Paprika was the final movie released by the great Satoshi Kon. This is a movie that everyone should see at least once, but not everyone will necessarily enjoy it. Paprika is a VERY surrealist movie that combines elements of science fiction with art-house cinema. Although Christopher Nolan admitted to lifting plot elements from Paprika to create Inception, Paprika is less like Inception and far more like Kubrick's 2001 or Tarkovsky's science fiction films Stalker and Solaris. I say Paprika is much more like the latter 3 films because the focus is NOT on action and being an enjoyable "popcorn movie". The emphasis is on otherworldly visuals, human psychology, and using surrealism as a vehicle to ask rather profound philosophical questions. Paprika is a very cerebral movie and to fully appreciate it, you may even have to watch it more than once. The trippy visuals come so fast and furious that it is easy to miss key details in its rather complex and convoluted plot. This is one of those classic "What the FUCK did I just watch?!" kind of movies. Paprika is one of those movies that you actually have to watch without constant distractions and chatting to other people. It isn't what I would consider "light" viewing in other words.
Plot: 8/10
Minor spoilers!
The plot is that in the future a machine is created that allows people to see into other people's dreams and project themselves into that person's dream. This machine is used by psychologists to resolve internal conflict and often shed light on subconscious problems that the patient is suffering. This of course was inspired by Freud's theory that dreams are the gateway to the subconscious mind and act as symbolic wish fulfillment of the desires we are unaware we have. However, someone starts sabotaging the project, apparently out of a desire to protect the sanctity of dreams from the prying eyes of men. Dreams are one of the last places we can escape without being viewed and judged after all. Then all hell breaks loose and the machine starts merging reality with the dream world for...some reason. Paprika is so surreal it makes End of Evangelion look tame by comparison! This is Eraser head level insanity. Ultimately the villain and his true motives are revealed and the plot is resolved with a surprisingly mundane ending. It is quite the journey to get there though. The idea of using dream invasion as a form of therapy and changing the way a person thinks is a very interesting concept. However, Paprika is more than just a high concept piece revolving around a single cool idea. It is the use of classic psychological theory, engaging characters, and tendency to NOT hold the audience's hand that took it from merely a good film to a truly great film.
Characters: 8/10
The main character is the psychiatrist Dr. Atsuko Chiba, who wishes to use the machine to help her patients even though it is not exactly legal at this early stage of testing. She is a strong willed protagonist who doesn't succumb to the usual cliches and traits that leading women in anime too often suffer from. Chiba's alternate persona is the more light and playful Paprika, whose form she takes when she is in the dream world. Paprika is in many ways a polar opposite of the cold and introverted Chiba, which of course is referencing Jung's archetype of the the Shadow. Paprika is cheerful and bubbly because she is everything that Chiba has repressed to pursue a career as a doctor/scientist and be taken seriously in a highly patriarchal society. Paprika represents the hidden aspects of Chiba that she has rejected and stored away. The other main character is Kosaku Tokita, who is an obese manchild that is also perhaps the world's most brilliant scientist. He is often treated poorly despite his intelligence and represents how every geek fears that society views them. However, Tokita develops as a character along with Chiba and isn't simply there to be a boring stereotype. Paprika is too good a movie for that to be the case.
Art: 10/10
Although the plot, characters, and psychology is very well done, Paprika is perhaps above all else a visual experience. Paprika was originally a novel, but watching the film is very different from reading the novel. Sometimes being animated is a great disadvantage, because people will take a serious live action film FAR more seriously than an animated version of the same film. However, there are some advantages that animation gives and Paprika is one of few anime that fully exploits all that animation has to offer when it comes to conjuring up nightmarish imagery and frenzied insanity, bursting at the seams with energy and sheer chaos.
Overall: 9/10
Paprika is a film that really isn't like too many other films I can think of. It does bare a resemblance as I mentioned earlier to other brainy, science fiction/art films, but how many of those are animated? Paprika is a unique enough film and good enough film to warrant the label of "essential viewing for all film lovers".
