Summary: >

Mima had it all. She was a good singer, and a pop idol in the group Cham. That is until Mima decided she wanted to be an actress... Then things began to change. It seemed as though she was digging herself into a hole. Her acting career which had hardly started wasn't going anywhere. Cham suddenly became successful without her - and she couldn't go back anyway, with her tarnished image she had received from her somewhat smutty roles as an actress. Then the really frightening things started to happen. A web site appeared, and seemed to read her thoughts... as if it knew her better than she herself did. And the gruesome killings that began to take place around her... Is she dreaming? Is this a role for her as an actress? Or is this a grim reality where she is taunted by a mirage of herself as a pop singer? Mima needs to sort things out not only because she needs her life in order, but because her life depends on it.

Thoughts: >

Perfect Blue is a title that manages to capture all the creepiness of being stalked, a human story of dreading failure, and happening upon a point in history where the Internet was just getting started. This film manages to bring the three together and form a surreal juncture that is true to the style Alfred Hitchcock would have used.

Mima brings a lot of this together. As a pop idol, she had basically spent her life building a career with the other girls of Cham, but decides to forsake that path and become an actress. Changing direction like that in life would be hard on anyone, but the pressure of former fans intensifies this greatly. Aside from this Cham suddenly becomes more successful without her, and her career seems doomed from the start. Not even getting into the stalking part of it, her sense of despair over her situation is quite compelling.

The stalker is what this is really about though, but not just the sort that keeps sending you scary pictures of David Hasselhoff in a thong, this is an obsessed fan who knows the image of Mima better than she does. A quaint aspect of this, is Mima getting introduced to the Internet, and finding that people make web pages about all sorts of things: including her. During the late 90s this really was a new concept. What is disturbing is that she finds someone keeping a diary of her online, and knows her every move. If the level of self doubt about her choices wasn't enough, this Internet based persona of herself pushes her even father. Few titles manage to ingrain a character with the story the way this one does, and it's great.

When Perfect Blue came out, there was a truckload of hype about it, but this one does indeed live up to its hype. The eerie story gets only more and more gripping as it goes on, and with flawless execution is often dream like. Suspense at its best. A good watch if you want something on the chilling side. Has a reasonably happy ending.