Paprika [Blu-ray] | ![Paprika [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/617lU64lWdL._SL160_.jpg) | Director: Satoshi Kon
Actors: Megumi Hayashibara, Toru Emori, Katsunosuke Hori, Tôru Furuya, Kôichi Yamadera
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $16.99
as of 9/5/2010 07:22 CDT details
You Save: $7.96 (32%)
New (12) Used (7) from $14.19
Seller: Amazon.com
Rating:  96 reviews
Sales Rank: 2,640
Format: AC-3, Animated, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: Korean (Subtitled), Japanese (Original Language), English (Original Language), French (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), Portuguese (Original Language), Cantonese (Original Language), Mandarin Chinese (Original Language), Thai (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: Blu-ray
Region: 1
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Running Time: 90 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 5.3 x 0.5
MPN: 043396208667
UPC: 043396208667
EAN: 0043396208667
ASIN: B000VWYJ5Y
Theatrical Release Date: 2006
Release Date: November 27, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Amazon.com
Based on a novel by the noted Japanese science fiction writer Yasutaka Tsutui, the brilliant and unsettling feature Paprika continues director Satoshi Kon's exploration of the disturbingly permeable boundaries between dreams and reality. Techno-geek Kosaku Tokita invented the DC Mini to allow therapists to enter a patient's dreams and explore his unconscious, but an evil cabal uses the Mini to create a mass nightmare that causes multiple suicides. Psychotherapist Atsuko Chiba uses her alter-identity, "dream detective" Paprika, to intervene. Entering the nightmare, she witness a bizarre parade of appliances, toys, and kitsch objects: All of her intelligence and imagination are needed to escape this nightmare and its perpetrators. As he did in Millennium Actress and Paranoia Agent, Kon effortlessly carries the audience between reality and fantasy, confirming his reputation as one of the most talented and interesting directors working in animation today. (Rated R: violence, violence against women, grotesque imagery, alcohol and tobacco use) --Charles Solomon
Product Description
No Description Available.
Genre: Animation
Rating: R
Release Date: 27-NOV-2007
Media Type: Blu-Ray
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 96
 Paprika - An Amazing Work of Imaginative Sci-Fi Anime!!! You Must See This! March 17, 2008
Mark (East Coast)
17 out of 18 found this review helpful
Paprika
Paprika is simply the most compelling work of anime and science fiction I have seen in a long time. It may not be easily understood. But it's so amazingly animated and imaginative it has become my personal favorite.
The story is based upon a new invention, the DC Mini, that allows people to enter and experience each other's dreams. The idea is for therapists to enter a patient's dreams to aid with analysis and treatment. But the invention falls into the wrong hands and causes an epidemic. Psychotherapist Atsuko Chiba uses her alter-identity, Paprika, to investigate the nightmare and track down the abusers of the DC Mini.
Most of the story takes place within people's dreams, which allows for some amazing "Alice in Wonderland" type dream imagery. It all ties in with the story. Anybody who has ever read a book on dreams or tried to figure out their own will get a kick out of this.
One thing that I really liked about the story is that it's both playful and grown up at the same time. They resist the need for unnecessary emphasis on sex that is often used in many anime films. Several of the main characters are women, but they wear real clothes. There is almost no nudity to speak of, the only exception being a dream sequence that ties in with the story.
Music is used minimally. There is some cool Japanese electro-pop that plays at a few select points in the background. Still, there could have been a lot more music in the movie. The moderate use of music seems to have been done to make you focus on the images, and the effect is a good one.
Sony Pictures Classics has done an amazing job with the DVD transfer. The images are beautiful and crisp. The US market for Japanese style anime is always growing. So I'm sure there are many who will want to check this out.
As far as special features go, there are still too few of them here. This is a trend that has continued for too long. You get the audio commentary option if you want to watch the movie again with the creators talking in your head. Then there's a short interview type segment that explores the thoughts and approaches of the various members of the creative team. Other than a few extras, that's pretty much it. I wish they could have added much more.
Fans of Sotoshi Kon will remember his popular works, Millennium Actress Millennium Actress and Paranoia Agent Paranoia Agent - Complete Collection. Still this movie is so amazing it will appeal to a wide audience and win Mr. Kon new fans.
Conclusion
If you like science fiction, anime and imaginative cinema, you will most likely love this movie.
Enjoy!!!
The Completely Delightful Paprika Runs Away with the Movie November 2, 2007
Timothy Perper (Philadelphia PA USA)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
So the psychologists have invented a "DC-Mini" machine that lets the therapist enter another person's dreams. The only teensiest problem is that it also lets the dreams OUT of the dreamer's mind. And once outside, the dreams coalesce in vivid colors and shapes and then run around loose on the streets of Tokyo. Fortunately for civic order and sanity, Paprika, the flirty and delightful goddess of the Dreamtime, comes along too...
It's a good thing she does, because the Bad Guys have stolen three DC-Mini machines, which - bad planning, this - don't have access controls. So Dr. Chiba, the woman psychologist, and her co-worker, Dr. Tokita, who invented the contraption to begin with, have to chase down the thieves. But they have help from Detective Konokawa, provided he's not dreaming that he's Tarzan swinging through the vines carrying Dr. Chiba, and the two bartenders of a bar located somewhere in the Dreamtime, done with cameo voice acting performances by Satoshi Kon, the director, and Yasutaka Tsutsui, the author of the original novel. Meanwhile, outside - well, it's not really clear what "outside" means anymore - the dreams are bringing dolls, refrigerators, umbrellas, mailboxes, vending machines all to life in a vast and enthusiastically noisy procession through Tokyo. And, as the Bad Guys start gaining control, people commit suicide too, because sometimes dreams are nightmares.
Paprika herself simply runs away with the film. She and Dr. Chiba are alter-egos - which is *not* the same as saying that Paprika is merely Dr. Chiba looking a bit dreamier. Paprika really is a goddess - "kami" in Japanese - of the Dreamtime, and the ending alone is worth the price of the film.
But don't expect psychobabble from "Paprika." The film offers no fake explanations or pseudo-philosophy about The Nature of Reality. Yes, if you want to go there, "Paprika" is a serious analysis of art, reality, and dreaming, as one would expect from Kon. But, in the meantime, that procession is crashing in through the ceiling, so maybe it's time to move on out of here, say by swinging off on some vines?
"Paprika" is delicious. Very highly recommended.
A visual and story-telling spectacle April 16, 2008
Boris Glebov (Tucson, AZ)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
When I saw the trailers for this movie, I was stunned with its visual creativity, and the film has certainly delivered. The dream sequences are fantastic. However, what really got me what the complexity and intricacy of the writing. You don't have to go far in the modern cinema to find a movie that looks pretty, but in this movie you would also find something that's deeply thoughtful and intelligent.
There are many storylines, some explicit, some weaving somewhere in the background. There are also many parallels, where different characters experience similar conflicts, though each one goes through it in a unique way.
After I watched it, my first reaction was, "I need to see this again. I probably missed half of it."
It *can* be a rather confusing movie. But do try to be patient in figuring everything out.
Restored my faith in Anime May 13, 2008
Brenda Johnson (Marquette MI)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I've been looking for a good anime for a very long time and just could not find one, until I found Paprika. Satoshi Kon is one of the best anime directors out there and has an amazing ability to suck you right into the story line. The immagry is beautiful, while the plot is given equally good detail and attention. I'd recommend it to anyone.
RIP Satoshi Kon, 1963 - 2010 August 27, 2010
The Prestige (CA, USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
On August 24, 2010, the anime world lost one of its truly great visionary storytellers with the passing of 46-year-old writer/director Satoshi Kon. His last film completed before his death from pancreatic cancer was the 2006 mindbending sci-fi/fantasy/thriller "Paprika", a dreams vs. reality parable that bears more than a passing resemblance to Chris Nolan's subsequent 2010 hit film "Inception".
Despite having only five feature films to his credit (he was working on his sixth at the time of his passing) and one highly acclaimed anime series ("Paranoia Agent"), Satoshi Kon had already carved out a sizable niche for himself as one of the giants of the anime industry and as a complex director who seemed to delight in confounding expectations while creating even greater ones for each successive film. He will be forever remembered by anime fans as a unique and visually gifted artist whose strange and intricate creations could be as bewilderingly obtuse as they were awe inspiringly beautiful.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 96
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