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One morning you wake up, you go to work. You have to spend more than 2 hours every day, during 6 days a week to get from home to work and vice versa... One night, no longer in the morning, after having had to endure the above, you get home and you don't quite know how but there she is, you are caught by her visual art; surprisingly, in spite of what you have done with your day and your tiredness, you are face to face... You and Paprika, the film begins, the beginning of an experience that (you don't know yet) is about to mark your life?
And so, with those words begins my story/review about Paprika: an absolute work of art. I, a woman, a freak of anime and American comics for as long as I can remember, must say that it is a pleasure not to lose the ability to be amazed. In art, I was never too fond of Dalí, nor of his surrealism... Leonore Carrington was always my favourite, I loved her vision of dreams. Jung and Freud, pupil masters, both pillars of psychoanalysis, have left a deep and dense mark on later generations.
This is how this Japanese anime film was born. It was, in the first instance, a literary work by Yasutaka Tsutsui. A man born in Japan during the Second World War, whose creativity and intellect were driven mad by the influence of jazz, surrealism and psychoanalysis. All these elements are present in this powerful film. I will only be brief in the argument. Those of you who read me before, will know, that I am of the ‘school’ of not revealing plots or giving spoilers....
A tech company develops a device that can interact with everyone's minds. Either at will (someone invites you to do so) or not. From there, the story unfolds. Like any story, there are arcs, character, classic plot and denouement, but it is not the what that is important in Paprika, but the how and why. These two questions you have to see for yourself, I will never reveal them to you.... It's not fair to anyone, especially not to the film itself. Which is simply stunning and fantastic.
Once you watch the first 5 minutes of this ridiculously impressive film, I can tell you that your mind will be hijacked by the visual impact of its images, colours, cinematic shots, effects, animation details, and so on and so forth.... It is, without a doubt, one of the hidden treasures behind Netflix. And one of the many successes of this platform in terms of choosing anime for its catalogue. A bet that has set them apart from the rest. Finally, Paprika is a sensorial and introspective journey. In other words, a singular experience. I doubt that there are two opinions about this film... Sceptical? See for yourself.
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