Film:  Paprika

Production Company:  Madhouse

Director:  Satoshi Kon

Principal Actors:  Megumi Hayashibara (voice); Tôru Furuya (voice); Akio Ôtsuka

Release Date:  November 25, 2006 (Japan); June 1, 2007 (USA)

Film length: 90 minutes

Rating:  R (for violence and nudity) 

Reviewer:  Deborah Ground Buckner 

3 1/2 stars 

Japan's Satoshi Kon (Tokyo Godfathers) brings this new offering to the world of anime.  Based on a novel of the same title, Paprika is the story of a team of experimental scientists who have invented a machine, the DC Mini, to capture dreams.  Created by morbidly obese Dr. Tokita Kohsuka (who provides several comic moments in the film), the DC Mini is a tool that allows doctors to view the dreams of patients, record them, and interact with them.  This allows for diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses or anxieties that may be evident in dreams. 

Unfortunately, while still in test stages, the DC Mini is stolen.  The “terrorist,” as the scientists call the thief, uses the machine to invade the minds of others, forcing his strange, bizarre dreams into their psyches.  When everyone on earth is caught up in the same dream, the dream will become a reality.  Dr. Chiba, the head scientist, and her alter ego, Paprika, lead the fight to take back the DC Mini and halt the onslaught of dreams.  She is aided by a police detective whose animated form bears a resemblance to the older Errol Flynn.   

The nightmare sequences provide—if you will pardon me—an animator's dream.  Kon uses it to full advantage with bright colors and vivid images of manic dolls, huge robotic creatures, and walking appliances.  The screen becomes an explosion of color, making it difficult at times to focus on the English subtitles.   

This is a story for the anime fan or the sci-fi buff, but others, too, will find ample entertainment.