Paprika is the latest anime from director Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers) about a newly designed device that allows another person's consciousness to enter your dreams. The device is used for therapy but when three of the experimental devices are stolen the dreams of those involved with the project turn into paralyzing nightmares they may never return from.
Enter Paprika and a police detective to track down the theives and save their friends.
I loved Millinnium Actress so I decided to check Paprika out. The film is filled with bizzare dreams and a constant reality vs dream shifts and dramatic shifts within the dreams themselves. This shift of perspective deftly re-creates the feeling of a dream but because of the clear direction we as an audience are never confused but pleasantly suprised and engaged by the shifts. Thankfully the film makers did not become mired in the idea of a dream but rather tried to tell a cohesive story.
The film is mature and thoughtful, appealing to an intellegent audience rather then the normal short attention span hyper action addicted anime fan. For the film to work and be believeble to an audience it simply had to be animated. There really is no practical way of doing a film like this in a conventional live action setting without drawing attention to special effects. The animation helps us grasp the dream world rather then drawing attention to the effects creating the world.
The animation is beautiful and the story is interesting if not particularly emotionally engaging. I feel that there are many cultural references within the film that I didn't, or couldn't, pick up on. This kept me from being totally engaged with the film. Still its worth a look for the more adventurous movie goer and anime fan alike.
Overall - 7/10
Enter Paprika and a police detective to track down the theives and save their friends.
I loved Millinnium Actress so I decided to check Paprika out. The film is filled with bizzare dreams and a constant reality vs dream shifts and dramatic shifts within the dreams themselves. This shift of perspective deftly re-creates the feeling of a dream but because of the clear direction we as an audience are never confused but pleasantly suprised and engaged by the shifts. Thankfully the film makers did not become mired in the idea of a dream but rather tried to tell a cohesive story.
The film is mature and thoughtful, appealing to an intellegent audience rather then the normal short attention span hyper action addicted anime fan. For the film to work and be believeble to an audience it simply had to be animated. There really is no practical way of doing a film like this in a conventional live action setting without drawing attention to special effects. The animation helps us grasp the dream world rather then drawing attention to the effects creating the world.
The animation is beautiful and the story is interesting if not particularly emotionally engaging. I feel that there are many cultural references within the film that I didn't, or couldn't, pick up on. This kept me from being totally engaged with the film. Still its worth a look for the more adventurous movie goer and anime fan alike.
Overall - 7/10
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