Paprika

The world of dreams can be an incredible window into the psyche, showing one's deepest desires, aspirations, and repressed memories. One hopeful tech lab has been developing the "DC Mini," a device with the power to delve into the dreams of others. Atsuko Chiba and Kosaku Tokita have been tirelessly working to develop this technology with the hopes of using it to deeply explore patients' minds and help cure them of their psychological disorders.

However, having access to the deepest corners of a person's mind comes with a tremendous responsibility. In the wrong hands, the DC Mini could be used as a form of psychological terrorism and cause mental breakdowns in the minds of targets. When this technology is stolen and people around them start acting strangely, Atsuko and Kosaku know they have a serious problem on their hands. Enlisting the help of Officer Konakawa, who has been receiving this experimental therapy, they search both the real and dream worlds for their mental terrorist.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Paprika Main

Hayashibara, Megumi Japanese

Chiba, Atsuko Main

Hayashibara, Megumi Japanese

Konakawa, Toshimi Main

Ootsuka, Akio Japanese

Tokita, Kosaku Main

Furuya, Toru Japanese

Jinnai Supporting

Kon, Satoshi Japanese

Shima, Torataro Supporting

Hori, Katsunosuke Japanese

Inui, Seijiro Supporting

Tanaka, Hideyuki Japanese

Kuga, Mr. Supporting

Tsutsui, Yasutaka Japanese

Konakawa's Friend Supporting

Tanaka, Hideyuki Japanese

Osanai, Morio Supporting

Yamadera, Kouichi Japanese

Maruta, Jungo Producer

Kon, Satoshi Director, Script

Mima, Masafumi Sound Director

Katou, Michiya Episode Director, Director of Photography

Reviews

Aug 6, 2007

Washi

Recommended

Paprika, Satoshi Kon’s (Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers) latest movie, is a whimsical and imaginative journey into the concept of dreaming. As with each of his productions, Paprika is a distinctly unique and fresh film, while also retaining tones of Satoshi Kon’s usual quirkiness and style. While this is a film that revolves around exploration into the farthest reaches of human subconscious, it has traded the introverted and claustrophobic psychological tension seen in Perfect Blue for a decidedly free and open approach to the human mind, fitting with the theme of the limitless expanse of dreaming. This gives it a more relaxed and fun ... feel, whilst also retaining its depth and profoundness. In quite the same way as Tokyo Godfathers was, paradoxically, a light-hearted melodrama, this film is an accomplished juxtaposition of emotion, as the dark themes of jealousy and hatred are played out in the hallucinatory escapism of the dreamscape.


Dreams as a concept have always captivated me, and never before have I seen such a well-done representation of dreams in any form of media. Movies usually treat them as either being pointlessly strange, or pointedly symbolic, but Paprika captures their essence to fascinating effect. Dreams are as much about flow and direction as they are about the immediate situation, and this is something very apparent when watching Paprika, as the dreams flow and change fascinatingly with mundane illogic, moving from one setting to another with only a thematic thread between them. Looking back at my own dreams and how they shift from setting to setting based on the emotional context, and I see that Paprika portrays this perfectly. I can see that the dream sequences were thoughtfully brought to life, and were not just crazy for the sake of crazy. But through all its fanciful imagery and creativity unbound from realism, Paprika has a story behind it that deals with very strong human emotions, and it excellently weaves this emotional content throughout the films, particularly in the dream sequences, where the subconscious expresses the truth behind each character’s external, day-to-day personality.

The way it tells this story is simultaneously a strength and a flaw of the film; on the one hand I am inclined to say that it was obfuscatory in the way it obscured the plot from the viewer. While watching this movie I felt like I was trying to get my head around a particularly long riddle. As I followed it, the only understanding I really got of what was actually going on was in retrospect, and while some may call this clever, I found that not having an idea of the direction of the plot was a detriment. However, given that the movie revolves around the theme of dream analysis, it is also a fitting method of storytelling: the audience itself has to engage in the movie as though it were analysing a dream, and hence can only be understood when looking back at it. However, my advice to anyone planning to watch the movie: pay close attention to the dialogue and symbology of the dreams, because it is all too easy to get caught up in the zany fun of the dream sequences and lose track of the plot.

When it comes to the plot itself, I’m not so enthusiastic. Nor am I so aflame with praise when it comes to the characterisation. Both of these factors are the reasons why I am hesitant to label it as my favourite Satoshi Kon film; Tokyo Godfathers had excellent characterisation, and a simple yet powerful story; and Perfect Blue, with its introverted character study, delivered a great emotional impact. It may well be impossible to create a perfect film, but if these factors had been better incorporated into Paprika, then it would be among my favourite anime films, possibly my very favourite. It is a shame that Satoshi Kon’s vision and creativity is let down by a lack of depth in his characters and stories now, after his consistent accomplishments in the past. I think the main problem was that the movie tried to involve a too larger cast, to whom it could not provide ample depth in its limited feature-length time-frame. The other problem was that there was very little attention given to delivering a sense of conflict, a crucial element to any story. Perfect Blue had the internal conflict of the subconscious and the conscious; Tokyo Godfathers had conflict between its characters and society; and this movie tries to incorporate an antagonist-protagonist conflict, almost as an afterthought, with neither party given enough profundity to their perspectives to make the conflict intense. There was mention of their different ideology when it comes to the exploration of dreams, and a subplot of jealousy, but little more. So the story lacks the optimal ‘beginning -> conflict -> end’ structure, meaning it felt like it just went on and on until it finished, as entertaining as it was.

I have little to say about the technical achievements behind this film, other than the fact that it was fantastic in almost all aspects, with only the score music lacking. It is clear he used the same musical producer behind Paranoia Agent’s score track, and I simply cannot find his style of music appealing; it feels immature and cannot contribute effectively to the mood of the movie. Much better was the use of music in Perfect Blue, the score of which really sold the hauntingly intense atmosphere. The visuals are much better; this is his best looking film yet, with vivid animation and, as expected, brilliant direction.

It was not given enough weight, but I liked the message that dreams are the final sanctity of the human mind, which should not be intruded upon. This movie beautifies dreams, and attaches importance to them (as seen in Atsuko’s acknowledgement of her feelings for Dr. Torataro through her subconscious), and the suggestion that veil between them and reality is sacred really spoke to me, even if it came from the mouth of the antagonist. Paprika is a thoroughly enjoyable, visually captivating movie, which does overwhelming justice to its theme of dreaming, but which has flaws in its plot and characters that prevent it from being a great achievement as a film.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jul 4, 2008

slpless

Mixed Feelings

I'm a big fan of Satoshi Kon's work, so when I heard that Paprika was showing at the Chicago Film festival nearly 2 years ago I had to go no matter what. So there I was with a fever, headache, and doing my best to hold back my coughing. After watching, I kind of wished I had stayed in bed. Perhaps it was due my illness but after a re-watching it I still share the same sentiments I had nearly 2 years ago.

Those familiar with Satoshi Kon's work should know he likes to blend reality and illusion. Paprika was no exception, ... dealing with the dream world via DC mini, a device which can be used to enter someone's dreams. As expected the dream world Kon created was incredibly imaginative and surreal. Animation and art for this movie was easily the best of Kon's work as well as most anime. This movie was worth watching just for the animation and surreal world that Kon creates. Music was equally good, creating a haunting yet beautiful atmosphere. Sadly I don't think its possible to even possible to describe the surreal and imaginative dream sequences in Paprika. However, that's it, I could go on and on about the movie's technical merit, but it doesn't make up for its weak narrative.

Paprika featured highly imaginative imagery and excellent editing that Kon is known for however, what was it all for? If we take out the imagery out of the equation, what do we have left? The basic outline of Paprika's story was wafer thin and had a painfully obvious twist near the end. In addition, a tacked on romance that made far less sense than even the most surreal imagery that Kon can muster. Chances are you're thinking “Its all about the execution, who cares about a weak storyline as long as its done well.” Yes, execution is more important and surreal imagery and crazy editing can be used to make an otherwise boring story captivating. For example, Millennium Actress, one of Kon's earlier works. However, in the case of Paprika the surreal imagery felt like it was the main point and the story/characters were secondary. Also, the imagery didn't serve any purpose with respects to the story, it was there for the sake of being there and a “plot” to provide it some context.

What I said was only for the main plot line, the detective's sub plot was sadly far more interesting. Here the use of imagery really suits his story and conflicts, similar in execution as in Millennium Actress. However, something is wrong when a sub plot is more interesting than the main story.

Characters are also pretty weak. The villain was pitifully boring and one-dimensional. Sadly, I can't say otherwise for the rest of the cast. Also, the development of Atsuko and her romance at the end was so forced it was unbelievable. Once again, this confused me more than even the most surreal imagery Kon can muster. Konakawa (the detective) was the only saving grace in the cast of Paprika. He actually had a decent amount of characterization and actually developed through the course of the movie.

Paprika was a wholly imaginative work that only Satoshi Kon can create. He creates a landscape that was beyond words. This was coupled with amazing technical achievement by Madhouse, the animation studio. However, Paprika failed in terms of story and characters. The visuals didn't serve much of a purpose with respects to the plot and felt like it was there for the sake of being there. Also, this plot was incredibly superficial and painfully predictable. The tacked on romance and forced character development was equally painfully and confusing. Konakawa was the only saving grace in terms of story and character however, something is wrong when a side character was more interesting than the main story. In the end, Paprika is more like a dream than Kon probably intended. It was captivating during but when it ends you'll remember only a few visual snippets and forget everything else.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Feb 16, 2017

Animeindian

Not Recommended

We all are blessed with power of imagination, we all crave something unique, something powerful, we all crave of what cannot be achieved, we all want to touch what cannot be touch, we want to build something that has never been built, we all want to become immortal through our work, because that is who we are that is what makes us human. Imagination is a powerful tool that can change the world, bend reality, it can make us look really stupid or smart beyond imagination. Imagination is, however, a double-edged sword, It can be both bad or good, it can be organized or disorganized, ... it can win hearts for good of the world or for devastation, Imagination also has the power of illusion and trickery.

You want me to summarize paprika in one or two sentences? Take your dog, get some colors and a big paper, let that dog run along, let him dip himself in those colors and let him do whatever he wants with that paper, Done? good, now take that paper and try to sell it on street, did it sell? No? well paint yourself and make a name for yourself and then go to a gallery and display that painting your dog made, you will soon be acknowledged as the one greatest artist ever lived. That is in the nutshell is Paprika.

Why do directors exist? do they exist to enhance the story? or do they exist to show how good they are at directing? Should a director show off his skills while simultaneously trashing the story? Without a story, directors cannot exist and without director’s story can not be accessible. Directors job is to make the story his own and through his skill and hard work make it more effective and better. Just like music is useless without stealing listeners heart, just like an animation is useless without telling a story through animation, just like that, a director is useless without making story good and accessible. look at Erased, It is a bad story without actually any suspense, but good music, animation, and most importantly good direction make it better than the raw story. Director can make a bad story good with sheer skill. A director is a conductor of the orchestra, no matter how good instrumentalist are if conductor sucks then performance is going to suck.

Paprika is a mess of animation, it is a mess of music and it is a mess of characters. Paprika creates the illusion of complexity for the normal viewer who knows nothing of how illusions work, “movie feels complex so it must be good, It makes me feel smart if I like this complex movie” people with this kind of ideology may hop over it if they want to this post is not for them. There is a subtle difference between complex and complicated, complex things make sense and are enjoyable but complicated things are complicated for sake of being complicated they make no sense. Why in the end could Paprika swallow villain? why do the world of dreaming and real world merge? who the hell is Paprika anyway? Is she part of that scientist’s lady or a program? Why has villain so pitiful dream? It doesn’t make any sense. Well if someone says it shouldn’t make sense, that is the point, well then why to watch this movie, go to sleep and dream, I am sure you can have some wacky dreams, or just don’t clean you room for few month for you to not able to make sense of your room, can you live like that?

On one hand, the movie tries to be a sci-fi, on the other hand, it tries to a philosophical movie questioning that “should human interfere in nature?”. Paprika also tries to touch phycological aspect of human life but later to all boils down to an all powerful and purely evil villain trying to the destroyed world. Paprika changes subjects faster than politicians change their statements, it just makes it a horrible mess. All respect I had about Satoshi Kon has gone down the drain, I think Satoshi Kon just want to flash his skill without regards to consistency or story. Making a scene transition every few seconds doesn’t make you a good director, making a story shine like a sun will make you a good director. Most of the time simplicity is better than complexity and complexity is always better than complicated. See ya.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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	Poll: Paprika Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Krelian - Apr 24, 2007	304 replies	by Fleurine »» Nov 14, 5:05 AM
	So, who killed the victim in that homicide case? Samu-tan - Aug 27, 2010	9 replies	by Beatnik »» Jan 1, 9:00 AM
	For what reasons do you like this movie? Unknow0059 - Apr 16, 2017	10 replies	by nekogaro7 »» Oct 17, 2023 7:29 AM
	What's the movie Konakawa watch at the end of the movie ? Tsunamii_ - Jul 13, 2022	3 replies	by Tsunamii_ »» Jul 14, 2022 3:14 AM
	questions about paprika [spoilers] darrenkbenn - Sep 14, 2021	3 replies	by JeremiahOrange »» Sep 14, 2021 11:19 PM

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