AXCN: Paprika (2006) 4K Restoration
Director: Satoshi Kon Run Time: 90 min. Rating: R Release Year: 2006
Starring: Akio Otsuka, Katsunosuke Hori, Megumi Hayashibara, Tohru Emori, Toru Furuya
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese with English subtitles
Presented as part of Anime Expo Cinema Nights 2023
About the film:
The final feature directed by anime legend Satoshi Kon. Paprika (2006) is a dizzying, dazzling tour through the unconscious that takes the genre to new heights of giddy imagination.
Atsuko is a psychiatrist who has developed a machine that will allow her to enter the dreams of her patients and study their psyches from the inside. She also does double duty as Paprika, a high-tech detective who uses this invention to find out the truth about what the people she’s investigating really think. When Atsuko falls victim to a thief who steals the one-of-a-kind machine, Paprika sets out to find it as a wave of psychological instability tears through the city.
“As a showcase of the limitless power of the imagination, Paprika never fails to delight the eye and engage the mind.”
—Peter Howell, Toronto Star
About the filmmaker:
Satoshi Kon was a leading figure in animation and one of the most influential contemporary Japanese artists. His stories fuse fantasy and reality to explore social themes and the human psyche. He is best known for his acclaimed anime films Perfect Blue (1997), Millennium Actress (2001), Tokyo Godfathers (2003), and Paprika (2006), as well as the anime series Paranoia Agent (2004). Prior to working as a director, he worked as a scriptwriter, layout artist and background designer, and made his directorial debut with episode 5 of the OVA JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (1993-1994). Kon was a graduate of the Graphic Design department of the Musashino Art University and a member of the Japanese Animation Creators Association.
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