Review of Paprika (2006) by Zachary N — 28 Sep 2013

Paprika. The 2006 anime from Director Satoshi Kon. Some may know him for other films of his, Perfect Blue and Tokyo Godfathers. I doubt that is many of you though. Paprika is a thriller that centers around a device that allows scientists to enter and record dreams. Naturally the device goes missing and it is up to a group of therapists and a detective to solve the puzzle and get it back.

Now the interesting thing about Paprika is less the story itself and more the way it was approached and put together. Beginning the film in a sequence that gives you everything you need to know about what is about to unfold was a great way to start and left you asking the good kind of questions throughout the rest of the film.

The dream sequences and the real world are interesting in that for the most part you can't tell them apart aside form Paprika herself and when things begin to get strange. Even then lots of those things even have a sense of normal to them. They really capture visually what can be so fleeting to us in our everyday dreams and opt for more strange/believably strange over wacky. Mixing it all together seamlessly (sometimes confusingly seamlessly) for the 90 minute runtime.

One of the great things about Paprika is the music. Music that is both fitting, unique and actually helps the experience quite a bit. One of those films that does not fear scenes without background noise.

The story and characters are actually very interesting and gripping. They do a great job keeping you interested in these people and what they are doing. I actually really wanted to find out what was going on, and find out with these characters. Even the exploration of the characters was great and didn't feel tacked on in relation to what they were trying to do.

Faults can be large or small depending on how you feel. I did find some of the reality to dream and vise versa a bit confusing. I found it not a real issue but the thought did come up. Although the dialog was good, the voice over work did lack in some parts, quite a bit for certain conversations. (I will not get into the whole original Japanese and English bit, I am just going over the English version of the film) Lastly the ending did seem a slight bit lacking, Maybe it was the explanation, the reveal? Not to say it wasn't satisfying though.

Visually stylish, unique and fun. That is one of the best ways to describe Paprika. Even better was it didn't take itself too seriously either. Hard not to fall in love with this one as it does not really disappoint in any aspect.

3 out of 4 stars.

Would I watch it again? Yes.