Movies 2008 #18 Paprika

Paprika

I hope the trajectory of Satoshi Kon’s career continues on this upward swing, because my enjoyment of this work has been trending up with each of his projects, culminating with my unabashed admiration for the last two. Paprika, a full-length feature from 2006 and Paranoia Agent, a television series from 2004 both possess a unique, hallucinogenic vision and a fascinating examination of the nature of reality.

Paprika directly examines the line between the waking and dreaming worlds. Plot-wise, it’s based on the use of a technology that allows users to share the perception of a collective dreamspace. The technology falls into the wrong hands (doesn’t it always?) and the walls between the two begin to crumble, allowing the dreamworld to bleed into the real world. A race then ensues to bottle the dreamworld back up and save reality. All of this is told in a style that would make Alejandro Jodorowsky proud. While certainly not as creative as Jodo, it does share a similar, “what will happen next?” approach that I simply love. If you share my love of that hallucinogenic mind/eye candy style, then Paprika is definitely recommended.