Episode 167: MILLENNIUM ACTRESS (2001)

We hope you’ve enjoyed our series on Kon at the ‘Lon! It was a dream to see these on the Trylon’s screen and to add to the conversation on these underseen anime classics. Our series closes with MILLENNIUM ACTRESS, Kon’s sophomore feature and co-winner – with SPIRITED AWAY (2001) – of the 2001 Grand Prize in the Japan Agency of Cultural Affairs Media Arts Festival. MILLENNIUM ACTRESS is a distillation of Satoshi Kon’s most prominent themes: discovery of the self against the experiences of life, the roles those experiences shape you into, and the person you become on the other side. It’s full of the late director’s hallmarks: realities created, fictions that replace them, and a keen awareness of its audience. At the same time, it’s an affecting love story that centers an aging actress, the world she grew up in and the ways it changed her, and the people who want to share her story through film. Links: - Buy tickets to “DISHONORABLE DISTINCTION: BRUCE DERN’S 1970s” (April 2022 at the Trylon Cinema): https://www.trylon.org/films/category/dishonorable-distinction-bruce-derns-1970s/ Buy tickets to “AGNÈS VARDA: DIEU DU CINÉMA” (May 2022 at the Trylon): https://www.trylon.org/films/category/agnes-varda-dieu-du-cinema/ - Buy tickets to “ISHIRÔ HONDA’S GODZILLA” (May 2022 at the Trylon): https://www.trylon.org/films/category/ishiro-hondas-godzilla/ Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at [email protected] to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “Chiyoko’s Theme Mode 2” by Susumu Hirawa from the MILLENNIUM ACTRESS soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 167: MILLENNIUM ACTRESS (2001) 2:44 - Cody gets BeanBoozled® 5:53 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 8:52 - Cody’s BeanBoozled® check-in 11:55 - The scope & pacing of MILLENNIUM ACTRESS 29:03 - The relationship of memory, reality, and fiction in one person 35:46 - 20th century Japanese cinema and imperfect documents of history 41:05 - Genya and Kyoji and the audience 52:28 - Final thoughts & ranking Kon 59:06 - One last BeanBoozled® check-in with Cody 1:02:30 - Cody’s Noteys: Millennium Actresses (post-2000 actress trivia)