by erin thursby scopes1925@msn.com
B- 90 min Rated R
The world of dreams in Paprika is simultaneously frightening and fantastic. I cannot imagine a better genre than anime for this tale, based on Yasutaka Tsutsui’s 1993 novel of the same name. While it might not be the best piece of anime out there, it’s at the very least a visually stunning piece of work. Dialogue can seem a little stunted, and it can be hard to make sense of a movie that slips in and out of the dream world.
I may be picking up the surreal soundtrack to Paprika, which was composed and woven by Susuma Hirasawa, one of Japan’s most cutting-edge electronic musicians. He elaborately intertwines electronic music, voice and many other instruments to create an orchestra for a dream.
Paprika is the alter-ego of Dr. Atsuko Chiba, an attractive but straight-laced research psychotherapist. Dr. Chiba specializes in dream therapy and uses a high-tech device called the DC Mini, which allows her to enter the dreams of others. The fun-loving and fearless Paprika is a master of the whimsical dream world, shifting from a tiny fairy to a mermaid, depending on the circumstance of the dream.
The DC Mini, invented by Atsuko’s brilliant but irresponsible collaborator, Dr. Tokita, is awaiting official approval as a psychotherapy treatment by the government when one of the four prototypes is stolen from the Foundation for Psychiatric Research. Dr. Tokita’s research assistant Himuro is also missing, making him the chief suspect in the theft.
One by one, the researchers begin to have terrifying waking dreams, featuring a spooky giant doll, which further indicates Himuro is responsible, since it comes from the dreams of one of his disturbed patients. Everyone who has had exposure to the machine is vulnerable to having his or her dreams “hacked,” so to speak.
Torataro Shima, the Chief of the lab, is affected by a strange waking dream and tries to commit suicide, leading Atsuko to use her alter-ego (the heroic Paprika) to try to rescue him. Atsuko is affected as well, nearly falling off a building, but she is rescued by a handsome fellow researcher, Dr. Osanai. He seems to be attracted to her and slightly jealous of Tokita’s scientific talent.
The rescued Shima calls in his old-school friend, Police Detective Konakawa, to the lab to meet with Atsuko and Himuro’s boss, Dr. Tokita. Meanwhile, “the Chairman” of the corporation, believes that the devices never should have been invented. Shima needs to get the DC Mini out of the wrong hands so that the government will approve its use. However, as Paprika discovers, whoever has the DC Mini can use it to obliterate a dreamer’s personality while they are asleep, leaving nothing but an empty shell.
Detective Konakawa is also at risk for being hacked because he underwent treatment in the past for recurring nightmares. He immediately suspects that Atsuko is Paprika upon meeting her. While in the dream world, Konakawa has his own issues to work out and old karmic debts to repay. Konakawa helps Paprika when all the dreams begin to merge into a meta-dream that seems to be slowly absorbing everything. Eventually, the line between reality and dreaming is so blurred that it’s difficult to separate them.
Konakawa’s dreams have a very cinematic framework, relying on various genres of film such as detective flicks and old Tarzan movies. His dream experiences open the movie and set the audience up for a surreal dream-within-a-dream experience, especially when Konakawa’s dreams are projected on a movie screen while Paprika watches and eats popcorn. Audience members are, of course, watching a movie of Paprika watching the movie dream. It’s gimmicky, yes, but it will have you questioning your own reality.
When one of the characters behind the “dream hijacking” has Paprika captured, literally pinned to a display case like a butterfly, he violates her in a way that is so personal and horrific, that you feel like you’re witnessing a grotesque rape.
Not all aspects of this movie make sense, and some of it is designed to make you feel uncomfortable. Most of it, though, is eye-popping and fantastic. It floats around your head afterwards, like a dream that you know you should learn something from but haven’t quite got the balls to examine.
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
