PAPRIKA

This is probably the last of my continuing mini-blog series on films overlooked by the Academy Awards...

PAPRIKA
Written and directed by Satoshi Kon

I've got to hand it to the Japanese- they remain the guiding force of philosophy in modern cinema, with almost every Japanese film bringing up the question of our existence, and the meaning of conscious versus subconscious. Perhaps no other sub genre has explored this more than anime, or "japanimation" as we Americans have so ungraciously dubbed it. Anime films like PATLABOR, NEON GENESIS EVANGELION, WINGS OF HONNEMIASE, GHOST IN THE SHELL and the seminal AKIRA have all pondered upon the existence of life in an alternate realm, suggesting that man and the constructs of man are just empty vessels for some greater, smarter, and ultimately more unforgiving force. This is a complex 21st century discussion of god going on here, one that extends far beyond basic cyberpunk and doom politics. And the best part is that this is all going on in what has been unfairly deemed as a child's medium: animation.

Writer / director Satoshi Kon too has participated in this discussion, but his films are of a different ilk than those of his cohorts. Kon typically shies away from digital armageddon and cyber megalopolis' of the future, opting instead for stories based in today's reality, using the vector of the human psyche in place of the technological behemoth. His works are staggeringly powerful, from the Hitchcockian PERFECT BLUE, to the touching TOKYO GODFATHERS and most recently to his magnum opus television series, the brilliant PARANOIA AGENT. Each of these feature alternate realities in some permutation, all of them created within the minds of the protagonists. It has become his hallmark, his stamp, his trademark.

PAPRIKA, Kon's latest animated feature, ups the ante by incorporating an element of technology, but the battle is still fought within the human mind. The film chronicles the development of a "dreamcatcher"machine, the DC-Mini, that allows scientists to enter, record and observe people's dreams. The machine was developed in part by Dr. Atsuko Chiba, a psychiatrist who uses the machine to treat her patients' anxiety. When in the minds of her patients, Chiba takes on the avatar of a red haired sprite named Paprika, and travels to the source of the anxiety to extricate it.

All hell breaks loose when one of the DC-Mini prototypes are stolen. The perpetrators use the device to enter the dreams of individuals, and they proceed to plant a dream so terrifying that it turns its host into a brain dead zombie. It is essentially a mind bomb, an act of psychological guerrilla terrorism. Chiba and her cohorts, including real-life psychiatric detective and former patient detective Kogawa Toshimi, all enter the dream realm to investigate and track down the perpetrators. They soon realize that much more is at stake here- through the advent of technology, the perps have found a way to tap the collective conscious of the public, employing a philosophy of "if enough people dream it to be real, then indeed it shall become real." Soon the lines between reality and dream begin to blur, and the destruction of Tokyo hangs in the balance.

PAPRIKA utilizes the semiotic lexicon of popular culture more effectively than any other film before it, live action or animated. In its dream sequences it employs cinematic icons, pop-culture idols and signifiers, and figures of popular worship and turns them against mankind. Those things we once revered and praised become the elements of our demise- it is a proposition that is both terrifying and appropriate, as we further sell our opinions and individuality to the corporate conglomerates.

PAPRIKA is powerful stuff, and it is brilliantly executed through the animated medium. This is a film which could not be successfully done in live action, because it uses the perceived innocence of the animation against us- how can a cute, cuddly animated figure be so destructive? How can the iconic porcelain greeting cats be the agents of the apocalypse? Even with the dark subplots (and they are very dark, disturbingly dark), the true terror of PAPRIKA is the realization that we are ultimately the creators of our own demise, and this arises in a lack of discipline and ethics. Every technology has the potential of being abused, and given the history of man, we show no signs of learning from our past mistakes.

Which leads into an interesting observation about Japanese popular art and culture. We must not forget that the Japanese are the only society on Earth to experience nuclear armageddon. Within this frame of mind it is then no surprise that most sci-fi anime films ponder the abuses of technology, abuses that lead to not just the death of the world, but the complete vaporization of it. Everything will die- nature, conscious, flesh and bone. I remember when I visited the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentrations camps in Poland, I saw an inscription above one of the doors that read "he who does not learn from his past is most likely to repeat it." Which is what makes films like PAPRIKA so important- they are reminders that because of our irresponsible deployment of technology, we have the ability to destroy existence in its entirety. And despite the development of this technology, all it takes is for a collective subconscious agreement (a virulent dream message) for us to employ this destructive technology. The catalyst can be one crazy man (Kim Jong-Il) or one deluded, violent soul (our President) or one collective society desperate to find a solution (take your pick in the world) to override common sense, common law, and respect.

PAPRIKA hammers this message down in brilliant juxtapositions of visuals and storytelling- unlike the recent GHOST IN THE SHELL 2 or APPLESEED, it does not get bogged down in philosophical banter (with brilliant animation who wants to see talking heads?). PAPRIKA is a cautionary tale that comes at you straight on with eye-popping visuals and action that gets right to the point. It's also refreshing to see an anime film that doesn't have demeaning, overtly sexualized female characters- generally the best anime films don't, but it has always been disturbing to see the level of sexual violence in anime, or more so in the adult subgenre called hentai films. There are some deep seeded issues going on in those films which frankly, I'm frightened to even dare explore.

All that said, PAPRIKA is a tremendous piece of work, and of the better animated films in recent years. Sure there have been films that have been more technologically savvy and advanced, in fact all of this year's nominees are cutting edge CGI animated films, but none of them take the risks of storytelling to become good films. We've seen the stories of CARS and HAPPY FEET a million times before, executed in the same fashion, only with more bells and whistles in each incarnation. A nomination for an anime film is long, long overdue, as it remains among the edgiest and smartest genre of films being made on the planet. We owe it to ourselves to spread the word of these films, because they are entertaining, they are marvelous to look at, and most importantly, they are relevant.

Snubbed Oscar Nomination: Best Animated Feature Film

And so this ends my mini-blog, there were two more films I didn't get to review, simply because I don't have the time. But for reference, here are the other pictures:

THE KING AND THE CLOWN (Snubbed: Best Foreign Film)
THE HOST (Snubbed: Best Visual Effects)

I'll be posting my predictions soon. Thanks for reading!