I'm still going through all sorts of content that I missed out on. The past few days I have been learning a lot more about the works of Satoshi Kon, the man behind Paprika. I knew that Kon had a handful of other well-respected films, but Paprika was the first of his films that I had the pleasure of checking out. I was so impressed with his work that I watched the entire 'making of' feature on the Paprika Blu-ray.
That article lead me to a conversation with some of my friends today about the film itself. I have a couple friends that have seen Paprika, and they too agree that it's quite an amazing piece of cinema. We then started talking about other films that Kon had worked on, and I realized just how much content I've missed out on. While thinking about checking out his other works, one friend said that it was so sad to see Satoshi Kon pass before his time. This was the first I heard that Satoshi Kon had passed away.
Just like that, a man that I had come to truly respect in a 24 hour period had disappeared. I came to learn of his work and his subsequent death in such a short span of time. It's a real shocker, because I can only imagine how many more amazing creations Kon had in his mind, just waiting for the right time and place to bring the to us. Satoshi Kon left this world far too early, and not by his own choice. With that said, at least he has left us with a body of work that absolutely anyone can enjoy for years to come.
While I may have only really learned about Satoshi Kon this week, I will never forget him. We've lost a truly talented person, and an extremely important figure in the world of anime cinema.
I remember where I was when I found out; I was in class and DEVASTATED, and thankful someone else in class knew what I was talking about. Satoshi Kon's definitely one of my favorite directors of all time; he had me at Paranoia Agent.
ReplyDeleteSatoshi Kon was an amazing director. If you haven't seen Perfect Blue yet you have to check it out. One of my favorite anime films of all time. Blew my mind the first time around. Not for the young ones though.
ReplyDeleteAlso if you haven't read his final words it's really something you have to read. I always shed a few tears when reading it. http://www.makikoitoh.com/journal/satoshi-kons-last-words
RIP SATOSHI KON
Tokyo Godfathers still resonates as one of my favourite anime movies. It just feels......i can't put a word to describe it.
ReplyDeleteI would highly recommend you watch it RMC. "Celebrity" deaths do not affect me, but this one did. I truly felt Kon had a lot more to give to the anime world, and I felt he would always be the innovator where as Ghibli and Miyazaki would cater to the mainstream.
Reading his blog posts coming up to the end of his life always gets me going. I really don't know why this one individual has such an emotional effect on me whereas nobody else outside of the deaths of friends or family ever does.
One quote I read during the aftermath of his death sums his career and importance up to me:
"It is not that without him anime will never be the same again, it is that it always will be".