Film Review: SATOSHI KON: THE ILLUSIONIST: An Informative Look at the Work of an Anime Legend [Fantasia 2021]

Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist Review

Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist (2021) Film Review from the 25th Annual Fantasia International Film Festival, a movie directed by Pascal-Alex Vincent, and starring Darren Aronofsky, Marc Caro, Jeremy Clapin, Megumi Hayashibara, Mamoru Hosoda, Junko Iwao, Masao Maruyama, Masayuki Murai, Mamoru Oshii, Rodney Rothman, and Aya Suzuki.

Legendary Japanese film director/animator Satoshi Kon is now deceased but his work, which was definitely ahead of its time, lives on. The terrific new documentary Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist takes a deep look into his movies as his fans and collaborators speak about the man and his legacy. Kon’s anime films were very complex and unique. This documentary discusses Kon’s work’s significance one film at a time.

In 1997, Kon made the intense anime film Perfect Blue. A suspenseful psychological thriller about a former pop singer/idol who descends into an altered reality, this film paved the way for filmmakers to explore difficult and ambiguous subjects. This film was also about stalking and the actress who did the voice for the main character, Junko Iwao, is interviewed. She reveals how she put her own experiences as an idol in to her characterization of Mima Kirigoe and Iwao also talks about the fact that she had a stalker in her own life.

Satoshi Kon made three other noteworthy films that the documentary discusses in detail. One of them was called Tokyo Godfathers about three homeless people who find a baby in the trash and decide to seek out the parents. The film was released in 2003 and the basic idea is reminiscent of Three Men and a Baby and the original French film before it. Just considering the unique characters in Tokyo Godfathers (which includes a former drag queen), one can get an idea of the originality that Kon (who co-wrote the script) brought to his projects.

Kon is compared to American filmmakers such as David Lynch who make intriguing abstract movies. Meanwhile, Darren Aronofsky talks about his influence and inspiration from Kon especially when he made the film Requiem for a Dream in which Aronofsky payed homage to Kon’s work with a particular scene that featured Jennifer Connelly. Also noteworthy is the documentary’s discussions with Rodney Rothman whose Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse landed an Oscar a few years back for Best Animated Feature Film.

Some of the best discussions in Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist revolve around the ideas of paranoia and the concept of what is perceived to be real versus what is real in actuality. Aronofsky’s own Black Swan and Christopher Nolan’s Inception were both released in 2010, the year Kon died of cancer and these films were heavily influenced by themes found in Kon’s work.

Satoshi Kon’s two other high-profile releases were Millennium Actress and Paprika, the latter which Kon thought was a lot lighter than it was in actuality, according to a speaker in the film named Aya Suzuki who brings into light a lot of Kon’s interesting perceptions of his own work. Both these aforementioned films are very highly regarded and considered by many to be masterpieces.

The best part of Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist is how you don’t have to have seen a single minute of any of Kon’s films previously to understand the discussions in the documentary which are thought-provoking and intriguing. You can be drawn in by the clips the movie shows and the speakers who shed a lot of insight in to Kon as a man. He wasn’t always the friendliest man. It is revealed he wasn’t turning a profit with his films but continued to do what he did because of his love for the craft of directing anime films.

If you like documentaries (or even if you don’t), you will love the complexity of the themes discussed in Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist which is so very compelling from the moment it begins. It clocks in at a brief 81 minutes but the documentary gets a lot accomplished within its brief running time. If you haven’t seen Kon’s work, by the time this film ends, you will be rushing to watch this great filmmaker’s movies. I recommend both his work and the documentary about his work very highly.

Rating: 8/10

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