User reviews

I saw this two days ago at the New York Film Festival.

The plot: What happens when we acquire technology that allows us to migrate the boundary between dreams & reality, and what happens when that boundary blurs?

The Animation: Stunning; Madhouse always does good work and Kon's movies always produce some fun reality bending sequences.

The Music: Susumu Hirasawa who did the Paranoia Agent soundtrack came up with the score here too. The opening song is a particularly infectious number. It makes you smiley. It's like the opening song from Paranoia Agent on steroids. I really could not get the grin off my face till the beginning sequence ended.

The Cast: The voice cast is headed by Megumi Hayashibara, probably the most prolific and well known female seiyuu ever, with roles such as Rei Ayanami (Evangelion), Lina Inverse (Slayers), and Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop) to her credit. Akio Ohtsuka and Koichi Yamadera, Batou & Togusa of Ghost in the Shell fame, both play major roles as well. All do a fabulous job as usual, but Hayashibara really shines in her Paprika role.

This film has great animation, music & actors, but the plot is really just a thin veneer for the lucid dreaming sequences that permeate so much of Satoshi Kon's work. I still recommend seeing it because it's a really light fun film, but I don't think it adds up to being more than the sum of some really great parts. I think this one needs to be enjoyed in pieces rather than as a whole.

I had gone into Paprika not knowing much of what to expect, save for the fact that it was an anime with quite a buzz. An hour and a half later, this is one of the best films I've seen in 2007.

The plot, as best as I can describe it, concerns a group of scientists developing a device which allows one to interject your subconscious into and record another person's dreams. However, a thief is using the technology to terrorize and control others. As the scientists try to find their stolen property, reality begins to take on a different meaning...

Satoshi Kon is filmmaker I've never heard of before, but what he has created is truly visionary. Paprika continually amazes with imagery which transcends conscious understanding and coherence for what can only make sense on a subliminal level. Examples include a marching band of inanimate objects, dolls and animals, a giant aquatic leviathan with a man's face and humanoid toys that act as vessels for their dreamers bodies.

But what makes the film necessary viewing is not the visuals alone, it's the core of the story and varied themes that it poses. The subject matter deals with issues both contemporary and probable. The actual identities of ourselves are wrapped in an enigma. How science has its positive and negative aspects. That the advantages of the internet is better communication but also dehumanization. I'm sure others will find other symbolism and subtext.

Wheather you're familiar with Japanese animation or not, Paprika will expose any newcomer to something foreign and deeply personal as well.

I'm not an expert in anime, nor have I seen a lot of this genre, but I utterly admire the immense creativity of people like Hayao Miyazaki ("Princess Mononoke", "Spirited Away"). Satoshi Kon's "Paprika" is a great example of anime at its finest. The movie is a sea of original ideas and a visual blast. Apparently, the plot is about the theft of a machine that allows scientists to enter and record people's dreams, and how a detective and a young therapist called Paprika join forces to get it back. But there is so much going on and so many smart innuendos (remember: this is Rated R anime, not "Ratatouille" - even though I think the R rating is just too much in this case) that "Paprika" becomes one of the most original adult animations in recent memory - superior to Richard Linklater's "Waking Life" and even "A Scanner Darkly", I dare to say. I won't give away anything because I don't want to spoil a single scene, but I'd say that I see it as a movie about the power of movies over our life/dreams, and about the love people like me have for the Seventh Art. I don't know if that was Kon's original idea and honestly I don't care - it's not every day that you find a movie that amuses and says something to you in such an unpretentious way. Whatever was Kon's original idea, I think that he got what he wanted: a movie that both entertains and makes you think. Simply fascinating. 10/10.

Paprika isn't for the faint-hearted. Don't expect a story for children.

The story opens with a cop who's plagued by a recurring nightmare, so he seeks psychological help. If you've ever seen and enjoyed Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound, it'll help you understanding what's going on in the film.

The cop forms a relationship with Paprika, a dream character who becomes his guide in helping him understand what happened in his past that makes him feel such shame in the present. Paprika assumes many forms in the everchanging dreamscape to relate to the other characters.

This seems all good at the beginning, but the device that enables dream analysis is stolen. This creates an even bigger problem than just nightmares; what happens when people can't control their dreams and has them hijacked by evil? Paprika isn't the easiest movie to sum up. On one level, it's like watching dreamy, fantastical animation, but there's also a deeper psychological question being asked: What is a dream exactly and to what extent does it affect your consciousness and waking life? How much fantasy is good for a person whether it be in dreams or spending time on the Internet? If you bury guilt and desire into your subconscious, how will it manifest in your dreams?

Paprika is definitely a visual spectacle. I don't recommend waiting to see it on video. I had the honor of catching it on the big screen, which I believe is necessary to capture the depth of the imagery. Parts of it really seemed like dreams I've had (times when I've tried to walk, but couldn't get anywhere and the harder I tried, the worse it got).

I put Paprika up there with Pan's Labyrinth. A lot of people will be turned off from it by the subtitles and another set of people will be lost by the mythology in it. If you don't have problems with these kinds of things, you will probably have a delightful viewing experience.

It takes a person with an analytical mind to put the plot together. If you follow the recurring images, the mythology will make sense. A lot happens on the screen. I didn't have a problem understanding what was going on and I enjoyed putting the puzzle together. I don't think most moviegoers are like that these days, so I can see them getting bored or annoyed because they can't figure out what's going on. If you prefer the Disney genre of animation, avoid Paprika, it will just frustrate you. If you're crave more than a simple plot, Paprika will satisfy that hunger.

The soundtrack is quite good too. It's a refreshing break from Elton John power ballads.

But then again, this isn't meant to be for children! Again Japan shows us, that animated movies, doesn't mean "child(ish) movies". Quite the contrary. With it's very complex story, this one will even leave some adults scratching their head after they see it. That's because there are many interpretations for this movie. Which make it a somewhat difficult experience.

Still a good one, but difficult to wrap your mind around it ... The story mind you, never get's out of hand or get's out of hand (in the sense, that it does make ... sense, in the end). If you're ready for a mind trip, this sure will be a great one to take/experience!

A couple weeks ago I was listening to the soundtrack from a movie called Paprika by Hirasawa Susumu. The music fascinated me, it was magnificent.

I was strongly compelled to watch the movie.

The story is based around a lovely lady named Paprika, she has mastered the ability to sail into others dreams and help them with their problems.... an internal dream analysis/counselor.

I found Paprika the movie is as fascinating as the soundtrack .

Needless to say the dream sequences are exquisitely and vividly portrayed. The pace is manic at times and dreams and reality often converge to confuse the characters and especially the viewer. It all comes together however, in what can only be described as the best closing battle sequence I have ever seen...... period!!! Paprika shines.

Now...I never do, with movies what I did with Parika. Firstly the moment the movie finished, I got another cup of coffee and started it up again. Secondly I wrote this review

And now I'm off to watch it again.

Like anime or not, Paprika is NOT to be missed.

Suggestion, if your not used to subs.... get the dubbed version......this is a fast paced movie and will require some attention.

10/10

Conceptually impressive anime often trips over it's own trippy-ness, showing cult potential from the interesting premise, though lacking a pivotal glue to ensure the bold project ranks amongst the genre's best. Pacing and plotting remain a slow, dull affair despite an intricate direction, when contrasted against the highlighted surrealistic dream sequencing. As splendid as some of the imagery looks in finer moments, the convoluted premise takes lengthy liberties a to exploit this plot line without necessarily justifying much of it. A fun, if not altogether satisfying experience served best in tiny pockets of inspirational animated mechanics as opposed to the cyber-thriller it tries to be.

I have only seen this movie a few hours ago and am still stunned by simply how incredible it was. Who ever thought anime could be so fantastical? While the plot, at times confusing and going on the border of being a stereotypical anime, is terrific and i couldn't ask for it to be any better. Many reviewers condemned this film because of the randomness and lack of explanation for some parts, but i believe that Satoshi Kon did this on purpose. Kon simply made this movie like a dream; it is colorful, incredible, random, and offers scarce explanations. The film wants you to think about what the meaning of these "dreams" are, instead of telling you what the meaning is, much like what you would have to do with a real dream.

The best part of this film is that it can appeal to the non-anime fanatic crowd. I have seen all a few animes (only hayao miazaki films) so i wouldn't be called a true fan, and am not much into the science-fiction animes and what not that many people seem to love, yet i could not help but fall in love with Paprika.

Please, Please, PLEASE see this movie. Its too incredible to go under-appreciated by the world. Perhaps the best film of 2007, maybe one of the best from the past few years, if you see this movie you will NOT regret it.

Kon is renowned for his superb editing and wildly creative visuals in Paprika, but for what purpose? What remains when the visuals is eliminated from the equation? Paprika's tale had a painfully obvious twist near the conclusion, and its basic outline was rather shallow. Furthermore, an extraneous romantic element that was considerably less coherent than Kon's most bizarre vision. You're probably thinking, "It's all about the execution; as long as it's done well, who cares about a weak storyline?" Indeed, execution is more crucial than content, and a dull story can be made interesting by using bizarre images and inventive editing. Take Kon's earlier work, Millennium Actress, for instance.

I merely discussed the major plot; the detective's side story was, regrettably, far more intriguing. Here, the visual is used in a way that perfectly complements his tale and conflicts; it is executed similarly to Millennium Actress. When a side plot becomes more fascinating than the main narrative, though, something is off.

Characters are also pretty weak. The antagonist lacked depth and was terribly dull. I'm afraid I can't speak for the other actors in the cast. Furthermore, Atsuko's romantic evolution towards the end was so forced it was unreal. This baffled me more than any bizarre imagery Kon could conjure up, yet again. The only character in Paprika who came close to saving face was Konakawa, the investigator. He genuinely grew during the film and had a respectable amount of characterisation.

Doctor Atsuko Chiba uses her alter-ego Paprika to treat police detective Toshimi Konakawa and his unsolved case in his recurring dream. Chiba, man-child genius Doctor Kōsaku Tokita and Doctor Toratarō Shima are running a secret program to enter into other people's dreams using the DC Mini. When the DC MIni is stolen in an inside job, people's dreams start to get invaded. The wheelchair bound chairman Doctor Seijirō Inui puts up roadblocks on the investigation.

The wild dreamworld is amazing. It is imaginative and creepy. The story is another dreamworld mystery. It does need to work on the real world aspects. It needs to distinguish the real world from the dream world in the first half of the movie. When the worlds start to blend, the audience needs to feel it. The movie as it is never seems to leave the dreamworld. The dreams loses cohesiveness but it never loses its wonder. This is a superb visually wild movie.

I feel like Paprika is almost criticism-proof. Any bad thing I have to say about it can be attributed to intention. The dialog is poor, plot points pop out of nowhere, and logic is thrown out the window. But this all seems to be adding to the mood, a dream-like movie that doesn't follow reality.

But I just don't see the point of this accomplishment. Its weird for the sake of being weird...so? That leaves no impression on me. It could have been any random assortment of images and be just as effective. I can't love a movie through mood alone.

At least it was an interesting sit, with fine animation and plenty of bizarre action. If you're into this kind of style-over-subsistence, then you may love it. For me, its more forgettable than amazing.

I saw Paprika on the Fantastic film Festival of Amsterdam and i was amazed. Being a movie buff since the age of 14 and running to 30. Once in a while i get blown away by a new production. Always been a fan of manga this production from anime master Satoshi Kon is his latest entry is the magic world of drawing. Taking all the space and freedom this genre offers you will be sucked in to a world of fantasy en wonders. Kinda like when you first saw Charlie and the chocolate factory as a kid. The characters are totally lovable en the drawings are of the most beautiful i have ever seen in theater. The story is complex so, if you want to know what all the fuzz is about read another review en check the film.

it's my new love: Paprika 9 a.o.10

What happens when you see a wonderful film, a truly wonderful one, and you are disappointed because the very last one you saw was from the same filmmaker and was very much better? I should have watched some trash first.

The better film I'm alluding to is "Millennium Actress," a wonderful slippery glide through a shifting of life, movies and personal memory. Several things made that great: the drawings were in some places marvelous; the reason for the slips was never explained; and the "wrapping" story was incredibly thin, just barely enough. It was clearly a movie about movies and how life and film make each other.

This one conflates life, dreams and movies in much the same way, and goes further by merging individual lives and dreams. But it is burdened by two things. The first is that the wrapping story is large, heavy. The second is that we have a tedious explanation about why the slips occur: some invented device. And it adopts the Godzilla/Transformers model where two giants fight, towering over the city. Jees.

Two things are superior, however. One is that the dreamworlds give the artist freedom to depart from the constraints of the real. It isn't surreal: that's a very specific thing. But you do have dancing refrigerators leading a parade to hell. You may not appreciate the visuals here, in fact I suspect most won't think them special. But I did.

But the main thing is the title character, a lovely redheaded virtual soul who lives in the dreamworld. She's the pinnacle of girl fantasy: capable, not real, fairy-like but strong, desirable but forceful, following the rules of the world sometimes and writing the rules at other. She's woven from something deep in the psyche, our usually unfound soulmate who writes our dreams that spill into our lives.

But her appearance and character isn't what amazes here. Its how many different ways the filmmaker has her interact with the dream world. I stopped noting them because they were so varied and clever. She flies of course, she morphs. She shares a body in the real world of a woman scientist. (There's a truly remarkable dream scene when a vagina is "unzipped" to the forehead to reveal the true woman within.) She merges with shadows, reflections, light and shadow. She appears from dolls and billboards, clouds. From cracks and folds. Its as if there was a list of all possibilities that is being exhausted.

I will suggest that you see this before "Millennium Actress." Then both will blow you away.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

I think it was a little difficult to understand the concept of this movie. I myself am not sure if I understood the author's meaning correctly or not. In my opinion, Inception is a more attractive offer.

Also, getting into the story was very quick. Due to the large amount of content, important events happened quickly and did not give the viewer a chance to breathe.

In general, I recommend this movie, but not to everyone. If you like Sural's ideas, be sure to watch this movie. Also, don't forget that every moment of this movie is important and you can't easily skip any of the sequences. So give all your heart to the movie.

I'm still a bit stunned after watching this movie - and that amazingly OTT theme music is running around my head. I'm not much of an Anime fan - I find most of it simply too juvenile. But this is something else entirely - a crazed storyline, like something Phillip K. Dick would have come up with on mescaline...

I won't attempt much of a summary as its entirely possible I've gotten it all wrong, but it involves a dream detective who may (or may not) be an alter ego of a scientist involved in a machine to read dreams, a detective who may (or may not) have had some involvement a murder he is investigating, a wheelchair bound CEO who..... oh, nevermind, this is pointless! Suffice to say from the very first scene there is a stunning overload of images and overlapping stories, and its difficult to know if even the director had a clear idea of what he was saying. But its never, for one moment boring, and i strongly suspect there are multiple deeper meanings going on here, this is a movie that will stand up to multiple viewings to try to decode all the sub plots and metaphors.

Even if you are not a fan of anime, if you just like dazzling film making that will stretch your imagination - Paprika is for you (and no, i have no idea why she is called Paprika).

Visually dazzlying at times, and a bit repetitive at others. The story is structurally sound, a bit awash in its own psychological symbols, but in a playful and sinister J-pop way the film as a whole, still manages still hold itself together. It's not Howl's Moving Castle and it's not Ghost In The Shell, and it seems like it was shooting in between, with playful excess and somber seriousness, though largely off course. The animation however was beautiful, and the film excelled during those madcap Technicolor dream sequences, but suffers as it tries to create tension and a sense of mystery. The characters fall somewhat flat, especially our heroine Paprika, however this was a much more interesting anime than most, with a story which will interest those looking for great Japanese animation that does not derive from the Manga tradition(this film was based on a novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui), and which does deliver in cinematic beauty and whimsy, this is for you. Enjoy the pretty colors.

Paprika is gorgeous. No missing that. Unfortunately, that's really the only reason to see it.

The first 15 minutes are so heavy on the "wow!" factor they leave you primed for the movie experience of your life. However, things start to fall apart as soon as the story gets rolling. Don't you hate when that happens?

There's a lot of the unexplained weirdness that seems to permeate all things anime. Things that, were they in a live action, English-speaking movie, would have people in the theater shouting "what!?" at the screen. But somehow we're expected to overlook nonsense in Japanese animation. Sorry, folks, but coherent story writing does not discriminate.

A lot of things that needed 5 minutes of careful explanation are given 2 lines and a wink. Instead, that time is wasted on meaningless psychological hoo-ha. The very important relationship between two very important characters is not explained in the least, and the finale is utterly baffling, though, of course, visually stunning.

I really wanted to like Paprika, but it just doesn't quite cut it. It's entertaining, appealing, and ultimately meaningless. In short: a blockbuster. The movie is absolutely worth seeing, but don't expect a new anime classic. Oh well.

My brother was shopping around for my birthday, when he happened upon the film Paprika in the store. Caught by the gorgeous artwork and the synopsis on the back, he was convinced I'd enjoy the movie. I, on the other hand, was skeptical. Oh, I enjoy anime, but I'm very picky about what I watch.

I'm glad I didn't hesitate to open the film up and pop it in my DVD player. First of all, my DVD player is old and cranky and it randomly decides what it will and won't play. But it played Paprika beautifully. And speaking of beautiful, this film is one beautiful spark of imagery after another. A visually stunning piece, at least on par with a true classic and a favorite of mine since early childhood, The Wizard of Oz. As I already mentioned, the box art was gorgeous.

Paprika doesn't disappoint visually, in the least. As an artist, I found myself admiring technique and the seamless flow between dreams and reality. The use of color is exquisite, subtle and masterful. Even the English voice actors were wonderful, and for once, a dub of English used almost word for word the translations, replacing only the occasional word, and even then, only rarely. Words were changed, but perhaps only one line's actual context was changed in the entire film.

There are several subtitle options, which I find useful for watching films with friends who don't natively speak English. If I just turn the subtitles on, my friends can follow along more easily. And the nerd in me wanted to see HOW drastically the translation was changed. As stated before, much of the time, it's word for word! If you watch much in the way of anime, you KNOW how rare that is, in a dub, let alone the voice acting, which was always believable.

And let's not forget the music. A good film score will blend so seamlessly with the scene that you notice it rarely. Such is the case with Paprika. That's not to say that the music wasn't worth attention, because it was beautiful from start to finish. From the opening credits to the end credits, the music embodies the story, embracing the art fully, but it's crafted to avoid drawing attention to itself, making it all the more wonderful, listening to it on its own.

All in all, this film is worth the buy, and I anticipate watching it many times, especially if I'm feeling down or uninspired. Who can feel uninspired with a perky gal like Paprika getting into adventure? Though I didn't get to watch it ON my birthday, it made my birthday celebration complete!

Trippy Japanese animé that mixes dreams with reality. You never really know what's going to come next in this picture. It's very entertaining, but only up to a point. It never establishes its own reality, so the constant surrealism does grow tiring after a while. And the characters are thin. A movie with such fantastic imagery shouldn't be as easily forgotten as this one is, and if I cared more about the story and the characters, that wouldn't be the case. I love the drawings themselves, but the animation is choppy, certainly much more so than a Ghibli film. My only other experience with Satoshi Kon is Tokyo Godfathers, and I do prefer Paprika to that for sure. It is quite fun. Certainly worth renting, if not going to the theater.

"Paprika" attempts to lure you into the world of dreams with its vivid imagery and trippy sequences. While it certainly is a bit of eye-candy to behold, the reach of this film far exceeds its grasp.

I desperately wanted to like this film. I thought it was going to blow my mind when I started watching it. The art combined with the subject matter should have by all means resulted in something amazing, yet it falls flat on its face. The film could have truly been visionary had it narrowed its focus, but the themes and attempts at philosophy they try to present are scattered at best.

A little cohesion could have gone a long way. I'm aware it's a movie about dreams, but that does not mean the writers can throw things together randomly and expect it to work. Stories are meant to be followed by an audience, and thus still have limits, regardless of how absurd the topic is. Even getting rid of a plot entirely would have been an improvement, but the fact that it tries to tell a story while only being half-aware of its audience left me with a feeling of utter disappointment.

The film is on the whole pretentious and superficial. On the surface it pretends to be rich and meaningful but it is ultimately shallow and of no consequence. I'm sure it will appeal to the anime subculture which absolutely eats up anything Japanese. The style and incoherence of this film will give them the added bonus of feeling like they "got" something deep, when in reality the movie is devoid of substance.

"Paprika" might be worth seeing for the visuals alone if you haven't seen anything similar before, but only because it comes in at a short 90 minutes. However, if you're a newcomer to anime, please ignore this film. Anime is so blindly eaten up by fans that putting more than a little effort into the story is almost a waste of time. Tripe like this masquerades as being some of the best the genre has to offer, causing many to ignore some truly great films.

It's unfortunate such a talented animation studio (Madhouse Studios) is wasting their time on material like this. They're a Japanese studio but paired with a writer on the level of Charlie Kaufman or someone of similar creativity and story-telling skill, they could accomplish something truly revolutionary.

A note to the aforementioned anime fans: Do your genre a favor and stop drooling over movies like this so blindly. You can at least pretend to give a damn about substance and watch half-decent films, like "Grave of the Fireflies" or even "Spirited Away". This genre will forever remain on the fringes until newcomers can reliably separate the great from the simply pretentious. For the genre's sake and that of your own critical development: Be a little more picky with your films! And the best part is, you get to keep the same smug sense of self-satisfaction. It's win-win.