Casey Skeide Asian 144 1/16/2012

Contemporary Japanese Film reflection: Paprika (2006)

Many of the great thinkers of society have contemplated the nature of dreams and their significance in the waking world. French-Cuban author, Anais Nin wrote, dreams pass into the reality of action. From the actions stems the dream again; and this interdependence produces the highest form of living. Through this interpretation, the movie Paprika thrives by exploring the quirky depths of the human psyche as expressed through dreams. I couple this explanation of dreams with the Taoist notion of the dualistic nature of the universe, the yin and yang ( ) composition. Whether it is Doctor Atsuko Chiba/Paprika, The Chairman/Reincarnated Paprika, or Ksaku Tokita/Robot Shima, everyone struggles with their complimentary doppelganger throughout the entirety of the movie. One form of Taoist symbolism that I find prominent is the expression of the nature of mind at rest and in consciousness. In a way, Paprika, Atsuko, and Toshimi assist each other in interpreting the nature of their own dreams and realities. For Toshimi, life appears to have a definite path and clear meaning, but interprets his dreams in a way that muddle his own conception of reality and create a sense of fear

and hypersensitivity in his character. The film opens with detective Toshimi going through the various nightmares that haunt his mind, with Paprika as his co-dreamer. At times, Toshimis nightmares appear to be more dangerous and sinister than his every day life. In Toshimis long hallway and falling person who has been shot dream sequence, he faces his own reality and sees that he in fact killed himself. For the majority of a persons life one is never truly confronted with his or her greatest fears. When one of a persons greatest fears does occur, a feeling of nostalgia and reverie set in that skew the lines of reality. Inner dialogue between the two states of emotional and intellectual thought is another important theme throughout the movie that drives character and plot development, especially within Atsuko. Paprika, conveyed as a persona, is an inseparable dream manifestation of Atsuko. When exploring dreams and pursuing the DC mini thief, Paprika takes over Atsuko consciousness to make up for what Atsuko sees as a lack of courage, sense of reality, and quick thinking in her own character. It is not until the melding of the dream and conscious worlds that Atsuko acknowledges that Paprika is not a separate entity from herself, but rather an extension of her own personality. The fine line of reality and dream mimic the fluid nature of the universe and cannot be broken. As said by Paprika and Toshimi in the movie theater dream sequence, dreams can be manipulated and subjective, like a movie and dreams flow into each other like the different shots of a scene. However, the line that separates the viewers from the fictitious movie can never be broken. I see the dream world of Paprika, as our own, a mirror image of reality that is not solid, but malleable. Though dreams

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mimic reality, they bend to our subconscious, but are limited and will not fully give into our wills. My belief is exemplified in the scene in which the dream world is actually seeping into reality, where those on the streets cannot decipher reality from dream and become their dreams. In the end when Paprika eats the Chairman, this results in the birth of the reincarnated Atsuko and the rebalancing of the universe; with dream flowing from reality, male from female, light from dark, evil from good.

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