Cert: Unrated

Cat.no: 040492

Running time: 81 minutes

Year: 1997

Pressing: 2000

Region(s): 1 (USA NTSC)

Chapters: 14 plus extras

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Languages: English, Japanese

Subtitles: English

Widescreen: 1.85:1

16:9-enhanced: No

Macrovision: No

Disc Format: DVD 9

Price: $27 (UK £17.99)

Extras : Scene index, Trailers, Interviews, Musical Photo Gallery, Behind-the-scenes performances, Bonus Audio Tracks, Mango 2000 Previews, Manga 2000 Fan Club Info, Manga Weblink, DVD-ROM content

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Director:

Satoshi Kon

General Producer:

Takeshi Washitani

Screenplay:

Sadayuki Murai (based on a story by Yoshikazu Takeuchi)

Music:

Masahiro Ikumi Office 193

Cast:

Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shinpachi Tsuji, Masaaki Okura

Perfect Blue is the story of Mima Kirigoe, a young girl who leaves the musical sanctity of the charts and her all-girl trio to become an actress. Her first role only offers her the chance to say one line, the tagline above which comes back to haunt her later on, although her next performance as a nightclub dancer who gets raped is the turning point at which things start to go downhill for her.

She's being stalked by a weirdo who sends her letter bombs, kills her fish and sets up a website, "Mima's Room", a more disturbing version of the JennyCam, in which her every move is followed and detailed, not only in her bedroom, but all throughout the day. The madman also posts daily updates of her life onto the website, always writing in the first person as if the words are coming from Mima's mouth.

This leads to confusion, nightmares and hallucinations which seek to send her over the edge and make her think that another part of her is still with the band and trying to take over her life.

Presented in a widescreen 1.85:1 ratio, the print isn't anamorphic - although I understand the UK release will be - and it has a number of drop-outs at times. It's nothing that really affects the viewing too much but there's no reason why this couldn't have been resolved since it's not exactly an old film. The average bitrate is a so-so 5.92Mb/s, occasionally going above 8Mb/s mark.

The sound is fine, but it doesn't really get beyond dialogue and basic sound effects, plus the pop song played endlessly. It is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 for both English and Japanese languages.

Extras :

Chapters :

The trailers included are a theatrical trailer, plus three trailers for other Palm Pictures DVDs - Talking Heads: Stop Making Senses, Baaba Maal and Ghost in the Shell.

Languages & Subtitles :

And there's more... :

First up are the Bonus Audio Tracks, the pop tune as a studio-performed piece in original Japanese and then an English version played over a static shot of Mima. This is followed by Musical Photo Gallery, three minutes of music played over many static shots from the film with descriptions, plus info on currently-available Manga videos and DVDs.

"Meet some of my friends" is the cue for the 23-minute Interviews section, featuring director Satoshi Kon and a few members of the cast, although the only people you get to see in the flesh are the director and Junko Iwao who voiced the Japanese dialogue for Mima. The non-English dialogue contains English subtitles burnt into the video.

The Links section provides clips of several Manga feature films mixed together as well as a Trailer for Perfect Blue. A Manga Weblink is available via the DVD-ROM content, although I had problems at first when I thought it was going to delete old versions of Quicktime from my PC (why not just install over the top?) and then all the text is in Japanese so have your dictionary to hand if you plan to read it. I presume it's from there that the Manga 2000 items are placed since I couldn't find them from the extras menu.

Menu :

Overall, the film itself is entertaining with no slow parts, although not the most original thing you'll see all year. The extras aren't a great deal to shout about and I can't see myself going back to them.

Note that although this is the Region 1 DVD I'm reviewing here, which is the Unrated Director's Cut, containing graphic violence, nudity, adult language and situations (it says here), the Region 2 disc promises to be no different and the BBFC website shows no cuts either, as usually scenes of sexual violence against women tend to be some of the first to be chopped.

The cover features a quote from Roger Corman which states it's like a blend of Hitchcock and Disney, although it seems, in part, more like an animated remake of the 70's Roger Moore film, The Man Who Haunted Himself.

FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS
OVERALL

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2000.