Perfect Blue

People told me to watch the film that inspired Black Swan, so here’s my review written as a comparative analysis between both films. There definitely is a lot of similarities but they definitely have different things to say. It is very interesting to look at very similar themes from two different perspectives in similar industries from two different cultures however. There are things that both films focus more on that the other just hints at. This film explores public perception much more while Black Swan really kept it focused on a subjective point of view. Obviously both films involve an unreliable narrator, but Black Swan doesn’t really stray at all from the subjective point of view. Both use dream sequences quite a lot, but they use it in very different ways. This film really focuses on Mima’s reactions to the surroundings while Nina’s dream sequences focuses on her turn into that character. This film also really doesn’t delve into the obsession of being perfect that Black Swan, Whiplash, and so many other Hollywood films do, which I’m curious if there may be a cultural influence to that. The film is much more focused on the concept of a perfect image, akin to the Virgin Mary. Though Black Swan also mentions this concept as well, it isn’t as central to the the conflicts between characters as it is in Perfect Blue. The concept of the virgin really is only used more as a way to bring attention towards her turn into the Black Swan, while also highlighting a weird obsession of her dance coaches obsession with both virginity and sexual deviance. In short, Black Swan is much more subtle and grey in this regard while Perfect Blue is much more direct and Black and White about it. Overall a very good film even with it being much more dated compared to Black Swan. Some of the shots within the film were still very creative and likely groundbreaking for the time. The unreliable narrator for both films makes the plots open ended for certain sequences which if interested some way may hurt the overall messaging within the films. However, I think it’s probably best to digest the film as all the interpretations happening in parallel so that each scenario provides a statement on each of the several topics. On paper this film is essentially perfect, but I think Black Swan really dialled it up to 11 for me that I can’t help but compare it a little bit. I think Black Swan has better presentation and a stronger ending but I think much of that has to do with their advantage of hindsight. In terms of SA within the entertainment industry I find it very interesting that both films touch on it in different ways. Black Swan treats it as something that someone specifically inflicts on another while Perfect Blue treats it almost as the nature of the industry itself.