Millennium Actress: Storytelling

[Figal-sensei]

Millennium Actress showcases storytelling. Similar to Perfect Blue, there are many layers of storytelling—heavily image-driven—in Millennium Actress: the stories within the films Chiyoko made; her story of them; her life story that runs parallel to her film career; Genya’s documentary of her; his life story that paralleled hers, and of course Kon’s telling of if all. How do these layers relate to each other? Can you identify particular techniques or mechanisms by which Kon tells these stories?

[Kevin Hu]

Kon extensively uses montage and match cuts in the narration of Chiyoko’s life. Both techniques manage to switch from one scenario to another, making the audience feel surprised and bewildered. But Kon intentionally uses these techniques to blur the boundaries of Chiyoko’s life, her imaginations and the Chiyoko in the movies. What’s more, through putting Genya into the movie sections, Kon tries to link the past with the present, and the connection between Genya’s life and Chiyoko’s career. Thus, these different layers of stories seem to be confusing at first, but through Kon’s intentional arrangement of different cuts, the pieces begin to complement each other and the intertwined past between Genya and Chiyoko begins to emerge.

[Author]

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