MILLENNIUM ACTRESS

MILLENNIUM ACTRESS is an imaginative, unusual animated drama about memory, art, history, and the pursuit of desire. Its emotional premise follows an actress looking back on her life and the man who loved her from afar. The film also includes a redemptive element involving apology and forgiveness.

But the film’s central message says that chasing one’s heart’s desire is more important than actually finding it. Its pagan worldview, fortune-teller scene, evil wraith, wartime violence, lightly implied prostitution, and four light profanities make it unsuitable for children and young teens. The animation and dramatic realization are also flat at times.

For discerning adults who want to consider a provocative, metaphorical film at home, it may be worth a look. For family viewing, wait for something else.

Documentary filmmaker Genya Tachibana travels to a mountain lodge to interview Chiyoko Fujiwara, a 70-year-old actress. When he gives her an old key she lost long ago, it unlocks her memories.

Chiyoko begins telling the story of a young painter she loved after rescuing him from fascist police in pre-World War II Japan. As she remembers her life and career, Genya and his assistant move through different periods of history and through the movies Chiyoko made, following her search for the painter who disappeared.

Two stars means this film has a distinctive idea and some dramatic appeal, but its execution is uneven. The animation blends fantasy, drama, and history in a unique way, and the story’s imaginative, emotional approach gives it a provocative quality.

Still, the animation and dramatic realization are flat at times. The complicated mixture of truth and fiction reflects a postmodern sensibility, but the film’s metaphorical construction may also make the journey feel less grounded. Its strongest qualities are its emotional premise and imaginative design; its limitations keep it from becoming a fully satisfying drama.

MILLENNIUM ACTRESS presents life, art, and human desire as one large metaphor. Its central message is that passionately chasing one’s heart’s desire is the most important thing in life, even if the desire is never found. The film treats mystery, fantasy, romance, and emotional longing with imaginative appeal.

That message can fit several worldviews, but it departs from a Christian understanding of desire’s final purpose. Christianity teaches that God promises to be found by those who seek Him, and that eternal life comes through faith and trust in Jesus Christ. The film instead centers the chase itself rather than directing longing toward God.

The movie also contains a mixed pagan worldview, including a fortune teller and an apparently evil wraith in the form of an old woman who pronounces a curse. Its treatment of history includes a politically correct, revisionist comment about fascists being right wing when, in reality, national socialism is left wing. At the same time, the story includes a redemptive element in which a man apologizes and asks forgiveness for an awful injustice.

The film’s longing for something beyond the present can point toward a deeper truth: “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

MILLENNIUM ACTRESS offers imaginative animation, emotional longing, and a redemptive note, but its mixed pagan worldview, occult elements, violence, and mature material make it unsuitable for children and young teens. For discerning adults, WAIT FOR HOME — ADULTS ONLY. For family viewing, choose something else.