Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Dipping My Toes in Anime: Paprika and Millennium Actress


The anime month keeps on rolling, this week focusing on a couple of films by Satoshi Kon. I've already checked out Perfect Blue (which was not only the first anime I ever saw but also one of the awesomest), so I was looking to back that up with Paprika and Millennium Actress. Spirited Away and Akira will be coming up next week, probably a day late due to availability. Anyway, the week at hand...


I guess you could say I chose Paprika as part of my mini anime syllabus because when I said that Inception seemed original to me, I got a few hate-filled comments about how Paprika looked at dream space before it. To be honest, I didn't like Paprika more than Inception. In fact, the gap is so wide there's probably ten layers of dream space between them. It was a little more Strange Days than Inception to me, but that's just the way I saw it. Paprika is an imaginative little film, but sometimes it's imagination runs a little too far ahead of itself. Which doesn't make for the most clear watch, as I often found myself a little confused by the erratic shifts of action. That said, it's imagination is something that should be admired.

Basically, the large majority of the film takes part in a dream. There's a new gadget making the rounds called the 'DC Mini' (which did remind me of the SQUID device in Strange Days, which also recorded stuff, hence my comparison), which a therapist uses for her patients. However, when the thing gets out, the therapist tries everything in her power to not let anyone fall victim to some of the dangers that the DC Mini comes along with. That part of the story is quite interesting, but then the film kinda goes crazy with the dream space, with several scenes of large dolls parading through the street all the time. Everything whirred around in my head at about a thousand miles and hour, which made me a little light-headed. There was a lot to take in, but sometimes there was too much to take in. It just felt like one of those cases where the story looked better on the script than it did on film. However, on film, there were some great visuals that made Paprika something special. Who knows - I'll probably like it more on a second watch. But that movie just about blew up my brain, and I can't decide whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.


The second of Kon's work I checked out on the weekend was another film focused on the blurred lines of fantasy and reality, but a lot easier to follow. Millennium Actress is based on the life of popular Japanese actress Setsuko Hara, who's named Chiyoko in the film. She's retired, which prompts a director to lure her out of hiding and shoot a documentary on her. Chiyoko tells the story of her life, which starts off with her meeting an artist who she helps escape from the military. She falls in love with him, and once he leaves, she embarks on a lifelong journey to find her lost love.

It sounds like a simple enough story, but it is complicated by the fact that it plays out like a 'film within a film'. Chiyoko often gets her reality mixed up with the films she performed in, which blurs the line between fantasy and reality. It was an interesting way of telling an otherwise rote story, adding this fantastical twist that is truly spell-binding. What I also loved was the fact that the director of the documentary, along with his DP, are found following Chiyoko's life and filming it, as if they were a part of it. If I were to ever become part of the film industry, and be somewhat good enough to make a film about, I want it to be made like this. Because I already mix my memories up with movies - so who knows what will happen if I make them?

What did you think of these movies? Are you all for Paprika? Or would you rather have a film like Millennium Actress be made about you?

11 comments:

  1. Millenium Actress made me cry at the end - I did not expect to at all, but it was a beautiful film!
    I just saw Paprika for the first time a couple of days ago. I had no idea what it was about when I put it on, but as I was watching it I thought "Hmm...reminds me of Inception" (I know that it was a few years previous, of course :) ) I feel like Kon has had a lot of influence on many directors in Hollywood (I mean, Perfect Blue and it's affects on Darren Aronofsky - wow!) I get what you mean about the imagination running ahead of itself though, I found myself wondering what the hell was going on a lot of the time. I really liked it, just needs a few watches to fully get it I think....Overall, I loved Millenium Actress the most!

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    1. Satoshi Kon has had a great affect on Hollywood filmmakers. The stuff that Darren Aronofsky did with Perfect Blue was awesome!

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  2. Millenium Actress has been my favourite Kon for so many years now (maybe that will change when his new film gets posthumously released?( and it is just for the reason that Ruth has mentioned - crying at the end. The last line of that film just throws it all out of perspective, and completely altered the film in the way that I have viewed it before. And I think *spoilers for anyone reading this comment*, the chase of finding someone you love has overthrown that love is probably what happens when you search for someone for so long, in a way it kind of gives you a purpose.

    What I preferred about Paprika to Inception is, not only do I think it is the better film (you'll shoot me for this Stevee, I can feel it!), but the way that it deals with dreams is a lot less noir and clinical like Nolan's vision. I always have the craziest dreams, and have had a massive interest in it for years, too, so Paprika was like the perfect film for envisioning the way that I perceive dreams. It does get better on a second watch, and in fact, I think it is a better film the more you watch it which a lot of films can't do!

    The 'confusion' thing towards Paprika though makes me worried that you might not like Akira...BUT YOU MUST, YOU MUST!

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    1. Millennium Actress is my favourite Kon, too, but I've only seen three of his films. The end was lovely.

      I might like Akira - as long as I get it sent to me in time!

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  3. #Going to see TDKR in a few hours#Going to see TDKR in a few hours#Going to see TDKR in a few hours#Going to see TDKR in a few hours#

    ***SNAP***.... oh, yeah, right... anime...

    I totally agree, there's probably too much going on in Paprika to fully enjoy it. I've never heard of Millenium Actress, but it sounds interesting enough to give it a go.

    Okay, now where was I? #Going to see TDKR in a few hours....

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    1. Hahaha, I take it that you were a bit excited for TDKR?

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  4. Yeah, I didn't really like Paprika (or Strange Days) because they are so exuberant that they lose the plot too often. That's something Christopher Nolan would never do. He's way too organized for that. As to the idea that Inception isn't original because of Paprika...I don't think Paprika invented "dreams" either, but then that's a pretty crazy standard for originality. I mean, Inception borrows heavily on heist film concepts, but that doesn't make it redundant, it makes it aware.

    Millennium Actress is my favorite Kon (ahead of Tokyo Godfathers). I compare it a bit to Titanic or Shakespeare In Love with the fused reality/story aspect and the old woman looking back on her life aspect. Just hits the right emotional level with the right creativity.

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    1. I didn't mind Strange Days all that much, but Inception is definitely the best out of the lot.

      And hey, I didn't think of connecting it to those films! I definitely agree.

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  5. Route back, kid's shows were as noiseless highly contrasting movies where stick figures spoke to the characters. One of the more well known makers of these works of art was Disney, with their first Mickey Mouse and Friends scenes.aussyelo.com

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You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.

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