News has started trickling in that Satoshi Kon, director of critically acclaimed films such as Paprika, Tokyo Godfathers, Millennium Actress and Perfect Blue, has died apparently due to cancer. He was 47: R.I.P. Paprika and Perfect Blue director Satoshi Kon.
I am no anime expert, but have seen several of Satoshi Kon's films, and they were all intelligent, beautifully animated and nightmarishly awesome. Were you impressed by the mind-bending, labyrinthine quality of Inception? Satoshi Kon did it first, in Paprika.
The director had reportedly been working the last couple of years on a new film, The Dream Machine, which was slated for release next year. I don't know how far along he was in production, or if there are eventual plans to finish and release it. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to revisiting this work.
I actually had the chance to meet Satoshi Kon a couple of years ago at the Hawaii International Film Festival. He was in the middle of a late dinner, so our exchange was brief, but he was pleasant, and he told me that he liked my hair style. Coming from such an esteemed visionary, I thought that was pretty cool.