Paprika was directed and co-written by Satoshi Kon, an auteur that my wife seems to really like. Unfortunately he passed away only a few years ago at the young age of 46 and unless his uncompleted project Dreaming Machine is released, this film qualifies as as his final feature film.
Kon seems to have a penchant for female leads and so appropriately enough the name “Paprika” here refers to an elusive woman who seems to have an unusual affinity for dreams. The plot centers around a device that allows the user to enter and participate in the dreams of others. It’s ostensibly used to assist patients as a novel form of psychotherapy, with police detective Konakawa being one such patient under the guidance of Paprika. But prototypes of the device go missing from the company that created it and soon an unknown terrorist starts using it to invade the dreams of others. The inventor of the machine, the heavily obese Dr. Tokita, together with his colleagues Dr. Chiba and Dr. Shima must then work out the identity of the thief.
These days when you think of dreams in movies, you think of Inception, and it wouldn’t be wrong to say that this is Inception turned up to eleven. The dream imagery here emphasizes the eerie and the disturbing. Think creepy dolls and a massive parade of sinister toys. Or an army of enemies all wearing your face. Each character’s dreams match with their individual personalities and neuroses. As such, Dr. Tokita appears as a giant robot while Konakawa’s dreams are filled with scenes from detective movies. If nothing else, Paprika is a fantastic showcase of pure imagination, with plenty of visual flourishes to delight and surprise at every turn.
Where it loses points for me is the story’s lack of coherence. As befits its theme, the border between reality and dreams isn’t clear. I can understand and appreciate that such scenes should be read poetically rather than literally. Yet some misleading clues rankles with me. For example, Paprika is later revealed to be an entity who is at home in the dreamscape, so how could she have seemingly met with Konakawa to offer him treatment at the beginning of the film and handed him a physical calling card? I’m not a fan of the main plot either with the fairly predictable identity of the ultimate villain, not to mention all that mumbo-jumbo about being the guardian of dreams.
That said, there are some good bits to the story. Dr. Chiba’s romantic relationship ends up taking a pleasantly surprising turn. But my favorite part is Konakawa’s personal arc. I was afraid it was going to turn into a real hunt for a murderer and be terribly rote that way but it turns out to be a fairly original take on a man’s psyche based on tropes from cinema. To me, it’s the one part of the film that is emotionally resonant. The rest of the film looks nice and comes across as being crazily creative, but emotionally speaking feels hollow. On balance, I found Paprika to be a worthwhile watch but my wife liked it quite a bit more than I did.