Do not miss Paprika if you like ‎Inception

BladeW

Member
Following the vine of Inception, I found Paprika. Although Paprika is a cartoon, it is much more complicated than Inception. Inception’s imagination of the first, second, third, and fourth layers of dreams is indeed amazing, but the story itself - I think the core is a love story - is dispelled by too many gun battles. The direct consequence is that the structure is above the story, and the story is shrunk to a less important position, so it looks like a computer maze game that has nothing to do with itself. There is nothing to say except the structure, which is a bit regrettable.

Don't miss Paprika if you like ‎Inception

For the dream world, Paprika also has a good idea. But unlike Inception, the dream of Paprika is a magnification of reality and a critique of reality. In this magnified scene, what the director and screenwriter are trying to show is the grotesque statues of all beings, smoothing the intertwined clues. I think Paprika tells several stories as below.

Don't miss Paprika if you like ‎Inception

First, "You can't judge people by their appearance, but there is always a limit?" Although Atsuko Chiba has a good impression of the smart fat colleague Tokita, and understands that love is not the first consideration of appearance, there are still obstacles that cannot be overcome-tram The male Tokita is too fat. So, this is a romantic story about a beautiful woman falling in love with a fat man.

Don't miss Paprika if you like ‎Inception

Second, Detective Kogawa Toshimi treated by Atsuko’s avatar, Paprika, was caused by his illness because he gave up his dream of being a shadow and became a law-abiding police officer when he was young. This boring choice made him unable to let go of it for a long time. Would like to watch the movie again. So, this is a story about how to bring dreams into reality again.

Third, the source of nightmares that disturb the minds of ordinary people is that the paralyzed and aging director wants to manipulate the world in his dreams, but this is not a story that simply magnifies evil and then justice defeats evil. Because he doesn’t want to face paralysis, the chairman wants to grow two strong and stable legs in his dream; because he doesn’t want to face aging, the chairman wants to borrow the young body from the hill in his dream; because he doesn’t want to face the passage of time, the chairman wants to control the whole world in a dream. In the end, the desire to be young, healthy, and energetic went to the opposite side, becoming a gloomy element and confused the chairman's mind. So, this is a story about how we live in the face of birth, old age, sickness and death.

Don't miss Paprika if you like ‎Inception

Fourth, Osanai Morio is another tragic figure. He was jealous of Tokita's talent and at the same time had a crush on Atsuko. He betrayed his body to the chairman of the board, not only because of his fascination with his profession, but also to get Atsuko's love, even if it was just possession (no shame and hesitation in the dream). So when Paprika lay in front of him, despite being very rough, he did not obey the director's order to execute her. Even when the chairman of the board walked from behind the scenes to the front of the stage, he tried to stop Paprika (that is, Chiba Atsuko). So, this is a sad story about love but not knowing how to express it.

Don't miss Paprika if you like ‎Inception

Finally, there is a parade of dolls that appear from time to time in the film. They are all people in real life, but because their dreams are controlled by the chairman, they become puppets who have lost themselves. In the final scene where dreams and reality merge, people turn into puppets to join the team. The director uses an extremely material way to show the material itself-whoever wants to be rich becomes a lucky cat, who wants to be beautiful becomes a makeup box, and the wretched man who secretly photographs the bottom of a lady's skirt becomes a mobile phone with camera function. This absurd expression method sharply points to reality: What's wrong with this society? So, this is a story about how to view matter and spirit.

Don't miss Paprika if you like ‎Inception

For the movie itself, this spoiler description is too bad. But beyond the structure and imagination, Paprika has not forgotten the story itself. This hodgepodge platter is indeed difficult to bring emotions into people, and even requires the viewer to enrich the imagination of the story. But compared to Inception, which played a very cool game, Paprika is more like a book, with intertwined clues, and each has meticulous considerations behind it, which is still worth watching and unforgettable.
 
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