Satoshi Kon- (1963-2010)

When dreams and reality coincide, the concoction can be deliciously smooth and fantastic, literally. Satoshi Kon’s anime mostly allude to that concoction – the merging of the real and the fantasy, the thoughts and the illusions blurring lines between. But these are not the only pegs to his storytelling. Kon’s creation are an amazing introduction to the world where line blurs, the definition concedes a conundrum, giving way to a chaos of simplicity. Like the name, Studio Madhouse, that has produced all his films till date, Kon’s films delve into a realm that tries to reflect the utter madness that our imagination can infuse into any ordinary circumstance. Portions of his films feel like captured memories, the heightened ones of course.

Manga –artist turned anime director, Satoshi Kon’s oeuvre, over the last two decades, garnered him the name “auteur anime director”. His films have been known for defying the conventional genre and their exquisite, fantastic choice of subject. Though a protégé of the famous Katsuhiro ‘Akira’ Otomo and often hailed at the same level with Spirited Away director Hayao Miyazaki, Kon clearly carves a different space altogether. The filmography of this graduate from the Musashino College of Arts, includes films like Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika and the alternate television anime series, Paranoia Agent, among others. Most of his works are adaptations or influenced by some form of previously existing works- like Perfect Blue is loosely based on the novel by Yoshikazu Takeuchi. In Kon’s words, he was given the freedom to use his interpretation and play with the script only keeping the three keywords – ‘idol’, ‘horror’ and ‘fan’. And these are the primary premises of the film. Like he said, he deliberately employed different point of view to his storytelling. What you remember at the end of the film is the sense of déjà vu that the protagonist Mima undergoes throughout this play-within-a-play film. READ MORE