Paprika is set in a future where technology, the "DC mini," has enabled psychologist to share dream space with their patients, witnessing and participating in their dreams firsthand. Atsuko Chiba practices legally under her given name, and illegally with unofficial patients under the persona of "Paprika," a sort of rogue dream handyman (not unlike Robert DeNiro's rogue electrician in Brazil?). When the technology is stolen, her lab must attack directly what they dub "dream terrorism," a chaotic world in which anyone can invade another's mind and dreams function like bacteria--infecting anyone who is exposed. The movie is strange--not because of the surreal dream sequences (I liked the parade of household appliances and felt it didn't clearly constitute terrorism), but because it was fun but somehow didn't grab me at all. Attempting to classify it is extremely fun--my best stab is something like psycho-cyber-noir, not quite cyber punk, but not...not if you know what I mean. Noir is usually a genre that's really interested in psychology as it relates to stock characters--jungian archetypes in psychological terms. This movie expands the tendency a bit, exploring the notion of fractured selves and contradictory impulses as what makes us fundamentally human. It also raises some interesting questions about what aspects of our identity might be sacred, a common and compelling question in science fiction. In spite of these fun tendencies, all of which are exactly the sort of thing I love, I just never felt quite attached to the movie itself. It feels like something fun but not really engaging, the sort of movie that might later be shot live action with Keanu Reeves, woodenly fretting about seemingly innocuous childhood experiences and looking about intensely at yet another dystopian future set. I loved the music and a few aesthetic moments, but in the end it just didn't take me in. I'm meeting with the friend who lent me the movie for dinner tomorrow--she will certainly be horrified to see me so non-commital. [Photo: Why didn't I like this movie more?]
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Paprika
Paprika is set in a future where technology, the "DC mini," has enabled psychologist to share dream space with their patients, witnessing and participating in their dreams firsthand. Atsuko Chiba practices legally under her given name, and illegally with unofficial patients under the persona of "Paprika," a sort of rogue dream handyman (not unlike Robert DeNiro's rogue electrician in Brazil?). When the technology is stolen, her lab must attack directly what they dub "dream terrorism," a chaotic world in which anyone can invade another's mind and dreams function like bacteria--infecting anyone who is exposed. The movie is strange--not because of the surreal dream sequences (I liked the parade of household appliances and felt it didn't clearly constitute terrorism), but because it was fun but somehow didn't grab me at all. Attempting to classify it is extremely fun--my best stab is something like psycho-cyber-noir, not quite cyber punk, but not...not if you know what I mean. Noir is usually a genre that's really interested in psychology as it relates to stock characters--jungian archetypes in psychological terms. This movie expands the tendency a bit, exploring the notion of fractured selves and contradictory impulses as what makes us fundamentally human. It also raises some interesting questions about what aspects of our identity might be sacred, a common and compelling question in science fiction. In spite of these fun tendencies, all of which are exactly the sort of thing I love, I just never felt quite attached to the movie itself. It feels like something fun but not really engaging, the sort of movie that might later be shot live action with Keanu Reeves, woodenly fretting about seemingly innocuous childhood experiences and looking about intensely at yet another dystopian future set. I loved the music and a few aesthetic moments, but in the end it just didn't take me in. I'm meeting with the friend who lent me the movie for dinner tomorrow--she will certainly be horrified to see me so non-commital. [Photo: Why didn't I like this movie more?]
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3 comments:
I have seen this. I don't remember a bit of it. There is a giant swath of anime that confuses me, to the point where I don't know if I'm seeing whimsy or nightmare; sounds like this was one of those.
I suck at watching movies.
Oh, we should totally make a "whimsy vs nightmare" graph!
And we should maybe change the name of this blog to isuckatwatchingmoviesdotblogspotdotcom...
Oh good an opportunity for distraction. Yours is better, plus I really do suck at watching movies.
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