Paprika - Film Review

fig. 1 film poster

Based off Yasutaka Tsutsui’s novel of the same name, ‘Paprika’ is a 2006 film directed by Satoshi Kon. The Japanese film takes cultural roots of its origin encompassing NEET culture, Maneki-nekos (lucky cats) and variation in character proportions. While the film’s plot is easier to follow the animation creates a more complex and confusing story. Never the less the style proves to be one of the defining features of the film. ‘Paprika’ follows Doctor Atsuko Chiba who must recover several stolen devices that allows one to enter another’s dream.

With the plot in mind it is possible to seed several themes into the story, one of which is more evident. In the words of the antagonist of the film, the chairman, “the dreams are horrified… that their safe refuge is destroyed by technology.” While it is clear that the chairman disapproves of new technology it also highlights the potential fear. There have been many films before that have explored technology getting out of hand, one of the more famous examples being ‘Terminator’ (1984). Despite being a far stretched technophobic example its represents a similar concept shown in ’Paprika’. The device while invented for the betterment of humanity proved powerful and in the wrong hands capable of great damage. This falls into the long and arduous debate of whether or not technology should become so powerful. The device itself proves so, without limitations it can merge both reality and dreams. The dream aspect is well portrayed though kon’s choice in medium.

fig.2 an example of the dream world

The story is portrayed through the use of animation in the style of anime (synonymous to Japanese culture), mixing 2D and 3D elements. This form of animation is a product that is commonly associated with NEET culture as mention above. A culture that has been recognised as a rising issue in society as industry targets mostly males of ages up to 30. Due to the harsh circumstances and expectations of Japanese society it is easier for some to find escape in media and indulging in animation and its associated products. Despite this the anime style has been able to portray a number of individual and unique styles. Variation in character proportions, movement and design gives anime a large expanse in ways of expressing itself.

Tsutsui’s world is presented in a manner of various playful colours mixed in with a large amount of morphology. This is heavily present throughout the dream sequences as inanimate objects come to life and the abstract begins to intrude the real world. Animation has been used to tell many stories some more ordinary than others, in the case of ‘Paprika’ the medium is used to great effect in shaping and describing the dream world. The style is also well known for the 1988 film ‘Akira’ which proposes a number of mad and explosive moments. ‘Paprika’ is not too dissimilar in this manner. The two worlds of reality and dreams are well defined with reality being far more mundane contrasted by the dramatic dream world. Critic Alex Naylor describes kon as ‘an engineer of delirious, dizzy trips through the psyche, but a spiky, tough social critic too’ (2008) which is evident in this particular piece of work.

Since the 2006 film there was plans of a live adaptation, directed by Wolfgang Petersen. However the animation provides a unique style to the story that a live-action retelling cannot recreate, limiting the amount of creative choices possible. This became evident when Christopher Nolan’s ‘Inception’ (2010) was released during the early stages of development of Petersen’s film. It appears that due to the similar natures of the concepts Petersen stopped progress as its success as a more original film would have been restricted. This further provides support that animation played a pivotal role in the film.

The director, Satashi Kon sadly passed away in 2010 before he could complete his next work ‘Dreaming Machine’. Never the less it is clear that Kon has a strong image that he has planned for each of his work being able to execute and direct his team to fulfil his dream. Critic Paul Jackson comments on this ‘renowned for injecting a staggering level of lived-in detail into each of his compositions’ (2008) moving on to describe how much detail each shots contains.  

Bibliography 

Jackson, P. (2008). Paprika. [Online] Available at: http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/paprika/ [Accessed: 28/01/18]

Naylor, A. (2008). Paprika: the stuff of dreams for. [Online] Available at: filmgoershttps://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2008/jun/17/paprikathestuffofdreamsfo [Accessed: 28/01/18]

Illustration list

fig. 1. Film Poster [Online] Available at: http://img.moviepostershop.com/paprika-movie-poster-2006-1020689313.jpg [Accessed: 28/01/18] 

fig. 2 An example of the dream world [Online] Available at: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-VCQcLnj4q8UlUstfIHjNlXlZtLnmyPNEh_eTSsvnQ-njBWSDZQVq7z9bEdV5rLrQDaj496tsAmTN5ie-4BdqyF91K-hB4Iaduciycs1NQ_zXB1kL7FyFmXmV6QNsudHnxCXnJBQrLoov/s1600/paprika.jpg [Accessed: 28/01/18]