Perfect Blue
Mar. 25th, 2022 09:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingThe Real History of 'Perfect Blue' and 'Requiem for a Dream'
https://animationobsessive.substack.com/p/the-real-history-of-perfect-blue?s=r
In the end, the real question we need to ask is much bigger than Aronofsky. It’s even bigger than Kon. The question is, “Is it right for Western directors to use anime as an idea factory, without paying its overworked creators a dime?”
Kon bled for his films. He storyboarded every moment in detail, obsessively, and still never saw success in his lifetime (he died in 2010, around a week before the premiere of Black Swan). It stung him to see his concepts treated as the rough drafts for other people’s films. He battled to create those concepts, until the end.
This is such a good essay, even if you haven't seen Requiem for a Dream (which I haven't) or Perfect Blue (which admittedly isn't for everyone). Honestly, this is a good essay even if you're not into anime. Sometimes an essay is so well-crafted and well-researched that it has value simply as an interesting piece of writing.
I do love Satoshi Kon though. God I love Satoshi Kon. It's wild to think that Tokyo Godfathers almost didn't get made.
https://animationobsessive.substack.com/p/the-real-history-of-perfect-blue?s=r
In the end, the real question we need to ask is much bigger than Aronofsky. It’s even bigger than Kon. The question is, “Is it right for Western directors to use anime as an idea factory, without paying its overworked creators a dime?”
Kon bled for his films. He storyboarded every moment in detail, obsessively, and still never saw success in his lifetime (he died in 2010, around a week before the premiere of Black Swan). It stung him to see his concepts treated as the rough drafts for other people’s films. He battled to create those concepts, until the end.
This is such a good essay, even if you haven't seen Requiem for a Dream (which I haven't) or Perfect Blue (which admittedly isn't for everyone). Honestly, this is a good essay even if you're not into anime. Sometimes an essay is so well-crafted and well-researched that it has value simply as an interesting piece of writing.
I do love Satoshi Kon though. God I love Satoshi Kon. It's wild to think that Tokyo Godfathers almost didn't get made.
