Reviews & Ratings for
パプリカ (2006)

Paprika (Japanese: パプリカ, Hepburn: Papurika) is a 2006 Japanese science-fiction psychological thriller[2][3] anime film co-written and directed by Satoshi Kon, based on Yasutaka Tsutsui's 1993 novel of the same name, about a research psychologist who uses a device that permits therapists to help patients by entering their dreams. It is Kon's fourth and final feature film before his death in 2010. The film stars the voices of Megumi Hayashibara, Tōru Emori, Katsunosuke Hori, Tōru Furuya, Akio Ōtsuka, Kōichi Yamadera, and Hideyuki Tanaka.

Kon and Seishi Minakami wrote the script, and Japanese animation studio Madhouse animated and produced the film alongside Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan, which distributed it in Japan. The score was composed by Susumu Hirasawa. The film received wide acclaim from critics. Sony Pictures via Sony Pictures Classics distributed the film in the United States, where it received a limited release.

Paprika is one of the more popular anime due to Christopher Nolan blatantly copying the concept. He was not the first to copy Satoshi Kon. Darren Aronofsky too purchased rights to another Satoshi Kon movie Perfect Blue just to "borrow" few shots in his 2008 flick Black Swan. Satoshi Kon who has made just 4 movies was truly a genius and his last movie Paprika deals with a device which involves travelling into dreams of subjects and its malfunction which results in amalgamation of dreams and reality. The opening seqeuence of the anime is truly a work of brilliance and the flow of the scenes and the editing is art itself. The music composed by Susumu Hirasawa is orgasm inducing and a straight up ear porn. The editing of this film is very good. The characters need a bit of work with romance in the plot making no sense but overall its a very enjoyable ride.