Movie Review: Paprika

Paprika is a wonderfully bizarre trip that manages to be simultaneously colorful and creepy. It is like walking into Willy Wonka's factory, filled with walls of rainbow candy, but the Oompa Loompa's are now bloodcurdling creatures that sing techno songs. The anime, based on a 1991 Japanese story, is at times nonlinear but always surreal. Paprika is a pop culture nightmare, filled with a catchy soundtrack and bombastic visuals.

Paprika is about a psychotherapist, Chiba Atsuko, who uses a device called the DC Mini to examine her patient's dreams. Her alter-ego, Paprika, is the being that goes into the minds of the patients. Soon, the DC Mini is stolen and a "dream terrorist" begins running amuck, entering into others minds and trying to kill them. A detective gets involved and helps Atsuko/Paprika on her quest to retrieve the DC Mini.

Paprika, Satoshi Kon's follow up to the brilliant Tokyo Godfathers, is a fascinating detour into a dreamy realm of unique characters and strange plot twists. While the story is not perfect, particularly towards the end, it is still worth a dissection.

Kon's animation is superb as always. Every film he makes has his bold stamp on it. The animation is a mixture between realism and fantasy that is a delight to the senses.

Paprika's music is one of the biggest highlights of the film. Susumu Hirasawa created an upbeat, enjoyable soundtrack that adds to the creative animation. The music is weird but it definitely adds to the overall theme of the film.

There is one slightly bum note. The third act takes a turn towards the unbelievable, and the climactic closing battle sequence finds Paprika with unexplained powers. The ensuing confusion could have been avoided had there been more development of her strengths and perhaps more of an impactful conclusion would have resulted. Instead, one must suspend disbelief, which is generally expected anyway in a film dealing with dreams. While the resolution brings satisfaction, it lacks the depth that the first two acts carried so well.

Regardless, Paprika is one of the better films about dreams, nestling comfortably between Waking Life and Open Your Eyes.