MovieChat Forums > Pâfekuto burû (1999) Discussion > What's going on in this movie.. any help...

What's going on in this movie.. any help? (spoilers)

posted 21 years ago by Pythra
19 replies | jump to latest

I'll start by saying, anime is not usually my thing, so I might be taking the whole interpretation thing too far. But that's just my Western mind at work.

The first time I watched the film I thought that Rumi had been responsible for the whole thing, writing Mina's Room and getting Me-Mania to help kill people.

If so, is the Pop Idol Mina that Mina keeps seeing it reflections an illusion shared by Mina, Rumi and Me-Mania?

The second time I noticed far more the scenes that were being 'filmed', particularly in the scene where Mina's character in the drama is being interviewed about who she is - "A pop idol.. well, now I'm an actress" (paraphrased). Was the whole actress thing the illusion of Mina the Pop Idol, and that interview was the one touch of reality we see? Followed by Mina's own mental cover-up - that her psychiatric assessment was actually a scene being filmed for a drama series?

Mina kept waking up abruptly. In one part her fish were dead, in another they were alive. At one point she discovered blood stained clothes in her wardrobe but these are not referred to again. Are certain parts of the film Mina's dreams?

At the end she wakes up in her room, decorated as it was at the beginning with a Cham poster. Did Rumi redecorate the room, or is this evidence that everything since Mina taking down the poster isn't real? Is it Rumi's room she's in, and Rumi imitated Mina by keeping an aquarium of neon tetras, Cham merchandise etc?

As you can probably tell... this movie confused the heck out of me :) Any input would be much appreciated.

[–] zackaria85 21 years ago

I understand your confusion. When I watched it I thought that the "Mima" we see throughout the film is actually an obsessed fan who is in the mental hospital at the end, and we only see the Real Mima in the very last scene.

....and, I thought the interview segment was real, and reflected the contrast between Mima's tormented mind and her fake happy content persona.

I didnt notice the CHAM poster at the end, but that is confusing. If none of the stuff like that really happened why'd dhe go so crazy? Despite PB's confusion, I love the crazy montages that make you question reality. And I thought only Mima had the illusion, but at the end she saw Rumi as the illusion for some reason. But then Rumi sees herself as the illusion, too... and me-mania is hugged by it?? I guess they all have illusions that are seperate yet very similar of the Mima CHAM member that haunts all of them. I love the scene where Mima reads about shopping and thinks that she must've shopped today.

More questions - Why did Me-Mania's body disseaper from the stage when Mima went back, and it showed it shoved somewhere later, I think. ?? Did Rumi move it? Also, the rape scene in the TV show was so effectively disturbing.
And I still think the whole movie could be "Mima's" hallucination in the mental hospital, and the TV show scenes where she's a crazy killer are real. At then at the end the doctor says "she is in the Rumi persona again", implying that Rumi is just a persona, not a real person. Im so confused. I could've sworn that the girl in the hospital in the end is thin and young, not Rumi. Anyway, explanations?????

[–] Pythra 21 years ago

One theory I read somewhere was that Rumi has some kind of telepathic of hypnotic power to create the Illusion Mina.

I'd like to think this is an entirely psychologic thriller however..

The scene where a Cham (the duo) show is about to begin starts with a few audience members having a conversation. "I heard Mina's going to be on-stage tonight," one says. Did Mina ever have any intention of going on stage? I'm not sure, but when Illusion Mina dances out the audience appear to see it and cheer.

That throws a spanner in the works.. unless that scene is a dream/illusion? Argh.

[–] oixx_ 21 years ago

Here is my theory... :)
A crazy fan of Mina, let's call her Ms X.
Ms X becomes devestated about Mina leaving Cham. Suffering from having multiple personality syndrome, I think that she takes on the role of Rumi and sometimes thinks that she actually is Mina.

Ms X starts stalking Mina, sometimes thinking that she is her agent Rumi. By watching Mina on the new tv-series "Double Bind" and by following Minas new daring career as an actor she mixes reality with fiction and decides to avenge the people she think are hurting Mina.
Ms X just reads the real Minas diary of the internet adding to her fantasy of actually being Mina.

Ms X blame Me-Mania for all the killings that she actually has done herself, and in the end killing him aswell.

The "Mina-ghost" might be some left over sanity that tries to tell Ms X that she really isn't Mina.
Many times throughout the film "Mina" is talking to "Rumi" and this would simply be Ms X talking to herself.

[–] Shan-12 21 years ago

This is what I think and is along the ideas of the people who wrote the anime encyclopedia.

In the "real world", Mima is switching from singing to acting. Rumi, her manager has become obsessed with Mima and her career (and is obviously crazy), and both her and the security guard are responsible for the threats, murders etc.

Mima herself is also going crazy. Which is why she is also seeing hallucinations and the like. The anime encyclopedia I was reading described the movie as being told from 3 different viewpoints, each of which were people going crazy. I think sometimes we see Mima for real, scenes like Mima stabbing the photographer was actually Rumi doing it, thinking she is Mima and others are straight out hallucinations by Mima. Then of course there's things that look real and turn out to be film and other stuff that doesn't fall into any of the above.

The whole above interpretation is what I was thinking in retrospect after seeing the film (a few times), especially on the basis of the final scene as nothing happened after it to contradict it. It could be something else.

As for the room at the end, my guess is that as part of Rumi's obsession, she had a room made up as a replica of Mima's room before she changed it (taking down posters and the like) and it was somewhere else. I'm guessing there wasn't a train line running past her actual apartment.

[–] Aeris4ever 21 years ago

Forgive the spam, but I made up a site where I tried answering questions like these: http://mywebpage.netscape.com/aeris5000/perfectblue.html

But I like the other theories you guys mentioned, too. About Rumi's apartment, I think she dressed it up to look just like Mima's room, with the fish and the poster. Mima was really out of it then, but when she noticed the train outside, she knew she wasn't in her real apartment.

As for the ending, it shows that time has passed and Mima is back to normal. But Rumi isn't normal and will probably spend the rest of her life in the institution. She still thinks she is Mima half the time, that's why she sees "Mima" in the mirror. Kind of bittersweet.

[–] Pythra 21 years ago

Thanks! That site was a big help.

A couple of queries though.

In your FAQ you say "Rumi found out about the website when Mima showed her the URL in the fan letter." Do you mean Rumi's Rumi personality? I'm pretty sure Rumi in her Mima personality was responsible for writing Mima's room.

Secondly.. you make no mention of hypnotist/illusionist theory. Have you ever come across it before? When I searched for plot explanations on search engines I came across mentions of it (mostly is discussions like these). Do you think there's anything in that? I don't like it personally but it would definitely account for a lot.

[–] Aeris4ever 21 years ago

Wow, sorry I'm so late with this, but here's some more input.

When I first saw the film, I thought Rumi was the author of the "Mima's Room" website. But every other fan I came across said Me-Mania runs the site. So I kind of dropped my idea and went along with everyone else's. I figured that if Me-Mania was in charge of it, Rumi would still know about it after seeing Mima's letter. I think Rumi was herself when she was helping Mima install her computer and figure out the fan letter. Maybe finding out about "Mima's Room" was what brought out Rumi's personality disorder and allowed her to become "Mima"?

I'm not sure what hynotist/illusionist theory is, so I'll have to check that out first. But I'll update my site soon with whatever I can find. Thanks for your input on my site!

[–] Pythra 21 years ago

A few people have speculated that the illusion Mima is a hypnotic projection being produced by Rumi. It takes into account the fact that during the Cham concert, the audience seems to recognise the illusion (which we otherwise consider to only exist in the minds of Rumi/Mima/Me-Mania). Alternatively that scene could be part of a dream sequence or simply a slip-up of the director. It also offers an explanation for the illusion Mima that does not involve the real Mima being severely paranoid-schizophrenic.

It seems like an overly simplistic explanation to me though, if it was really the case I would have expected to see more evidence for it.

As for the website, I'm pretty sure Rumi is responsible for that. In one scene Me-Mania is shown emailing the website owner. I think he's just a mentally unstable fan, so infatuated with Mima that he's easily manipulated by Rumi's convincingly accurate online portrayal.

[–] Teif 21 years ago

Great website Aeris, Nice work.

In the kingdom of the blind, the one eyed man is king.

[–] Apollyon_Crash 21 years ago

When I saw the film, I was under the impression that Me-Mania is actually Rumi, either in disguise or perhaps Mima is just seeing her as a man (like when she's hallucinating and seeing her as her clone), and that Me-Mania actually didn't exist. Notice Me-Mania and Rumi look a lot alike.

[–] jsangspar 21 years ago

Me-Mania says that "the real Mima" emails him every day; this is Rumi mailing him, and it's kind of perfect because they both believe the letters are actually from Mima.

Since Rumi has MPD, the Rumi we see for the first 90% of the film is actually Rumi, her own personality; the Mima personality was brought on by a mixture of her own past as a pop idol and her desire for Mima to stay on as one, instead of becoming an actress, and is intensified by the dodgy material Mima takes on.

[–] princess_ruto54 18 years ago

Well, I think the site runner is Rumi. As who else would be close enough to hear Mima say that (I cannot find her name, but the lead actress in 'Double Bind') becomes another person when the camera is rolling? And Me-Mania is always getting emails from the 'real' Mima (Rumi), which happens on that site.

I also think that some of the 'Ghost Mima' appearances are actually in Mima's mind. Such as the reflections on the computer, the subway, the bathroom. The one time the 'Ghost Mima' actually goes threw the glass door to the balcony and skips (Fly’s) from street light to street light, before vanishing.

At the end, I also believe that to be Rumi's apartment. She became so filled with her belief of being the real Mima that she made up her room and perhaps whole apartment to look just like Mima's. The Cham poster is on the wall, and the fish, and the subways outside, prove it isn't Mima's room. Mima's room had a clear out view, as we can see when she looks outside of her window before closing it (Right before she says "Excuse me, who are you" for the first time.), she had taken down the poster after fully committing to becoming an actress, and her fish had all died but two or three.

Although, I cannot explain the reappearance of the 'pop idol (Ghost) Mima' during the Mima's her photo shoot. Nor can I explain how everyone saw Mima and not Rumi dressed as Mima. It's explained, itself, in the movie however that not everything appears as it should. When Ghost Mima is running, and her reflection is shown on the glass, we see Rumi.

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[–] ChidoOne 18 years ago

ok guys this is a no brainer:

-Rumi is the writer of mimas room.
-The rom at the end with the cham poster is rumi´s room. Remember at the beginning the fan letter with the heart?. It states that the fan looks at the room everyday by link. Well did you notice that when mina leave rumi´s room at the end her room is right in front of the building!!. Rumi was the stalker/author of the letter so the coment of looking to minas room was real literally and on the web scence.

my two cents

[–] jsangspar 21 years ago

Just watched it - as far as I can tell, this is what was happening:

Rumi is emailing Mr. Me-Mania as Mima, which is how/why he keeps writing Mima's Diary on the Mima's Room site. The murders are partially committed by him, and partially by Rumi - the sequence in which Mima sees herself killing the photographer is a dream, and so, I think, are the bloody clothes she find - it's also possible Rumi placed them there. At the end, Mima gets away from Me-Mania, and Rumi kills him and the other agent, her partner, whatever.

The interview sequence is for Double Bind, the show, but in Mima's state she's not sure whether it's reality or not (it isn't), which is why the first time we see it it seems that it's about her in reality, but then it's rewound and we see what was actually shot.

The room at the end is Rumi's. Mima looks through the curtains, and the view is completely different from her own view.

We have to assume that reality as the film gives us is, in fact, reality, because of the very end - we flash forward to what is presumably years later, with a successful Mima visiting Rumi in the psychiatric home. Unless Kon hates the audience, which I don't believe we does, we have to assume that this final statement is true since nothing is given to betray that idea at all - hence, Mima did not kill anyone, the dreams were dreams, and the reality, once we establish just what really is, is reality. The majority of the film deals with Mima's dissociation from herself after finding the Mima's Room site, so the illusion she sees (except at the end where she sees Rumi as that illusion) is her image of herself as formed by how she is perceived.

[–] XxCrimeScenePhotoBoothxX 18 years ago

One theory I thought of to explain the bloody clothes: Since this occurs in the sequence where Mima keeps waking up from dreams, one of which being that she is having tea at Rumi's, Perhaps when she was there she fainted and the room she woke up in and found the clothes in was Rumi's since it was made up to look just like her own.

Politicians, ugly buildings, and whores all get respect if they last long enough.

[–] visl1 18 years ago

I agree with this as well. Mina had a period where she'd fall asleep and then wake up suddenly, I think Rumi put sleeping pills in her coffee/tea.

One day she woke up and asked something like 'was that yesterday'. I think those dreams happened on the same day when Rumi put sleeping pills in her tea/coffee.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Vermathrax 18 years ago

Spoilers Ahead!!!!!

They did an ok job of tying up all of the loose ends in the climax but my main problem is...well someone over at Netflix put it well, so I'll paste it here:

"The crux of this thriller is: “Is she going crazy or is someone trying to get her?” Its both! Lets be honest. I was mad. I felt like I had been yanked around for the last two hours. Purposely strung along to fill up 45 min of film. If they had just had some bit about the killer feeding her hallucinogenic drugs, or something, or anything, it would have been five stars. No question. But having that level of a mental break, just because you are really stressed and weirded out?"

: I agree, even before she was as stressed out as she finally got she was seeing the Chubby assistant in her image? Why? If it was just her hallucination of "Mima" that coincidentally tied in with the assistant in the end (making it harder for Mima to separate reality from fantasy) then the question still remains...why the hell was Mima hallucinating before all of the killings started and therefore all of the true stress could really work on Mima's mind to cause such hallucinations?

Cheap nonsensical plot manipulation to confuse the audience IMO, aside from that it was a great thriller in the vein of Hitchcock and Dario Argento.....in fact that type of confusing nonsensical plot device is taken DIRECTLY from the Argento school of script writing.

[–] marsodyssey2010 18 years ago

If this movies left you feeling dazed and confused, then it did it's job.

English Language Anime: Dub it, don't pervert it.