Paprika

Woah. This is really cool :)

It is a little crazy, but it is just beautifully complex and just so good

only been watching for half an hour, already can give it a ten, a movie like transition between time and space, ahead of its time, if time ever exists...paving the way for Inception

It’s like _Perfect Blue_ if you’d up the amount of Lynch and Gilliam. Sure, you could argue that _Inception_ ripped this idea off, but besides sharing a similar concept at the core both of these films arrive at very different artistic conclusions. This isn’t doing James Bond with an experimental (yet still very accessible) paint job, instead it’s fully embracing the surrealism and psychedelic imagery that feels intuitive for a movie about dreams. There’s not a lot of handholding here, therefore probably requiring multiple rewatches to fully comprehend what’s going on. I loved the story, it’s very well paced and definitely among the most imaginative/ visually creative films ever made.

9/10

chaotically amazing! masterpiece huh😏

Inception can suck it

♥!

>*"Science is nothing but a piece of trash before a profound dream."*

Satoshi Kon sure had imagination! I still prefer *Perfect Blue* but this was just as mind-boggling, both movies that demand rewatches to fully comprehend. No idea what I was watching most of the time visually but I at least understood the themes(?) ***Paprika*** at it's core is about identity, our main character has two of them (or so it seems) and she doesn't know which to embrace. It also blurs the lines between dream and reality and the movie does an excellent job at confusing the audience because I wasn't sure most of the time which it was. When dreams and reality mix too much they become delusions?

The dream world visuals are insane, so much attention to detail with the backgrounds, toys, dolls. Very nice colorful animation, love it. The Dream Machine concept has been remade to death but it feels distinct enough to be original here. Crazy how good every character was woven into the story, none of them are dead weight. Lots of movie references but I might be confused with more recent movies that drew inspiration from this. Some thrilling sequences I didn't expect and very fun with all the creative colorful wtf visuals displayed on-screen.

The mystery at the core and the creepy investigation was captivating but I wish it wasn't as rushed and simplistic (compared to everything else here) it could've been better and I wouldn't mind a 2h runtime. More focus on the main character would help. Perhaps too many villains too? Felt like this movie was trying to do too much with a short runtime and ended up feeling slightly unfocused and undercooked as a result. Still hella enjoyed it and would definitely rewatch.

"The Internet and dreams are similar. They're areas where the repressed conscious mind escapes."

Not for children or the faint of heart.

'Paprika' doesn't hesitate when descending into a trippy nightmare with it's untamed imagination. It's like an anime comic book coming to life in a Salvador Dali style of surreal. Even the square frame can't contain the madness of the dreamworld.

Once the song 'Susumu Hirasawa - Parade' started playing, I knew that things were gonna get weird, real fast.

However, not to say the movie doesn't hold any beauty in it's dreamlike setup. All colors and animation aside, the beauty itself comes from the imagination and the amount of detail Satoshi put into the movie, which was mesmerizing.

The soundtrack's great as well. It's so full of energy and joy that it doesn't matter if I didn't know what the lyrics are actually saying.

I think director Satoshi Kon said it better himself:

"If you look at a dream overall, it's very difficult to discern the meaning. However, as time goes on, there might be certain meanings in the background. Movies that you can watch once and understand entirely -- that is the type of movie that I don't really like. However, if you are able to understand 70 to 80 percent of what's being relayed, and there's still some percentage left that would allow for your own interpretation . . . that's the type of movie that I do like. There might be a certain part that you don't quite understand, but there is a portion that rests in your heart."

R.I.P

In a distant, familiar future, our dreams can be breached, shared and "hacked" via a specialized piece of hardware. This seems to function as a potent means of psychotherapy, but when a prototype falls into unknown hands, the ramifications are potentially catastrophic. Sure enough, before we've even narrowed down a list of suspects, the line between fantasy and reality grows blurred, smudged beyond all recognition. Surreal, trippy phantoms invade the waking world, drawing fistfuls of unsuspecting day-sleepers happily down the rabbit hole in their hallucinogenic parade through the city. Even more experienced staff members, such as the titular dream agent Paprika, can't always discern tangible from artificial, which makes for some unpredictable twists and a playful relationship with the viewer's perceptions.

The last film of Satoshi Kon's tragically short career, it should go without saying that Paprika is gorgeously animated, with a ridiculous level of detail and a very pronounced, unusually fluid sense of motion. Anime can often lean too much on sudden movements and long, lingering static shots, but Kon's cast is constantly doing something. Their world feels lived-in and awake, even when its contents are a mere illusion. Ferociously creative, proudly odd and unrestrainedly beautiful, my biggest complaints are that the dialog is often smothered by rambling, incoherent victims and, as a result, the plot can be quite difficult to follow. A wonderful experiment, overflowing with ripe ideas and memorable scenes, but a good fifty percent of the subtitles can be ignored and the resolution leaves something to be desired. Would be a fantastic film to experience on psychoactive drugs.

Very Few movies have I been so sure I understand as well as this one. Which is ironic because in terms of actual story elements I feel like I missed plenty. Despite that I feel I completely understand what it was trying to convey to me, even if I missed some of the finer details. The magic of cinema, the revitalization of dreams, and the completion of people into their whole.

If you want to know if you will like this movie watch the opening credit sequence, if you understand that, then you will understand this movie. If you find yourself wondering the meaning behind things or the point of it all, remember your last good dream. Maybe then you will understand. 4 stars. 82/100.