Thursday, August 23, 2007

Paprika - Movie (2006)





Welcome once more! As you can see, today we a Japanese movie review, Paprika. But before I start, I have to make an important announcement regarding one of the movie categories, more specifically, the CGI category. As of today, the CGI category will be named Visual Effects/Photography. I decided to do this, because I felt that, with just a CGI category I couldn't grasp all of the visual aspects of the film. So, with this "new" category I hope to talk about all of the visual aspects of a film, CGI related or not.




- First Look -


If you've never seen an anime (Japanese animation, for those that are wondering what anime is), TV series or movie, when you first look at Paprika you can only say..."What the...???". On the other hand, if you're not a new to the anime universe, you may find yourself saying..."HOLY SH#T!!!". It's that mind blowing to look at!
This movie is unlike anything you've ever seen in a animation movie. I guarantee it.



The hero of this story is Paprika, a female therapist that cures people's traumas by entering their dreams. This is possible thanks to a small machine called DC Mini, that enables the user to enter a person's dream and change it, but when someone steals one of the DC Mini prototypes then everything starts going downhill.
So, Paprika brings us the story of Paprika and her co-workers trying to find the stolen DC Mini and who stole it, all the while, trying to prevent any more "insanity attacks", caused by the machine, on innocent people.


- Plot/Storyline -


At first sight, the kind of story that we find in Paprika isn't something extremely original but, like I said in a previous review, that doesn't mean it's not good. In this case it's even better than good...it's great.
Paprika and her co-workers try to find the person behind the disappearance of one of the prototypes of the DC Mini. The disappearance itself is bad, but things go from bad to worse when employees of the company behind the DC Mini's development, start to get targeted by the culprit and start to have "insanity attacks"caused by the missing DC Mini.
If you don't think about the fact that the DC Mini is a machine that enables a person to enter another person's dream and change it, you might think that the story isn't all that great, but, trust me, that's a BIG misconception.
Imagine it this way, try to think of one those old, 1940's detective stories(the good ones, of course) and add it a great, and sometimes difficult to accompany it you're not paying attention, metaphysical question accompanying the main action and a nice plot twist, and there you have it...Paprika's storyline.



Now, about the metaphysical question that I just mentioned , that's something you see in many, if not all, animes. And, in Paprika's case, the main question revolves around dreams and our perceptions of them, a ever growing lack of privacy in a near future society (where the dream world is our last true "sanctuary") and science meddling in places it shouldn't be.

In conclusion, it all comes down to something I said a little while ago...Paprika's storyline is great and don't be fooled by an apparent simple main action. There's a lot going on behind it, a lot indeed.


- Visual Effects/Photography -


Where to begin? The animation in Paprika is out of this world.
The fact that Paprika is, apart from some CGI animated sequences, still hand drawn is, after you see the movie, almost unbelievable.
Visually, everything is perfect in Paprika, the surreal animation sequences, the rich and vibrant colors, the elaborate and carefully drawn background, everything...



Even the most "quiet" sequences are great providing the viewer with fluid and natural character animations. But it's when you enter in the "dream world", when Satoshi Kon (Paprika's director) shifts into 5th gear, that your eyes and your mind enter in an "overdrive mode".




Believe me that I'm not exaggerating when I say that you're literally bombarded at high-speed with amazing, surreal and breathtaking animation sequences, most of them, worthy of a Salvador Dali painting.


- Soundtrack -

In Paprika, the soundtrack is like everything else in the movie...beautifully strange. Most of the times there's no music at all in the film which gives it a tense and quiet vibe that matches perfectly with the overall ambiance of the film during it's "quiet scenes". But when the "action" starts the soundtrack follows it flawlessly.



Even though it's great and it shows up in all the right places, I fear that, sometimes, the soundtrack can be caught in the shadow of the colossus that is the animation in this film and not have the amount of attention it deserves.
However, I also believe that it's unlikely to happen.


- Overview -


After all this, what's left to say about Paprika? Not much. It's just a really awesome movie.
You've got a great story , with a surreal god-like art and animation and, last but not least, a matching and opportunistic soundtrack. What more would you want from an animation movie? Or any movie at all?



It's incredible how Paprika can be, at the same time, a lot of things depending on the "angle" you're looking at it.It's almost like the Mona Lisa, she looks and smiles at you from wherever you look at her. It can be a detective story, it can be a Sci-fi "thriller"/suspense story, it can even be a love story and it can be much more. It has all these elements and they blend together so perfectly. This is how good the movie, and more precisely, the story really is.



Well, actually, there's one thing I'm certain that this movie isn't, and that is, a children's movie. Don't make the mistake of confusing an animation film with a children's film, specially, regarding Japanese animation. Not only is the story quite "heavy" for a children's mind but the movie also has some situations that maybe aren't very suitable for younger audiences.



Paprika messes, in a very good way, with the viewers head so much that at a certain point, you'll have difficulty in distinguishing dreams from reality yourself. And, actually, watching Paprika it's like watching a dream, it's so surreal that will really feel like a dream.


- Rating -


So, after all I've said I think the rating that I'll give Paprika is quite obvious...or maybe not.
The only "negative thing" that I can think of that this film has is the "complexity" of the story that might confuse or even bore some people who watch it and are not used to watch these kind of movies or even, the fact that some people might not like animation films, especially, Japanese animation which is completely different from the mainstream Hollywood animation that most people is used to.



So, without any further delays...for all I've said the only rating I can think of for a movie like Paprika is a more than deserved 9.





Before I go I'll leave the photos of the four Gods of Japanese animation.



Hayo Miyazaki
(My Neighbor Totoro, Mononoke Hime, etc...)




Katsuhiro Otomo
(Akira, Memories, etc...)



Mamoru Oshii
(Ghost in the Shel, etc...)




Satoshi Kon
(Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers, Millennium Actress, etc...)


See ya.

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