Spice up your life with Paprika!

An enchanting, erotic adventure with brilliant animation

WILLIAM O’DONNELL VOLUNTEER STAFF

In my somewhat limited experience with watching anime I have noticed that many, if not most, of the films take place in a not-too-distant future which usually bares a “Blade Runner-esque” mien of dark skies and technology gone too far. Paprika defies this stereotyping of mine and seems to be set in the present (2007 or so). As a North American who has only ever experienced Japan through cinema, I often find it difficult to detect whether I am seeing Japan in the present or future, as it has always seemed to exist in the future when compared to where I live. Again, this is based on my own limited observations.

With these thoughts in mind, the technology that propels the plot (a dream reading/projecting device called the DC-Mini) is vastly advanced, but does not come off as wholly improbable. Said device was created to aid doctors with their psychoanalysis duties by taking the Freudian analysis of dreams to the extreme by projecting them onto screens and even placing themselves inside the dreams of others in a sort of uber-lucid manner.

This film follows the creators and the patients of the aforementioned device who are in trouble because three DC-Minis get stolen and are used to corrupt the minds and bodies of the town’s population and ultimately merge the real and dream world into one gargantuan nightmare parade.

Though I am no virgin when it comes to the anime genre, most of my exposure came via anime-fanatic friends of mine and therefore made my opinion of them a touch jaded. I have an honest appreciation for most anime films, but have troubles when it comes to the recurring fascination with penetration and perfection.

Paprika deals with these things in interesting and ultimately satisfying ways. While in dreams, characters who have more control are able to merge parts of themselves into others in very suggestive manners. The most blatant examples being when one character peals a layer off of Paprika (the main character) by entering his hand into her, starting at her genital region, then running it all the way up to her face the way one might open an envelope; as well as the numerous times that the film’s villain uses tentacle appendages that enter the mouth of our hero. I do not wish to compare this film with those of the strange “tentacle-porn” subgenre of anime (which if you have not heard of or seen, I recommend extreme caution to any who are the least bit curious to find out). But something visceral and unnerving comes about when seeing the penetration of a naked woman (she is naked when this happens by the way...twice).

The sexuality of these scenes is dampened, firstly, by the “Ken and Barbie-like” lack of genitalia on these characters, as well as the recurring physical distance between the characters during the most aggressive moments, which helps me to yield most rape connections. Whenever the characters are close when merging or penetrating, it results in a character returning to reality from the dream state. This makes the connections between the two beings far more malevolent in my eyes.

I mentioned “perfection” earlier. This plays into the sexuality (or lack thereof) in the film. Anime is known for featuring “perfect” bodies on their characters to the point of being caricatures. This film is guilty of having overtly slender female leads, but (ahem) keeps things proportionate and the clothing (until removed) is relatively dressed-down and lets the actions of the characters bring out their feelings. The characters choose when to be sexual in a properly human way (even if they’re dream mirages) instead of originating as sex objects and then trying to develop from there.

It is refreshing to see a film that recognizes the potential of animation while not over indulging in anime clichés. The brilliance of this film’s animation and the well-crafted narrative make the adventure enchanting without being alienating. I recognize this through my own biased eyes as well as through the eyes of the common film-goer. Though the September run of this film is done, I recommend catching it on Oct. 22 and Oct. 23 at Cinematheque.