Paprika (2006) is a film directed by Satoshi Kon based on the novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui. The films plot is about a group of scientists that develop an apparatus called the DC mini that is able to play back the wearers dreams. The DC mini falls into the wrong hands as peoples dreams start morphing into each other and also blending with reality. The main character Dr. Atsuko Chiba and her alter ego entitled Paprika in the dream world set out to restore the world to its natural state. The main themes deal with everything in the subconscious mind, Kon explains his inspiration for making Tsutsui's novel into the animation "What fascinates me in dreams is the idea that they emanate from our subconscious. I think that there are many possibilities to interpret dreams but a great deal of mystery always remains. When a dream is explained to us, it’s necessary to know the personal context of the subject. For example, what his childhood was like, his adolescence, his interpersonal relations. You’ve got to understand all these elements in order to tally up the dream and to decode it." (Kon 2006)
Paprika is a film that really shows the possibilities of animation with the whimsical dream world comprising of morphs and liquefy effects (fig 2) that make it feel otherworldly known as Phantasmagoria which is a sequence of real of imagery images like that of a dream. Paprika is a film that truly could not be accomplished with live action. The beautiful malleable visuals coupled with adult themes and a storyline that makes you think makes Paprika a very mature adult animation.
Kon began his career as a comic artist in university while studying visual communication. Kon eventually being work as a background and layout artist for different anime's starting with the anthology series Memories with Magnetic Rose being Kons first experience with writing the story along with doing being the layout and background artist. Kons later projects including Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress (2001) and Tokyo Godfathers (2003) started to earn recognition in the film making world for his efforts.
Paprika had a budget of $4 million with a crew of 50 people and took two years to produce with traditional had drawn techniques being prevalent. Kon uses a hands on approach when seeing his films from script to screen writing, storyboarding and being a layout artist are all part of his skillset to see his visions come to life. Gregory singer for Animation World Network writes "Unlike other studios, where disciplines may be partitioned and segregated among a large group of people, in Japan the same amount of work is done more economically. With fewer people overseeing more tasks, the crew feels a much deeper sense of involvement in the project." Singer (2007)
On September 2006 Paprika was premiered at the Venice film Festival followed by other festivals some of which include The Tokyo International Film Festival on October 21–29, 2006, and the 44th New York Film Festival on October 7, 2006. Paprika has been critically acclaimed by critics and audiences and has won many awards some of which include a feature film award at the Newport Beach Film Festival, Best music at the Tokyo Anime Awards in and a critics award at Fantasporto.
Bibliography
Kon, S. (2006). Paprika. [online] IMDb. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0851578/awards [Accessed 4 Feb. 2018].
Pais, J. (2006). PAPRIKA: Interview with Satoshi Kon. [online] ScreenAnarchy. Available at: http://screenanarchy.com/2006/10/paprika-interview-with-satoshi-kon.html [Accessed 4 Feb. 2018].
Singer, G. (2007). 'Paprika': Satori With Satoshi. [online] Animation World Network. Available at: https://www.awn.com/animationworld/paprika-satori-satoshi [Accessed 4 Feb. 2018]
Illustration List
Kon, S. (2006). [image] Available at: http://www.tboake.com/443-wall-paprika-f2009.html [Accessed 4 Feb. 2018].
Kon, S. (2006). [image] Available at: http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/movies/Paprika/ [Accessed 4 Feb. 2018]
FYI - Graeme, film reviews are part of Premise not toolkit.
ReplyDeleteCheers Alan :)
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