Movies share such a deep
connection with dreams that we describe our dreams in cinematic terms as often
as filmmakers conjure up evocative and memorable dream sequences. Many films
have depicted the elusive dimension of our dreams, but few have explored this
territory with as much style, nerve, and imagination as Satoshi Kon’s Paprika.
In just ninety minutes, Paprika weaves together a hard-boiled noir
mystery complete with a world-weary detective, a sci-fi thriller in which a
group of scientists race to retrieve a dangerous new technology, and an
exhilarating visual expression of the limitless frontiers of dreams. With this
remarkable blend of gripping genre narrative and non-linear elements, Kon draws
the connection between dreams and films even tighter by melding his
dream-focused masterpiece with a love letter to the magic of filmmaking.
The notion that a
machine capable of capturing dreams would become a potentially dangerous and
extremely valuable device runs through films like Wim Wenders’ Until the End
of the World and Christopher Nolan’s Inception, but Paprika
allows this idea to blossom and thrive in a singularly captivating manner. The
film’s mind-bending opening sequence establishes the DC Mini, an experimental
technology that allows therapists to enter the dreams of their patients. After
this introduction, the team of scientists who developed the DC Mini realize
that someone has stolen it. With this team, Satoshi Kon creates a dynamic group
of idiosyncratic characters who revere the awesome potential of their discovery
as much as they fear the consequences of the DC Mini falling into the wrong
hands. Just as the film’s characters caution each other about the risks of
exploring the dreams of others, Kon demonstrates a similar respect in his
depictions of the subconscious mind. Yes, the screen repeatedly fills with
psychedelic images of gleefully uninhibited minds running rampant, but the
dreams in Paprika aren’t simply gorgeous set pieces. These dreams are
not only essential to the film’s tricky plot, but they also offer the audience
insight into the motivations, fears, and desires of the main characters. Kon
references many films (including his own works) throughout the dream sequences
in Paprika and celebrates the dreamer as a creative hero equal to any
lauded filmmaker. Early in the film, the character of Paprika establishes this
sentiment by declaring, “REM sleep that occurs later during the sleep cycle is
longer and easier to analyze. If earlier cycles are, say, artsy film shorts,
later cycles are like feature-length blockbuster movies.” With nods to screen
icons like Tarzan and James Bond as well as tributes to master filmmakers like
Akira Kurosawa and Walt Disney, Kon draws out the intangible links between the
creative domains of dreams and films.
Satoshi Kon’s innovative
animation techniques allow for fluid transitions between the characters’
kinetic, stylized reality and the boisterously warped terrain of their
subconscious minds. This approach taps into the stunning beauty and uniquely
disturbing realms of dreams in a manner nearly unrivaled in modern cinema.
Where other filmmakers have resorted to distant, flickering tableaus or
stunning, but leaden special effects to portray unconscious visions, Kon
explodes our expectations with unbridled flurries of fantastic images that fall
into the uncanny rhythm and logic present only in dreams. Sadly, Paprika
became Kon’s fourth and final film before his death at the age of 46, but this
film endures as an achievement in the artistic investigation into the timeless
mysteries and enchantments we encounter when we sleep.
-
John
Parsell
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