The Japanese anime, “Paprika” is an exciting sci-fi action thriller with stunning imagery, a mind-twisting plot and some thought-provoking social commentary.
The story centers around a new psychotherapy device called the DC Mini, invented by a group of scientists at a psychiatric research institute, which enables them to enter people’s dreams, explore their sub-conscious thoughts and help them work out their psychological issues. Just as the DC Mini is about to be approved by the government, several prototypes go missing, along with one of the scientists. Soon the perfect dream machine is being used as a terrorist weapon to freak people out by traumatizing them with nightmarish visions implanted into their minds. Called upon to uncover the evil mastermind is Dr. Atsuko Chiba, the head of the DC Mini development team and a somewhat stern psychotherapist, who can dive into this dangerous dream world using her alter-ego “Paprika”: a feisty, kick-ass warrior-detective who gives new meaning to the term “dream girl”. She is supported by some intriguing sidekicks: chunky colleague Dr. Tokita, the genius inventor of the DC Mini; Dr. Shima, a spunky little fellow known as The Chief; and Detective Konakawa, a hardened cop trapped in his own film-noir dream. As the various characters weave between their own dreams and the dreams of others in search of the terrorist, they also discover new insights about themselves.
As imagined by director Satoshi Kon, the dream world of “Paprika” is a scary and chaotic realm reminiscent of a Freudian sub-conscious run amok: a parade of dancing kitchen appliances, drumming frogs, laughing dolls, a Statue of Liberty, a rocking Torii gate along with other detritus marches along to a point of no return, sweeping up all the humans in its path; a giant geisha doll pierces glass with her high-pitched screaming and crashes through the Tokyo streets like Godzilla and a marauding robot with an insatiable appetite gobbles up whomever it wants.
Just like a dream, the narrative has many layers and isn’t always coherent. Not a big deal. The eye-popping, fantastical visual delights are enthralling in and of themselves. On another level, the film probes deeper psychological questions about the boundary between dreams and reality, how that which we repress or try to control inevitably escapes into dreams and how the Internet and dreams are similar. Ultimately, the dark world of “Paprika” underscores a cautionary message about the de-humanizing impact of technology and the danger lurking in our escapist fantasies that threatens to pull us further away from the real world and from each other.
