Paprika パプリカ 2006- Japan

Paprika (パプリカ) is a 2006, Japanese film directed by Satoshi Kon. Based off of the 1993 novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui, Paprika premiered at the Venice Film Festival, before making its rounds at the New York Film Festival, Tokyo International Film Festival, and many more. In 2010, Director Wolfgang Peterson had announced he was in the works of a live-action adaption, however, that same year the American blockbuster hit that features a similar storyline, Inception was released. It has been quoted that Inception's director, Christopher Nolan, took inspiration from this film. I would have LOVED to see a live action of Paprika though. 



This film has some of the most creative animation I have ever seen. Summarized, Paprika is the story psychologists who have created a device called the DC-Mini which allows therapists to their patients dreams in order to help them. As the device has not been released and has yet to restrict people from entering other's dreams, things run amuck when the device is stolen. It is up to Detective Konakawa and Doctor Chiba to work together to find the device and stop it before it merges dreams and reality. 

You may be wondering, who or what is Paprika?? Well, Paprika is Doctor Chiba's alter-ego or persona, if you will, in the dream world. She uses this character as a way to work with patients. Ellen Page's character in Inception was suppose to be loosely based off of the paprika character in this film. It is very easy to see that when you watch this movie. 

This film is crazy, and I definitely recommend you watch it more than once. It is one of those films that takes a while to completely make sense, but every time you watch it, it is still as entertaining as the last. The first time I watched this film, I don't think I really understood it at all, but I enjoyed its creative storytelling and beautiful, colorful animation that takes up the whole screen. The music in the film is also very enjoyable. I definitely had the song 'Parade' as a ringtone for quite some time after my first viewing of the film. Paprika's soundtrack is also very important because it has the first song made for a film using a Vocaloid. If you do not know what a vocaloid is, it is vocals created from a software program. Check out Hatsune Miku! 

I highly recommend this film if you are a lover of Japanese animation, but also if you are a movie enthusiast in general. Though the film is very out there, it is so ridiculous, that it is hard to turn away. Once I read the novel, I would love to do a film vs. book review. Let me know in the comments if you would be interested!

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