Perfect Blue (1997)

I am still in shock and can barely formulate a sentence other than "What a movie". I was not expecting to be this shook by it, probably because I had seen and loved Black Swan (2010) and a lot of people have commented on how it is somewhat of a remake of Perfect Blue. But honestly, now I'm questioning if Black Swan really was all that good, because this movie hit raw in all the places it meant to hit, and then some. 

Through the protagonist Mima, the reality of being a woman crashed on me and I could hardly think about its implications, symbolism, etc because it was too real to so much that we have to go through on a daily basis. even when we are not necessarily in the entertainment industry. We are constantly haunted by this inescapable hungry gaze and even though we tune it out and learn to live with it, there are times when it shines like a spotlight on us and adds to the general sexual trauma that we have to live with. And yes, most of us (if not all) have some sexual trauma, some repressed memories, feelings, etc. that crop up and choke us before we can even begin to process them. This is the overarching feeling I was left with, that the film is brilliant not because of its technical aspects, but because it reminds one so forcefully of patriarchal violence without resorting to low-hanging manipulative tactics- it made me feel the trauma in every bone I have, but without making me feel disgusted or dirty or any other feeling that I generally get from movies depicting sexual violence against women. 

In conclusion, I saw a Letterboxd review calling this a "documentary about being an actress" and I have no choice but to agree. Watch this, but be prepared for a lot of disturbing stuff, including r*pe, voyeurism, stalking, murder (really violent and bloody murders), etc. Not for the faint-hearted, but not to be missed either.