Paprika, the new anime film by Satoshi Kon ("Perfect Blue", "Tokyo Godfathers"), is every bit as meserizing as you have heard. It follows the story of the DC Mini, a device created to allow people to see what others are dreaming, and the people involved with it. I’m going to try to keep the description as vague as possible so as not to give away any spoilers.
I am a newcomer to the whole anime genre. I had seen “Perfect Blue” a few years ago, and really enjoyed it, but it was only this year that I finally saw “Akira” and “Ghost In the Shell” and my appreciation for anime began to grow. When I first saw a trailer for “Paprika”, I was, as I said before, mesmerized. I couldn’t take my eyes off, I wanted more. My biggest complaint about anime before “Paprika” was that it was so difficult to understand. Usually the films took more than one viewing to fully grasp what had just happened. While that’s entertaining occasionally, in my experience that had been the case for every anime. To me, they were an acquired taste, like Miike movies, and I was going to try to acquire that taste. “Paprika” helped give me the push into anime that I needed. It’s plot is complicated enough to keep it interesting, but it’s simple enough to understand in one viewing. However, this is a film that stays with you long after you’ve seen it, revealing more of itself to you day by day.
The animation in this film is none less than phenomenal. From the breathtaking opening scene, in which Paprika bounces throughout a city scene, popping in and out of billboards, transforming into the people around her, to the climactic ending, the audience is held in the spell of the visual beauty of this film. The soundtrack adds the perfect compliment to the visuals. Susumu Hirasawa, using keyboards and various electronic instruments along with vocals, composed the score, and it’s entirely infectious. The song that is heard in the trailer is the song that is played during that breathtaking opening sequence, and I’ve had it stuck in my head ever since I saw it. One of the songs from the soundtrack can be downloaded for free by clicking here. Lucky for us, Susumu Hirasawa is a free music advocate.
The characters are also a lot of fun to explore. Because we get to see their dreams, fantasies, and fears, the audience gets to see all facets of every character. It never becomes too confusing either. I wish I could tell you more about my favorite parts, but it would give away too much. If it were me, I wouldn’t want anyone to spoil this lovely film.
Several questions have been asked as to the nature of the “R” rating. Animation too often throws people off. How bad can it really be? Well, “Paprika” really isn’t terrible. There’s no blood, no gore, but there are plenty of suggestive visuals. If a child were to watch this film, they probably wouldn’t get half if not all of what the visuals are supposed to suggest, but still they should probably not see it. The storyline alone is too confusing for a child let alone the average teenager, so the R rating is justified, especially coupled with the visuals.
I understand that “Paprika” is currently undergoing a very limited release, which is unfortunate. This film deserves to be taken in on a big screen with an audience.
I am a newcomer to the whole anime genre. I had seen “Perfect Blue” a few years ago, and really enjoyed it, but it was only this year that I finally saw “Akira” and “Ghost In the Shell” and my appreciation for anime began to grow. When I first saw a trailer for “Paprika”, I was, as I said before, mesmerized. I couldn’t take my eyes off, I wanted more. My biggest complaint about anime before “Paprika” was that it was so difficult to understand. Usually the films took more than one viewing to fully grasp what had just happened. While that’s entertaining occasionally, in my experience that had been the case for every anime. To me, they were an acquired taste, like Miike movies, and I was going to try to acquire that taste. “Paprika” helped give me the push into anime that I needed. It’s plot is complicated enough to keep it interesting, but it’s simple enough to understand in one viewing. However, this is a film that stays with you long after you’ve seen it, revealing more of itself to you day by day.
The animation in this film is none less than phenomenal. From the breathtaking opening scene, in which Paprika bounces throughout a city scene, popping in and out of billboards, transforming into the people around her, to the climactic ending, the audience is held in the spell of the visual beauty of this film. The soundtrack adds the perfect compliment to the visuals. Susumu Hirasawa, using keyboards and various electronic instruments along with vocals, composed the score, and it’s entirely infectious. The song that is heard in the trailer is the song that is played during that breathtaking opening sequence, and I’ve had it stuck in my head ever since I saw it. One of the songs from the soundtrack can be downloaded for free by clicking here. Lucky for us, Susumu Hirasawa is a free music advocate.
The characters are also a lot of fun to explore. Because we get to see their dreams, fantasies, and fears, the audience gets to see all facets of every character. It never becomes too confusing either. I wish I could tell you more about my favorite parts, but it would give away too much. If it were me, I wouldn’t want anyone to spoil this lovely film.
Several questions have been asked as to the nature of the “R” rating. Animation too often throws people off. How bad can it really be? Well, “Paprika” really isn’t terrible. There’s no blood, no gore, but there are plenty of suggestive visuals. If a child were to watch this film, they probably wouldn’t get half if not all of what the visuals are supposed to suggest, but still they should probably not see it. The storyline alone is too confusing for a child let alone the average teenager, so the R rating is justified, especially coupled with the visuals.
I understand that “Paprika” is currently undergoing a very limited release, which is unfortunate. This film deserves to be taken in on a big screen with an audience.
Bill Paxton, everyone knows who he is, plays Bill Henrickson, a polygamist with three wives living in a suburb of Salt Lake City, who owns his own home improvement store, Henrickson’s Home Plus. Henrickson’s Home Plus has become very popular, kind of like Lowe’s on a smaller scale, and Bill is just opening his second store. Bill even is the star of the Home Plus commercials. He’s a very public figure. But since polygamy is illegal, he must keep his personal life a secret. He lives with his three wives in three separate houses all on the same street in a row. Their backyards are all connected, but from the front, it looks completely unsuspicious. He spends one night with each wife, and each night, each wife expects him to “perform”. Naturally, he’s taking Viagra too keep up with the demands. 
Barb, the First Wife, played by Jeanne Tripplehorn (“Waterworld”), has been married to Bill for eighteen years. This is the woman he fell in love with, probably in college. They dated, fell in love, planned the big wedding, they’ve got history. Barb has three children with Bill; Ben, Sarah, and Teeny. These are the only children of Bill’s that get to be seen in public with him, and Barb is the only wife that gets to be seen in public with Bill. Barb and Bill have this very sweet relationship. You can visibly see the love they have for each other. 
Nicki, the Second Wife, played by Chloe Sevigny (everyone knows who she is too), has been married to Bill for six years. Now this is where the good stuff comes in. Bill brought on Nicki as a second wife when Barb was in the hospital with cancer. They thought that Barb was going to die. Nicki helped nurse Barb back to health. Nicki is from Juniper Creek, a polygamist compound out in the middle of nowhere where girls are forced into polygamy at a young age, and everyone dresses in “prairie clothes”. All the women have long French braids and wear no makeup. This is also where Bill grew up, so most likely (if they mentioned this, I must have missed it) Bill and Nicki knew each other at a young age. Nicki’s father is Roman Grant, who the people of Juniper Creek revere as “The Prophet”. He has about 10 wives (we’ve only seen all of them once, I think, and I couldn’t count) and his youngest is Rhonda, played by Daveigh Chase (Samara Morgan from “The Ring”). Rhonda is only about 14 and she will be “sealed” (married) to Roman on her next birthday. Now back to Nicki. She has two children with Bill, Wayne and Lester. But instead of spending her time raising her children, she has an enormous spending problem. She has racked up around $60,000 in credit card debt, and has received help paying her bills from her father, Roman Grant. This is a problem because Roman helped Bill out financially when Barb was in the hospital, and Bill is paying him back through a percentage of his store. When Bill opened the second store, Roman started to collect on that one as well, even though Bill paid back his debt. This sparked an all out war between the two. Roman helping Nicki doesn’t help the situation between Roman and Bill.
