that I've never seen someone direct and edit scenes of running/chasing better than Satoshi Kon.The soundtrack also helps to bring the animation to life and works in unison with the film to draw out emotions.Overall, Millennium Actress is a touching story told in the most creative, beautiful, and elegant way. The film is sure to stay with you as you go through your own life chasing dreams.

Millennium Actress masterfully executed film, an art film and the best representative of modern Japanese animation. One of the one and only movie so saturated vivid imagery and beautiful soundtrack that can make you cry. When I watched this movie last night - date reviews - proved helpless to control their emotions.Who truly appreciate the film Millennium Actress I think it is important to analyze the history / story without writing "spoilers", so as not to ruin your first viewing.So the story about the director Genya Tachibana, who comes to visit with his assistant operator to the once popular and still great actress Chiyoko Fujiwara movie to make a documentary dedicated to her interview . From this point the narrative style is a biography of this woman's life in the wreath with her roles in the films , the plots of which are closely linked with the history that happened to her as a child. This story of a little girl Chiyoko meeting with the artist - dissident, hiding from the Nazi authorities. Literally pushed their fate. She helped him hide it in gratitude gave her the key and offered to meet in the place where he works on his painting . Over time, Chiyoko accepts the offer to act in films for the sake of traveling the world in search of the man, holding his key .To interview the actress is like a time machine . She talks about their roles and what happened to her and presents itself as there is now , at the same time director Genya Tachibana and his assistant " follow" it. This narrative style mix that was actually with Chiyoko and what was in the movie, but it is always a he. Different images , scenery , music, but the story is the same.Journey actress in life, "which leads its audience wherever movies have not led" to the final summing up and leaves an impression as a tribute of admiration and love of life.I strongly recommend that you see Millennium Actress, if you are from those who are looking at the art of cinema and sure almost 100% sure you will not stay indifferent.

Not only is this better than any Western animation currently out there, but it's better than most live action movies too. This is the story of a director and cynical cameraman who track down a legendary actress who's been a recluse for the last thirty years. As she tells them her life story, fact and fantasy intertwine, and they become sucked into the world of her reminiscences. In this beautifully animated film the characters truly come alive as real people against awesome backdrops set in the past, present and future. It's flawlessly done. But the real treat is the story. A sophisticated plot line that constantly wrong-foots the audience. It is epic while at the same time intimate, and has an emotional climax that's rarely seen in Western films. Beautiful. 10 out of 10.