Perfect Blue 1997 Movie

Content note: physical and sexual violence Kirigoe Mima is a retiring pop idol headed for the greener grass of acting, but she is plagued by a stalker and terrifying visions. Layers of reality intersect - playing on the old trope of an actor losing sight of what's real and what's fiction. Perfect Blue takes a perspective of psychosis which robs the person of agency. Its simplistic treatment of serious mental illness does a disservice to people actually living with it. It has also... aged. Home fax machines and that new-fangled thing called the internet! And then there's the treatment of women characters (dismal) and racial stereotypes (alarming). The violence reminded me of a Ryu Murakami novel: gratuitous, graphic and plentiful. Blood as colour accent. Like a Bryan Fuller production, but all bright pastel colours. This was one long stretch I could have done without, to be honest.