Review - Paprika
Reviewed by April Lassiter on 4.14.2008.
Score: 8/10
Ever wish you could physically record your dreams? No longer would you be a slave to your subconciousness when telling your friends, "I had THE craziest dream" - only to find the subtle nuances which made it "THE craziest" escape your best descriptions. All too many times, our dream fails to live up to our hype.
In the anime, "Paprika", the possessors of an important scientific find - the DC mini - get to see their dreams come alive. We follow Dr. Atsuko Chiba along with her colleagues - the chubby Doctor Kosaku Tokita, the elderly Doctor Torataro Shima and of course Paprika, who holds a special connection with Chiba; through a series of dreams and realities in order to find out who is using the DC mini for evil.
The culprit, they find, is a former collegue who is out to brainwash people in the waking world into believing they are merely dreaming. The victims, thinking they're all dreaming, believe themselves to be joining a hit parade. Think Katamari Damacy, only extremely creepy. Like all anime, you can expect the unexpected - gaggles of frogs and cymbal clapping monkeys - just to name a few.
The music in "Paprika" has a certain zip to it without being too kitschy, or overly memorable for that matter. Initially, I was hard pressed to come up with any distinctive memory of melodies from the movie then I recalled the musical explosions of March Band style "thromping" during the "parade" scenes. Later the juxstiposition of the upbeat music during perilous situations will likely put a smile on your face.
The only drawback for me has to be that while I am a very attentive movie watcher and tend to take mental note of subtleties in the narrative; it wasn't always easy to follow "Paprika". I realized occurances of my confusion were caused by shifts between what was reality and what was a dream. The movie glides seamlessly between the two extremes. Though it's a niggling detail for me that I have trouble following, I'm aware of it's purposeful placement by the movie's creators.
Also if you're a dork like I am, anytime you see a web address in a movie you feel compelled to look it up, don't bother in this case. I was slightly disappointed to find the website specified in the movie as a kind of a "dream bar" appears only as a redirect page for Sony Entertainment. This certainly isn't an important detail and will not take away from your enjoyment of the movie. However, I would have loved to have discovered an identical page as a type of interactivity to enhance the experience of the movie. Just a thought, Japan!
Despite a few small quirks that others may enjoy, "Paprika" is fresh and uplifting on a human level. There are times when it borders on creepy, even while you're laughing at how something is particularly ridiculous. That is what makes "Paprika" a success in my book - mixing up your emotions and confusing your senses for a moment.
All in all, this film delivers on entertainment. Did I always understand what was going on? Not a chance! But you don't have to understand the rules in an Easter Egg hunt to have fun snatching up treats! The bright artistic scenes along with strong, interesting characters make for a pleasant viewing experience. And don't forget the "thromping"!
There's definitely so much more to this movie than I could possibly reveal. I recommend scooping up "Paprika" on your next Blockbuster anime night!
