Released in 2006, Paprika is a film centered around Dr. Atsuko Chiba who is a scientist by day, but is a "dream detective" by night as her alter ego Paprika. Atsuko and her colleagues are working on a new invention named the DC Mini, designed to help psychiatric patients by delving into their subconscious dreams. However, the unfinished DC Mini is stolen, which could lead to the disastrous destruction of people's minds. So Paprika must help recover it before the thief does any damage. All in all, the idea behind Paprika was an original and thought provoking one.
The movie itself is definitely executed well, a lot of it does take place in the dream world, and I thought the film did a particularly good job of transitioning from reality into dreams and vice versa. Most of the time when someone was dreaming I didn't even realize until it was made obvious. Especially during dream sequences, the animation and graphics were especially stunning, although I wouldn't call them pretty, they were definitely impressive to me. The main theme music that appears periodically throughout the movie was also a good choice and is almost uplifting and fun in the fantastical dream scenes.
One thing I really liked about Paprika was the characters,
There is Atsuko Chiba, a stern, sometimes cruel but ultimately good hearted woman.
Atsuko's dream self, Paprika, who is risk taking, brave yet practical, fun and a good counterpart to Atsuko.
Kosaku Tokita, an immature and idealistic genius, who has no control over his eating habits.
Konakawa Toshimi, a detective with a past that haunts him. He is really the character that seems to grow and develop the most over the course of the movie, definitely my favorite.
The villain also makes for an interesting character as he is the chairman of the company making this new dream technology, he looks fittingly creepy as a villain should, but the part I liked the most about him is that in reality he has to use a wheelchair, but in dreams he is fully able to walk on his own two feet, adding a dimension to him that makes him less of an evil, hateable person and makes his motives more understandable. So, I did really like the characters of this movie, although some may have had extreme personalities, I could relate with all of them which added to the enjoyability of the movie.
I will say that some of the movie is a little "scary, but less in a gory or bloody way, the creepiness of it stems from more psychological things that are often shown in the dream world, things that create an uneasiness in parts of the film, which I really liked because it made the dreams even more realistic. Don't we all have nightmares that just leave us creeped out? It made the movie seem more like something that could happen in real life rather than simply a fantastical science fiction movie.
I also really appreciated the small injection of romance into the movie, it made everything seem a little less heavy and scary, and more down to earth. It did a good job of lifting the mood.
I would say that although it was a good movie, I did get bored in parts, Paprika utilized two main dreams throughout and many scenes are repeated or similar to others making it a little tedious to watch. But, I did end up enjoying the movie and although I don't think I'll be watching it again anytime soon, I would recommend it to anyone to watch.
22 out of 28 users liked this review
