It looks cool and I have added it to my Netflix queue, but I have a few questions.
Have you seen it and what is your opinion of it?
I know it is an adult animated film. However, does it have a ton of nudity and violence and so forth? How “adult” is it? I mean, it is like a rated NC-17 film or more like a PG-13. I’m just curious as to what to expect in terms of extremes.
What other films would you recommend that are similar? I’ve seen all of Miyazaki’s films and nearly all of Studio Ghibli’s other films. I am looking for both adult and children’s animated films that I and Mrs. Mahaloth might have overlooked.
Here is a link the to the IMDB listing for it, by the way:
Do watch it. Oh watch it. You have to really watch it. Seriously, this has my eyes fixed to the screen since the first five minutes.
If you like this type of anime, you should also try Cat Soup which would turn your world upside-down, inside-out, and probably give you some nightmares. Then you can continue to FCFL.
To answer your questions:
It’s a seriously fun mind-fuck
Not much violence, but some really disturbing moments. The nudity is minimal and not gratuitous.
I will try to keep Cat Soup away from children. But you may like Cat Soup if mind-fuck anime are your type.
I’d say Tokyo Godfathers, which is in fact by the same creator. Definitely an “adult” film, but only in the sense that it appeals just as much (or more) to grownups than children, and deals with “serious” themes. It could easily have been made as a live-action film in the US, but probably wouldn’t have gotten more than a PG or a very light PG-13 rating. Funny, and very sweet (even if it occasionally has a slightly ghoulish sense of humor ).
Haven’t seen Paprika but have enjoyed two other Satoshi Kon movies: Tokyo Godfathers and Millennium Actress. The other Kon film I haven’t seen: Perfect Blue is a psychological thriller like Paprika and I have heard good things about it. If you like murky, film-norish animated films Jin Roh is highly recommended.
I liked Perfect Blue and Millennium Actress but hated Paprika. All three have a ‘mind-fuck’ quality about them, but I just couldn’t fathom Paprika. It is beautifully animated, but it seemed to be going weird for weird sake, not in the service of an entertaining story.
I liked all of Satoshi Kon’s movies but this one. By which I mean that it was still quite watchable, but it just wasn’t very good. The setup and nearly all of the movie is quite good, but it seems like they wrote themselves into a corner or simply didn’t have a particularly good idea how to end it, so ended with a fairly silly bit of deus ex machina.
I wouldn’t say that the film is particularly adult. At the end, a fully nude woman is shown, but it’s not particularly sexual.
Kon’s other movie, Perfect Blue, has a scene that is very R-rated, on the other hand. I don’t recall if the other two movies had much in the way of nudity.
I don’t remember much about Paprika except that I liked the visuals and the music. I’m generally a fan of Satoshi Kon, but the plot of this one went over my head.
Of his other films, I think all are worth watching, but the standouts are “Perfect Blue” and “Millenium Actress.” “Perfect Blue” is a film noir in the style of Hitchcock. It does have some sex and violence- one scene is particularly cringe-worthy. “Millenium Actress” is one of my favorite films of all time. It’s epic, beautiful, and has a great score. It’s a journey through Japanese history, Japanese film, and one woman’s life.
Of things not directed by Satoshi Kon, I highly recommend “Ghost in the Shell,” both the film and the series. The film is philosophical science fiction with lots of action. (It does contain nudity and violence, if you’re concerned.) The series is more of a police procedural action/drama, also pretty violent.
All of the above recommendations are extremely trippy and complex, and will require multiple viewings to figure out WTF is going on. But I like it that way.
Just finished watching it and had to post in this thread - this film is fantastic, it’s a must to see. I definitely agree with the term “seriously fun mind fuck” used up thread, there are point where you have no idea what’s going on but god damn it the ride is just so good you don’t want to get off.
Some of the visuals are outstanding, and to me demonstrated the true purpose of using animation to tell a story. You couldn’t do this with real actors or without vast amounts of CGI, and why bother? The soundtrack is incredibly fun too, it really carries you away.
I give it a solid 9/10, the only reason I’m not saying 10 is that it does indeed have a bit of a WTF ending that I wasn’t 100% satisfied with, but the rest of it was pure gold.
Weird movie, to say the very least. Visually amazing and a really good score to go along with it. I’m not sure I understand what was happening, but I actually got more than I expected.
Basically, the chairman was taking over both the real and dream world. By combining the main lady with her Paprika alter-ego inside the fat-guy-robot, they produced a being able to suck up the negative dream stuff and end the conflict.
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