One of my favorite directors has died. Satoshi Kon was the creator of the incredible visionary anime films Perfect Blue, Millenium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika, and the series Paranoia Agent. All of which are required viewing for fans of animation or Asian film and television.
Most of his work deals with a blurring of dreams and reality. His movies capture the nature of dreams in amazing and visceral ways, at a level Christopher Nolan's Inception never comes close to.
Tokyo Godfathers is the one exception to this theme. It is the story of three homeless people on the streets of Tokyo who discover an abandoned baby, and their adventure to find the baby's parents. It's basically a heartwarming Christmas miracle story, turned on its head.
Satoshi Kon marries whimsy with the darker aspects of life and human nature in a way I don't think I've seen anywhere else. At least not to such an extent. But his movies also tend to suggest that no matter how bad things might get, the human heart can persevere.
[via A.V. Club]
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