Millennium Actress

Millennium Actress centres on Chiyoko Fujiwara, a former star of Japanese cinema who withdrew from public life at the height of her fame and has lived in seclusion for decades. The documentary filmmaker Genya Tachibana, who once worked at the studio that made her a star, travels with his cameraman Kyōji Ida to her remote mountain home to interview her. He brings a small golden key that she lost long ago and believed gone for good. The key stirs her memories, and she recounts a life shaped by a search for a man she met in her youth, a quest that spills over into the many roles she played. Her account moves between her own past and the films she made, until the two become difficult to separate.

Satoshi Kon directed the film, his second feature after Perfect Blue, working from a screenplay he wrote with Sadayuki Murai. Kou Matsuo is also credited as director. The cast is led by three actresses who voice Chiyoko at different ages: Fumiko Orikasa, Mami Koyama and Miyoko Shoji. Shozo Iizuka voices Tachibana, with Masaya Onosaka as Ida and Showko Tsuda as Eiko Shimao. The 87-minute film was produced by Madhouse, with Taro Maki producing.

Released in 2002, the film holds a rating of 7.8 on IMDb from around 36,000 votes and 7.9 on TMDB from roughly a thousand votes. A critics' rating of 7.8 from 59 reviews sits close to the audience scores. Kon went on to direct Tokyo Godfathers the following year and Paprika in 2006.