‎Perfect Blue (1997) directed by Satoshi Kon • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

Perfect Blue

1997 Directed by Satoshi Kon

The color of illusion is Perfect Blue.

A retired pop singer turned actress' sense of reality is shaken when she is stalked by an obsessed fan and seemingly a ghost of her past.

Junko Iwao Rica Matsumoto Shinpachi Tsuji Masaaki Ōkura Yōsuke Akimoto Yoku Shioya Hideyuki Hori Emi Shinohara Kiyoyuki Yanada Tōru Furusawa Shiho Niiyama Emiko Furukawa Aya Hara Shin-ichiro Miki Megumi Tano Akio Suyama Osamu Hosoi Kôichi Tôchika Emi Motoi Kishou Taniyama Shokkâ Ôno Rofuto Purasu Wan Burazâzu Makoto Kitano Soichiro Hoshi Masashi Ebara

Alternative Titles

Pāfekuto Burū, 藍色恐懼, 퍼펙트 블루, パーフェクトブルー, Истинная грусть

animation thriller

81 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Todd Gaines ★★★★½ 36

The blurred line between what is real, and what is not. A theme explored in movies such as: Repulsion, Belle de Jour, Triangle and Black Swan. A film aspect that's never been a favorite of mine. However, I found the outlier. Perfect Blue hooked me from the opening, and I was on the edge of my seat until the final credits rolled.

Perfect Blue is batshit crazy in an eat your heart out Darren Aronofsky type of way. It's the movie Black Swan only wished it could be. It's simply a badass flick with a lot of social commentary on the media, fame and internet usage for dummies circa 1997. At least in my mind it is.

Part Giallo. (Fun…
Review by mia ★★★★★ 2

black swan (2010) was found dead in a ditch
Review by DirkH ★★★★½ 15

Film #100 of Make me watch your favourite.
Recommended by James Haves.

After having seen most of Kon's filmography now, I can only conclude he was one of the most gifted storytellers to ever work in film.

Perfect Blue is yet another intriguing and powerful exploration of the human psyche, this time in the guise of a complex thriller. Kon weaves a tale around a superbly written female protagonist that not only serves as a vessel for some social commentary about Japanese teen pop culture but also as our eyes and ears into a young girl's faltering mind as pressure, expectations and self doubt take over her world.

The layered and complex narrative bobs and weaves through reality and fantasy…
Review by jose ★★★½

I love how the men are all ugly as hell in this.
Review by Katie ★★★★ 1

darren aronofsky really did snatch mima's wig didn't he
Review by Rembrandt Q Pumpernickel ★★★★½ 9

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Perfect Blue is a serial killer film, and the killer is patriarchal violence.

Many films mine the tension between one's idealized self and the self one lives in reality to create drama and art*, few so adeptly recognize that for women, both of these sides are controlled by men. Perfect Blue is the story of pop icon Mima who decides to move from singing to acting and takes a minor role in a disgusting procedural show about grisly murders. But decides is (intentionally on my part) not the correct verb in this instance; the film does not portray it as a decision. In fact, Mima is often shown consenting to something that eventually undermines her own sense of self or…

Recent reviews

Review by Oscar

First thoughts

I've been wanting to watch Perfect Blue ever since I read that it's a influence on Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan a couple of years. A really interesting film about dealing with fame and the dark side of fame. Knowing it was psychological thriller i knew what I was expecting and was like how Psychological can it get I was so confused and stressed out at moments I was almost questioning everything.
Now I'm still thinking about the movie.

The film shows it age and is a little outdated. I'm gonna need to watch this again
Review by Jonathan ★★★★

What is the price of fame? How much agency in one’s life does an entertainer have? Is corrupting yourself for a disposable art form worth madness?

The fact that this film asks these questions and more in less than 80 minutes is a testament to Kon’s tight writing and editing, and I’m already excited to watch this one again down the road. Also, shout out to how brutal this one was.
This is a De Palma film (or maybe even a Giallo) masquerading as an anime and I absolutely loved it.
Review by pachinkor ★★★★★

Amazing that Satoshi Kons' debut film eluded me for so long. I've watched his movies almost in reverse release order having started with the fantastically imaginative Paprika but .. boy am I glad I went back and finally saw this.

Perfect Blue is a masterwork of crazy story telling. An emotional roller coaster that keeps the viewer guessing as to the true nature of what's happening right up until the very end. Director Kon's visual style has remained pretty consistent throughout his (sadly too short) list of films , the language present here manages to communicate similar themes of self /identity and purpose in life. Occasionally these themes are showcased with some rather powerful sequences that may be very difficult…
Review by jblade905 ★★★★½

This movie is closer to perfect then a certain blue hedgehog ever was.
Review by Rebecca ★★★★½

Very deeply unsettling yet somehow... relatable?
Review by vanesasan ★★★★

Such a great psychological movie with so many twists that I had to keep guessing the ending! Very dark and the ending was so crazy I would have never guessed it. It had me lost at some points but it all came together at the end. It for real has that Black Swan feel to it but overall an amazing anime film.
Review by Clara ★★★★★

Completely amazing.
Review by nickrood ★★★★★

This movie is a nightmare in the best ways. Paranoia is a heavy theme, along with sense of self. Pretty realistic because something like this happened to Bjork several years later. Awesome filmmaking and composition, great movie and a classic
Review by Ryan Norris ★★★★★

I usually find it very difficult to find animation 'scary' or 'creepy' but this film manages to pull that off for me. In my opinion, it's Satoshi Kon's greatest film and one of my all-time favourites.