DVD
REVIEW: PAPRIKA
11/25/07
Based on the novel written
by Japanese writer Yasutaka Tsutsui, the master of
unconventional novels, Paprika, and directed by Satoshi Kon,
director of movies such as Tokyo’s Godfather, Paprika is one
of the best animes released this year. The story, the
animation, and the music are just a few characteristics that
make this picture a must have for movie fans. The quality of
this picture is as good as Hayao Miyazaqui’s Howl moving
Castle. This movie is not kid’s stuff, it is innovating and
imaginative psychological thriller that would have everybody
wanting for more. It has a little bit of everything
suspense, comedy, action, fantasy, and gore . Paprika will
be available on November 27 2007 in the USA and is rated R
for strong violence and sexual images.
The movie take place in a near future, a scientist, Tokita
Kohsaku, had invented the DC-Mini, a machine used by
psychotherapists to study the patients psyche and dreams.
This machine has the ability to enter persons mind and see
their most disturbing dreams. It is the invention of the
century, until something goes wrong, it gets stolen by
“dream terrorists“. Now is up to Chiba Atsuko, an
exceptional therapist, and her alter Ego, Paprika, to find
the thieves and recuperate the machines, and save both
worlds, with the help of his colleagues and one of her
patient, Detective Kogawa Toshimi. In the process Chiba and
Kowaga, and many other characters also discovered things
about themselves that were buried deep in their
subconscious.
The animation in this movie is outstanding and the graphics
are gorgeous; combining western animation with eastern
drawings and exaggeration , making each scene a piece of
art. Both the dream world, using surreal and imaginative
imagery , and the real world, using more conservative but
beautiful as well images, are well differentiated and
presented to the audience making the movie clearer to the
eye. The plot and flow of the movie gets somehow confusing
during the first minutes of the movie, but ones the audience
gets it, it becomes an exhilarating and mystic ride. The
sound and music are outstanding, and each character is
appealing to the audience. As an anime fan I love that Sony
kept its original language as default with subtitles, but
the movie is well dubbed to English, Spanish, and French.
Although the movie touches important issues like technology,
idealism, power, obsession, love, and terrorism it does it
so subtle, (actually it over exaggerates it) that will not
stop you from having fun.
The special features for the DVD are very interesting since
it has the author of the novel explaining the purpose of the
story and the process of making the picture, it also has the
animation process, and an interview with the main voices,
director and author discussing the movie. In Kun’s words
“Remaining rigidly true to the novel is pointless, because
the novel will always be superior, it is very hard to convey
from reading Mr. Tsutsui words. It is though to recreate
visually.” nonetheless, Paprika does not disappoints. Mr.
Kun did his homework producing a beautiful, imaginative,
innovating and wild movie, making Paprika an instant classic
.
VIDEO:
1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
AUDIO:
English
5.1, French (Parisian) 5.1, Japanese 5.1, Spanish (Latin Am)
DS
Subtitles -
English (US), French
(Parisian), Spanish (Latin Am)
SPECIAL FEATURES: Most
of them are documentaries about the process in making the
movie, although they might be boring for many people they
are also instructional and informative.
Filmakers Commentary : An
option to hear the director explaining what they were
thinking in each scene of the movie.
Tsutsui and Kon’s Paprika - Making
of Documentary: A 30 minute documentary of the ideas
of both author and director about the movie. Its concepts
and how it was done step by step.
A Conversation About the Dream:
Author , director and some voices discussing their
experiences in the movie and describing their characters and
favorite scenes. (30:00 Min)
The Dream CG World: An
interview with the CGI director Michiyia Kato discussing
different techniques used in the movie like 3D CGI
Animation, and how it was possible using the CGI look as
hand drawn. (15:00 min)
The Art Of Fantasy:
How the animation was done and discusses different
techniques of showing the difference between the worlds.
RATING BREAK DOWN:
| FILM REVIEW |
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VIDEO |
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AUDIO |
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| BONUS
FEATURES |
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Review
By Milo
milo@smartcine.com
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