Just got back from watching Kon Satoshi's latest film Millennium Actress (Sennen Joyu) Beautiful, excellent animated film that's been picked up by DreamWorks. Hopefully Spielberg and friends won't mangle the theatrical release by dubbing it. The screening at the CEAS was thanks to a grad student here who ordered the DVD release from Japan. The DVD already came subtitled - decently subbed too! No reason for DreamWorks to not have a subtitled version now.

I can't wait to see this one again in a theatre. Top-notch animation, excellent direction. Another fine example of how animation can and should challenge the boundaries of film as storytelling.

Description of the DVD

A fan site dedicated to the movie
I disagree a little with the statement that the movie has the "empathy, warmth and truth of a Ghibli movie", simply because I think the narrative's a little more complex than that. imho, Miyazaki films derive their complexity more from the themes and imagery expressed.

Official Sennen Joyu page (in Japanese)

Sennen Joyu was certainly a good movie to round off my mini-movie binge over the last 48 hours. Watched Zhang Yimou's Red Sorghum (Hong Gao Liang) last night with The Better Half, and the wee hours of Wednesday morning saw me parked in the house lounge with Itami Juzo's A Taxing Woman (Marusa no Onna).

Man... I'm gonna miss my access to the CEAS library when I get home... :(