- Born
- Died
- Satoshi Kon was born in 1963. He studied at the Musashino College of the Arts. He began his career as a Manga artist. He then moved to animation and worked as a background artist on many films (including Roujin Z (1991) by 'Katsuhiro Otomo'). Then, in 1995, he wrote an episode of the anthology film Memories (1995) (this Episode was "Magnetic Rose"). In 1997, he directed his first feature film: the excellent Perfect Blue (1997). In 2001, he finished work on his second feature film, Millennium Actress (2001) (aka Millennium Actress).- IMDb Mini Biography By: amnesiac@sympatico.ca
- SpouseKyoko Kono(? - August 24, 2010) (his death)
- Sometimes includes a spoof of Akira Kurosawa's films (Millennium Actress (2001)) or Kurosawa himself (Paprika (2006)).
- Frequently uses Tokyo as the backdrop in his movies
- [mystery] Often features a main protagonist who is involved with a mystery.
- [psychology] Sometimes has a character or a group of characters with psychological problems: _Perfect Blue (1998)_, Paranoia Agent (2004), Paprika (2006).
- Sometimes uses Susumu Hirasawa as the composer
- Began work on his final film Yume Miru Kikai in 2008, despite his failing health, producer Masao Maruyama promised the film would be finished. After his death in 2010 the film was put on hold but resumed that year with Yoshimi Itazu assuming director duties, based on the completed storyboards. Financial difficulties however forced the film to be put on hold again with 600 shots out of 1500 had been animated at that point.
- Kon's favourite films were the surreal drama Slaughterhouse-Five (1972), the surreal adventure The City of Lost Children (1995) and the Terry Gilliam works Time Bandits (1981), Brazil (1985) and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988).
- Kon was a fan of the "Monty Python" comedies.
- Kon cites the works of sci-fi writers Philip K. Dick and Yasutaka Tsutsui, Japanese director Akira Kurosawa and surrealist director Terry Gilliam as an influence on his work. He also admits to having watched a wide variety of anime and Western films that influenced him.
- Following his death in 2010, a book titled Satoshi Anime Zen-Shigoto (Satoshi Kon's Animation Works) was published in 2011. The book outlined Kon's works from his first feature of Perfect Blue (1997) to his work on Yumemiru kikai (2011). Contributors included Megumi Hayashibara, Kôichi Yamadera, Junko Iwao, Mamiko Noto offer their recollections on the director. In addition, Production I.G founder and CEO Mitsuhisa Ishikawa (who knew Kon since he was young) and director Hiroyuki Okiura relate personal stories. The book also contains a message by Oscar nominated director Darren Aronofsky.
- [final testament] With feelings of gratitude for all that is good in this world, I put down my pen. - Well, I'll be leaving now.
- Things become confusing when you force something ephemeral to become something more concrete.
- The term Mr. Hirasawa [soundtrack composer for the film Paprika (2006)] used was 'falling into place'. It's not really intended in the literal sense though. But I understand what you're getting at. It's almost a sensory reaction. In Japanese, I'd say, "I'm able to swallow it." Technically, that saying is incorrect Japanese. You can only say, "I can't swallow it." But you get the gist. It's not a question of whether the phrase "I'm able to swallow it" is logically sound. Because by saying that, in all reality you're saying that something feels funny when you can't swallow it. But sometimes you feel worse if you do swallow everything. So, it's like we're able to swallow it all down, but people in the audience can't swallow everything. I think it's that resulting sensation of hunger or incompletion that gets people hooked. The thing that I like best about Mr. Hirasawa's music is that I can't swallow everything the first time, so I have to listen to it again. That's not to say that I don't enjoy the music for what it is. However, I love that it contains some mysteries.
- I was constantly trying to delve into my subconscious instincts [while making Paprika (2006)]. Which is pretty difficult to do when you're completely conscious. The problem is that you lose focus, and the actual creation process stalls. Still, you try to re-create that sensation of dreaming although it's nearly impossible. I found that it was hard to force myself to ignore things like logic and reasoning. I think that within human nature, and within the human heart as well, there's just a ton of absurd impulses and instincts. But you can't express those things because society has created these rules that declare that things can't warp. It's a rule that maintains a sense of balance in the world. But when you're restricted like that, you tend to release those impulses within your dreams. Everything warps. I think that in the past we were able to symbolically experience such things within the framework of reality. I think religious ceremonies would be a good example of that. Now we really don't have that.
- It's like drawing a line on the ground that's 8 inches wide. If you told someone to walk on top of it, they could. But then if you tell them that the line is 300 feet in the air, people start to use their imaginations. They think they'll fall through the sky. People will accept that as how it is. So now, we have a ton of rules and restrictions around us. Those things keep us safe, but I think it also sterilizes us. So, things like imagination and one's willingness to believe in the abnormal have all but been eliminated from our daily lives; for all intents and purposes. The end result of which is soberingly bland reality. Which is pretty much what we live in today. In the film, Paprika is the entity that let's you experience the utterly fantastic and absurd elements of life. I think that this type of story is becoming increasingly rare, unless it's about drugs.
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