Paprika
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Movie Reviews of Paprika
Movie Review: One of my favorite films of 2007
Summary: 5 Stars
2007 has been a rather dismal year for films for me. Thankfully the few I have seen this year have all been gems. My personal favorite film released this year is the latest anime film from Satoshi Kon called PAPRIKA. The film is loosely based on the graphic novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui. The story centers around the theft of the DC Mini, a technological device that allows the medical community to enter the dreams of their patients to help with their psychological issues. When the DC Mini is stolen, chaos ensues when people's dreams begins to collide with reality no thanks to the thief.
Megumi Hayashibara is the voice of Paprika/Atsuko, the protangonist of the film. Paprika is the cyber alter ego of Dr. Atsuko. Paprika is young, 18 year old, free spirited young woman while Atsuko is more serious and overly cautious. Atsuko is assisted in the pursuit of the thief by Tokita, a morbidly obese man who is a genius yet lacks the maturity that Atsuko possesses; and her boss Shima.
Just like the GHOST IN THE SHELL films, I had to view PAPRIKA a couple of more times to really grasp what really went on through the film. The animation was breathtaking. I loved the vibrant colors. The music was also fantastic. The music is an eclectic mix of techno/pop, jazz, and classical. The music and animation really made this film such a treat for me to watch. The writing was great too. I liked that the story touched on the influence of science and technology in our lives and how much should humans let them have on our lives.
The bonus dvd features are worth checking out. There are interviews with Tsutsui, Satoshi Kon, and the visual artist responsible for the gorgeous animation. Granted seeing PAPRIKA on dvd is nothing compared to having seen it in the theatre myself but it is still a movie worth watching.
Movie Review: Gorgeous animation, mind-bending themes, and combination of suspense and whimsy: must-see for fans of serious animation
Summary: 5 Stars
A group of scientists invent a device that allows a therapist to enter into her patients' dreams. The only problem is, three of the devices have been stolen, and, worse, the safety controls are off -- which means that the perpetrator can enter into anyone's consciousness and alter their perceptions. Very soon it becomes difficult to discern where dreams end and reality begins.
This blending of dream and reality is the basis for some of the richest works in the history of cinema -- that work not merely by mirroring our world but by distorting it into a world where we can be heroes, where the fear we feel in the night becomes a palpable presence, where ordinary people become alluring, fantastic, dangerous. Satoshi Kon is able to completely obliterate and play with these boundaries due to his remarkable eye for detail -- nothing is quite real but nothing is totally unreal and everything comes to life in this magical blend of film noir and fantasy. The characters are unique and interesting, far from stereotypical, and the basic device of the story allows the film to explore and contrast the inner with the outer life of each character in subtle ways.
I highly recommend this film for anyone who is a fan of the very best anime -- as in works by Hayao Miyazaki and the other artists at Studio Ghibli, or works like Akira or Ghost in the Shell, or other works by Satoshi Kon like Perfect Blue and Tokyo Godfathers -- but also for anyone who is open to having their eyes opened to new kinds of intelligent and creative and beautiful cinema that are very different than what you'd find in a local movieplex.
Movie Review: A review of the DVD only
Summary: 5 Stars
This review will be of the DVD only. I really enjoyed the film, but that's a matter of opinion, so you can read more informative and eloquent reviews by actual critics (check rottentomatoes.com).
The movie itself is very high quality. It looked very crisp on my hdtv even though I don't have an upscaler (using old Xbox as a dvd player). The audio is also high quality. I'm just using my tv's speakers, so I can't rate how the digital surround sound and what not is like.
As for the features, there are plenty of them and they are subtitled. The "making of" features are actually split up into several parts. The Making of Documentary follows the story from conception as a novel to its movie release. A very pleasant surprise was revealed here about the voice actors, but I won't spoil it for you. Satoshi Kon is a greater director to listen to, since he is very direct about his methods and is not pretentious like some other anime directors.
"The Dream CG World" and "Art of Fantasy" chapters are also very interesting, especially the CG section. The lead CG artists shows some of the techniques they used to blend CG and animated cells in depth, yet is easy to understand.
The only disappointing section was "A Conversation About the Dream". This chapter is basically just a roundtable of the director, author, and lead voice actors discussing their favorite scenes and dreams. It's a bit long, at points awkward, and generally uninteresting. However, it's still a nice extra and deserves a brief viewing.
Movie Review: One of the Best Anime of 2007
Summary: 5 Stars
Anime tends to be a sea of mediocrity with the occasional island of brilliance. For every Ghost in the Shell there are a hundred movies of much lower quality so it's a real joy when I come across something as fantastic as Paprika. It falls just short of the quality of Ghost in the Shell or a Miyazaki film but Paprika is darn good.
A group of researches have developed a device called the `DC Mini' that allows two people to share a dream. It can also record dreams and play them back for analysis. Three of the units are stolen and this is when things get weird. For the characters in the story, the line between dreams and reality begins to break down as the movie takes on kind of a Nightmare on Elm Street quality. Paprika is the name of the dream self of Dr. Cindy Robinson who works on DC Mini project and is trying to discover who is using the stolen DC Mini's to control the dreams of others.
I watched this movie with my fiancé and she was a little shocked at how adult the theme is and this is one of the main things that separates Anime from U.S. animation. Don't be fooled by the colorful, lighthearted cover of the DVD case. There isn't much blood (if any) and I don't remember any swearing but the theme is very mature and very eerie. It's sort of a who-done-it combined with a horror movie combined with The Matrix.
The animation is high quality and I love the surrealness of Paprika. It's not a movie that you'll soon forget. If you like Anime I don't see any reason not to pick this one up.
Movie Review: Think the movie The Cell with a little Matrix throw in
Summary: 5 Stars
This was a great movie. I am a big anime fan but not usually too big on this style of animation or this type of anime.
The premise of the movie is that a device has been developed that can be used to give people therapy through their dreams (think the movie The Cell). When one of these devices gets stolen suddenly strange things start happening. What happens if a dream becomes a virus and spreads? Suddenly everyone thinks their dreams are reality and their dreams become reality (a bit of the Matrix here).
This is something that could only be done with animation. The movie can get a tad bit confusing at times as to what is real reality and what is the dream reality. Towards the end of the movie it is impossible to distinguish between the two; but that's really the point.
The animation was very good, although not my favorite style. The style was a bit too bright and childlike for what I normally like. The writing was very well done as was the storyline.
The movie kept you hanging on until the end, holding your breath as to what would happen.
The really special thing about this movie is the greater question it asks the watchers. If everyone believes something is reality does that make it real? If you are the only person who knows that the current reality isn't real what does that make you?
This was an entertaining and thought provoking movie.