Paprika

[randy_byers]

"Does it make more sense the second time?" holyoutlaw asked.

"Yup," I said. "It actually does. Not that it necessarily adds up to anything earthshaking."

We had just seen the anime movie, Paprika (Papurika, 2006), at the Varsity. I had already seen it once over the weekend, but I was happy to see it again. The movie is apparently based on a metafictional science fiction novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui, and the story reminds me to some extent of Pat Cadigan's cyberpunk novel, Mindplayers. It's about an experimental device called the DC-Mini that allows therapists direct access to their patients' dreams. Three of the devices are stolen, and suddenly dreams start popping up in the weirdest places. Paprika is the dreamland alter ego of the therapist, Dr. Chiba, and they are the composite protagonist. Paprika is a red-headed wishfulfillment superheroine with a jaunty pop song for her soundtrack.

While all of this leads to an appealing, if initially confusing and not particularly original, narrative, much of what I like about this movie is the visual phantasmagoria and general trippiness. We are never sure whether we are inside a dream or not at any given moment (story of my life!), and the narrative frame keeps shifting unexpectedly. On the second time through, it does make more sense, but in some ways that just means it makes more nonsense, because it is dream logic, which is frequently absurd. The director, Satoshi Kon, seems to be channeling his own subconscious imagery, both symbolic and narrative, and despite frequent pseudo-scientific exposition, it doesn't necessarily make rational sense. It's more of a carnival ride through dreamland, and it explicitly links the movie-watching experience to the dreamstate. (One of the wonderful throw-away bits is when characters dive into a TV screen and come out of the camera that's filming what was on the screen.)

It's a trippy visual feast, is what I've been saying -- a riot of weird, fanciful imagery. It's playing at the Varsity still tonight, but I'm not sure if it'll stick around for another week. Possibly it'll move to a smaller screen at the Metro for an additional week, because I believe it was showing at a second theater downtown somewhere, too, which means there was an expectation of an audience for it around here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Well, Mindplayers is a pretty trippy book IIRC.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

YRC, IIRC.

[reverendjim.livejournal.com]

I saw an online trailer for that a couple of months ago and it definitely looked like something worth taking a look at. I'm currently watching Satoshi Kon's series Paranoia Agent which is rather fine and somewhat strange, though it does seem to have an internal logic to it. I'm not a huge anime fan, in fact I've seen very little though I'm sure there's some good stuff out there, but his stuff rather appeals.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I'm no aficionado of anime either, although I'm a big fan of Ghost in the Shell, which is another cyberpunky one. So what's Paranoia Agent about? The title certainly is suggestive! Apparently his other full-length features are more realistic than Paprika. Millennium Actress looks interesting.

[reverendjim.livejournal.com]

I still haven't seen Ghost In The Shell, though it's definitely on my list and I'll get around to it at some point.

What's Paranoia Agent about? Er, good question. It's set in present day suburban Tokyo where people who are getting increasingly stressed about their problems meet Shonen Bat, a kid on rollerblades who hits them upside the head with a metal baseball bat. Which is sort of therapeutic apparently, or at least relieves the whole pressure of life.

Shonen Bat doesn't really seem to be "real", more some sort of spirit of existential release (or whatever) though he may be an actual kid (as the police assume, and we follow their case) or maybe the victims do it to themselves. Which doesn't' really preclude the first theory.

There's a largish cast of people, mostly victims at some point and a couple of policemen who all intertwine in various ways, with each episode tending to focus on one character. So you get the university admin woman who has a split personality with a sex worker who's not happy about being sidelined and when they go from leaving phone messages to each other to actually phoning up...

Then there's the boy suspect in the case who sees himself as the hero in a role-playing game defeating monsters, which re-shows the attacks as happening in a sword and sorcery milieu.

The last episode I saw was more detached from the main story and featured three people who'd met in a suicide chat room and, in a very jolly way, showed them consistently failing to top themselves. Except I think they actually did near the start of the episode and they're effective ghosts for the rest of it, finding happiness with each other in the afterlife.
Then there's the cryptic old man who keeps chalking graffiti on the floors and seems like he could have popped in from Twin Peaks or somewhere.

Er, it's odd. I've still got about five episodes to go so it might end up anywhere really.

Oh, and it's also got a hugely catchy song over the credits called Dream Island Obsessional Park which is the sort of initially meaningless but slightly disturbing title that the theme tune should have.

Oh yeah, opening credits, including that song are here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-anabfAg06U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8HChqhHVuU
Take your pick from subtitles or correct aspect ratio. And there haven't been any nuclear explosions yet.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I'm looking forward to checking out the opening credits when I get home later (the theme song to Paprika is incredibly catchy as well and is half the reason I'm thinking of seeing it a third time in the theater), but I just ran across this in a review of Satoshi Kon's Tokyo Godfathers (2003) and had to pass it along: 'Tokyo Godfathers you can pass on, but don't head for the palm trees just yet. Kon might have redeemed himself with this year's much more challenging WOWOW channel cable series, Paranoia Agent (Mousou dairinin). Contrary to anything the director has done since Memories, this 13-episode project dives straight into its nightmares and never comes out, providing probably the most upsetting and unexpected TV anime thrills since Hideaki Anno's Neon Genesis Evangelion (Shin Seiki Evangerion) in 1995. The first episode sets up a parody of one of Japan's cute "cultural powers" that is bound to keep you guessing. There's a U.S. DVD release of this one lurking just around the corner, if you dare to look.'

Hope I can find the DVDs at a rental store, since the boxed set is listed for around $60 online.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

By the way, here's the opening credits for Paprika, with theme song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFYUS-5AWGE

[reverendjim.livejournal.com]

Ah, that's the same guy doing the music as for Paranoia Agent. He's got the Paprika theme as a free mp3 on his website if you're interested. I'll admit to downloading a dodgy copy of the Paranoia Agent one for Meike.
I ended up buying an incredibly obscure Japanese CD in a great record shop in Glasgow the other month, only to discover that half of the band was in the shop at the time. When I went over to say "Hello" to him he was looking at a Kraftwerk bootleg recorded in Croydon. It's a strange world sometimes.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

What a great moment of backstreet globalism! I was just the other day reading an interview with James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem in which he said that Glasgow was the best place in the world to play a rock show.

And many thanks for that mp3 link. That should take care of my jones until I can track down a copy of the soundtrack. Which I have seen online at CD Universe.

[reverendjim.livejournal.com]

Did you have any luck tracking down that John Cale version of All My Friends? It does seem to be a UK only 7" single, so I'm assuming it might be tricky unless you have a particularly good record shop. Though I'm sort of assuming Seattle has those.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I haven't made an effort yet. Are you saying it's only available on vinyl?

[reverendjim.livejournal.com]

Yep, vinyl only by the sounds of it. Have you gone all digital then?

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

We do have a working turntable in the house, but it is a standalone unit with its own (not very good) built-in speakers, so not something I've ever made the effort to use. Then again, my brother started converting his old vinyl albums to digital a while back, so maybe I could have him do it with this, if I can get my hands on a copy. The website says something about a downloadable version, but I can't tell if that includes the Cale, which is all I really want. (The Franz Ferdinand version didn't impress me very much.)

[reverendjim.livejournal.com]

They seem to have the Cale version here for download. No idea if the formats/rights/etc thing works for you or if they sell it outside the UK.
Failing anything I could always send you a (rather dodgy sounding) "Seven inches of comment" in lieu of me ever doing a LoC.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

*splutter*

Well, I'll check out the download first! Although "seven inches of comment" deserves to be memorialized somewhere.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Hate to keep piling on replies here, but I keep forgetting to also recommend the six-episode anime series FLCL (also Furi Kuri or Fooly Kooly), which I've seen only once when very drunk but which really knocked my socks off. I was reminded of it because it also involves baseball bats. Also giant robots coming out of peoples' heads. As Wikipedia says, "FLCL is an esoteric production whose odd style, hyperactive pace, convoluted plot logic and tendency to break the fourth wall sets it apart from other contemporary anime. FLCL can be categorized as a work of comedy, drama, soap opera, and/or science fiction, and a parody of anime in general." The hard rocking baroque-punk soundtrack is by a band called the Pillows, and I have both CDs of it.

I see that there's now an Ultimate Edition DVD release in Region 1 that's twenty dollars cheaper than the previous three-disk release. I may have to grab that.

[reverendjim.livejournal.com]

I came across mention of FLCL a few months ago and thought it sounded rather fun. I was assuming it was via ajshepherd who writes about anime quite often. On further thinking I've realised that it was actually comics writer Warren Ellis (not to be confused with the other Warren Ellis) name-checking it as an influence on his rather silly sounding Nextwave.

I can't find what he said about it now, but on the wikipedia entry for Nextwave he describes that as "an absolute distillation of the superhero genre. No plot lines, characters, emotions, nothing whatsoever. It’s people posing in the street for no good reason. It is people getting kicked, and then exploding. It is a pure comic book, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise. And afterwards, they will explode."
I really must get around to reading that soon; it's now out in book form.

Oh, and typically, FLCL hasn't had a region 2 DVD release.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I'll ask my comics-collecting housemate if he has Nextwave, because that sounds like a hoot.

As for FLCL, I know the friend who showed it to me a couple years ago had downloaded it via bittorrent, but I have yet to master the arcane secrets of this process myself. I could probably ask someone for some pointers, if you're interested. Or some other arrangement could be made once I get my copy of the boxed set, which I have indeed ordered.

[reverendjim.livejournal.com]

I started doing the torrent thing last autumn so I'll have a look later if it's still lurking out there and see if I can grab a copy.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Okay, so I watched the first four episodes of Paranoia Agent last night. Loved it! I'm hooked! It was two-for-one night at Rain City Video, so I rented the second disk too. Can't wait to see the rest of the series. I love the way that there seem to be clues planted in the opening and ending credits. It's all very mysterious and compelling and more than a little bit creepy.

[reverendjim.livejournal.com]

Hello again, been distracted by work and stuff.

Glad you're enjoying (enjoyed by now?) Paranoia Agent. I just thought I'd draw attention to this, which is from the Wikipedia page on the program:

Many of the characters in Paranoia Agent are often referred to with animal names, especially in each "Prophetic Vision" (a segment at the end of each episode that previews the next) and the episode "The Holy Warrior," in which some characters are depicted as animal-like creatures. In many cases, their Japanese names translate directly to the type of animal which they are referred to as: "sagi" means heron, "kawazu" is an archaic term for frog, "ushi" means cow, "tai" means sea bream or red snapper, "cho" means butterfly (cho-cho can also mean butterfly, possibly alluding to her split personality), and "hiru" means leech. Kamome means seagull.

I've not really read the rest of the article in case there are spoilers but there's interesting stuff in that. It also ties in to things like the chalk drawings that the old man makes, the mid-episode breaks and so on. Just little additions of meaning that have got lost in translation really.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I've watched the whole series now, and there was certainly a lot more going on in the background than I could absorb. Very interesting story arc, with every episode almost a different genre -- perhaps a genre unto itself. I think Kon has said somewhere that the series was in some ways a byproduct of the three movies he had done before it. It was a chance for him to take leftover ideas that didn't fit in the movies and see where they took him.

The final disk of the Region 1 set, which has the final three episodes, has commentary by the director (Kon), the writer, and the producer. They had some interesting things to say about the opening credits and the ending credits and the mid-episode breaks and Prophetic Visions, although they mostly talk about various aspects of the production process. I won't spoil anything, but let's just say that I seem to have been misreading some things. I'll have to watch the whole thing again at some point to see what it looks like now that I know where it's going.

[reverendjim.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if the region 2 version has those commentaries; I hope so. I have seen the first half dozen episodes a couple of times as I rewatched them recently when I managed to find the third and fourth disk going cheap. It certainly warrants a re-viewing, and I wouldn't be at all surprised that after seeing how it all ends new light will be shed on a lot of earlier events.