There have been other movies which explored the subject of dreams to varying degrees...Akira Kurosawa's "Yume" (Dreams),"Dreamscape", "Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Wizard of OZ" come to mind, but none have quite did it in such a surreal, fascinating and inventive way as Satoshi Kon's recent anime feature "Paprika".
Based on Yasutaka Tsutsui's 1993 novel, "Paprika" is part mystery/detective story and part "Alice In Wonderland" with a bit of a sci-fi element thrown in for good measure.
The title character of Paprika is a "dream detective" who is able to enter peoples' dreams to correct or resolve psychological/personal trauma by directly interacting with the dream. She is the alter-ego of Dr. Atsuko Chiba, a brilliant psychologist/scientist who helped create the "DC Mini", a device that is able to control, manipulate and record an individual's dream. Chiba has secretly appropriated the technology to aid her in her secret dream adventures as Paprika.
The bulk of the story revolves around the "DC Mini" technology being stolen and used to assault key researchers who worked on the "DC Mini" project. Detective Kogawa Toshimi (who bears a humorous resemblance to J.K. Simmon's "J. Jonah Jameson" character in the "Spider-Man" movies) assists Chiba/Paprika in her efforts to find the stolen technology.
Kon continues his exploration of the themes of reality vs. fantasy that were covered in his previous works "Sennen No Jyoyu/Millennium Actress" and "Perfect Blue" but also adds the element of "fusion" or the merging of reality with fantasy. This opens up the opportunity for Kon to create truly bizarre scenes where the dream world invades the real world (people morphing into cell phones and other objects, inanimate objects taking on human human characteristics, etc.)
The true draw for this film is the fantastic and wondrous imagery complements of the Madhouse Animation Studio and character designer Ando Masashi who create elaborately detailed images, drawing from a variety of sources (traditional Japanese dolls, Buddhist statutes, European ceramic figurines, plastic toys).
It's amazing how Kon was able to incorporate and explore a lot of the common dream themes in the film (flying, falling, childhood toys, mirrored reflections, metamorphosis, running) as well as some of the Jungian archetypes (shadow, Anima, Animus). The medium of animation is the perfect vehicle suited to bring this imagery to film.
Hirasawa Susumu's musical score adds to the fantasy with its fusion of various musical styles and influences.
The voice work is also quite stellar, bringing together a host of veteran "seiyuu" talents like Hayashibara Megumi, Otsuka Akio, Yamadera Koichi, Furuya Toru, and Emori Toru.
While "Perfect Blue" still remains my favorite Kon project, "Paprika" was a pleasantly enjoyable and wonderful surprise and further solidifies Kon's growing reputation as a truly innovative animation director in the same vain as Miyazaki Hayao, John Lasseter and Oshii Mamoru.
Based on Yasutaka Tsutsui's 1993 novel, "Paprika" is part mystery/detective story and part "Alice In Wonderland" with a bit of a sci-fi element thrown in for good measure.
The title character of Paprika is a "dream detective" who is able to enter peoples' dreams to correct or resolve psychological/personal trauma by directly interacting with the dream. She is the alter-ego of Dr. Atsuko Chiba, a brilliant psychologist/scientist who helped create the "DC Mini", a device that is able to control, manipulate and record an individual's dream. Chiba has secretly appropriated the technology to aid her in her secret dream adventures as Paprika.
The bulk of the story revolves around the "DC Mini" technology being stolen and used to assault key researchers who worked on the "DC Mini" project. Detective Kogawa Toshimi (who bears a humorous resemblance to J.K. Simmon's "J. Jonah Jameson" character in the "Spider-Man" movies) assists Chiba/Paprika in her efforts to find the stolen technology.
Kon continues his exploration of the themes of reality vs. fantasy that were covered in his previous works "Sennen No Jyoyu/Millennium Actress" and "Perfect Blue" but also adds the element of "fusion" or the merging of reality with fantasy. This opens up the opportunity for Kon to create truly bizarre scenes where the dream world invades the real world (people morphing into cell phones and other objects, inanimate objects taking on human human characteristics, etc.)
The true draw for this film is the fantastic and wondrous imagery complements of the Madhouse Animation Studio and character designer Ando Masashi who create elaborately detailed images, drawing from a variety of sources (traditional Japanese dolls, Buddhist statutes, European ceramic figurines, plastic toys).
It's amazing how Kon was able to incorporate and explore a lot of the common dream themes in the film (flying, falling, childhood toys, mirrored reflections, metamorphosis, running) as well as some of the Jungian archetypes (shadow, Anima, Animus). The medium of animation is the perfect vehicle suited to bring this imagery to film.
Hirasawa Susumu's musical score adds to the fantasy with its fusion of various musical styles and influences.
The voice work is also quite stellar, bringing together a host of veteran "seiyuu" talents like Hayashibara Megumi, Otsuka Akio, Yamadera Koichi, Furuya Toru, and Emori Toru.
While "Perfect Blue" still remains my favorite Kon project, "Paprika" was a pleasantly enjoyable and wonderful surprise and further solidifies Kon's growing reputation as a truly innovative animation director in the same vain as Miyazaki Hayao, John Lasseter and Oshii Mamoru.