There’s more nuance, drama and genuine emotion in this animated tale than in half the live-action stories to come out of Hollywood. The multilayered movie follows a documentary filmmaker who tracks down an aging Japanese movie star and asks her to recount her past. What follows is a magical interweaving of flashback, re-enacted scenes from her films and pure fantasy, all of it so engrossing you’ll forget none of it is real. The animation itself, overseen by Satoshi Kon, is a big part of the reason for this, what with its attention to realistic detail. The film’s most beautiful moment is a shot of a snowy sky that re-creates the joy of looking straight up on a perfect winter’s night. Millennium Actress isn’t perfect – the narrative thrust grows repetitive near the end – but even its flaws are lovingly rendered.
