Cast (voices): Miyoko Shoji, Mami Koyama, Fumiko Orikasa, Shozo Izuka, Shoko Tsuda, Hirotaka Suzuoki, Hisaka Kyoda, Kan Tokumaru, Tomie Kataoka, Takko Ishimori, Masamichi Sato, Masaya Onosaka, Masane Tsukayama, Koichi Yamadera. Screenplay: Satoshi Kon, Sadayuki Murai. Cinematography: Hisao Shira. Art direction: Nobutaka Ike. Film editing: Satoshi Terauchi. Music: Susumu Hirasawa.
I enjoyed Millennium Actress more than I do most anime because I love Japanese film and its history, and the movie is full of references to it, from wartime propaganda to postwar readjustment dramas, from ghost stories to samurai films, from geisha dramas to monster movies and beyond. The central figure is a retired actress, whose story echoes that of many famous Japanese actresses, including Setsuko Hara and Hideko Takamine. When the studio where she spent her career is closed, a documentarian and a cameraman go in search of her, hoping to tell the story of the studio through her own. They get more than they expect, finding not only that her life is intertwined with the movies she made, but also that they themselves become part of the story. The complex narrative is deftly handled and the hand-drawn animation is quite beautiful.
