Review of Paprika (2006) by Michael H — 19 Dec 2012

This probably the most enjoyable of Satoshi Kon's mind-bending films. In my opinion, Perfect Blue is a more thorough working-through of the concept of a fractured reality, as in that film there is either no base reality to come back to, or it has been irretrievably lost (similarly to The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K Dick, a writer who has clearly influenced this director).

But where Perfect Blue was harsh and minimalist, Paprika is much more colourful, fun and visually sumptuous. The feeling of the dream world bleeding through into reality is very convincing. The director is clearly inspired by some authentic dream and possibly lucid dream experiences.

The combination of the escalating parade of dream characters with a perfectly suited musical score is an absolute high point of animated film making. The film's logic is consistent on the clearly given assumptions of technologically assisted telepathy and the possiblity that dreams can combine with reality.

I was slightly disappointed by the computer game influenced Big Boss ending, but only slightly, and it wasn't enough to seriously reduce my enjoyment.