Paprika (2006)
The original dream heist.
Presentation:
Absolute, unhinged chaos. If The Cell, Perfect Blue and Inception had a baby, this would be it. Nolan’s film even references this one with similar compositions. This one is even more so impossible to follow as a real dream. You’ll feel lost and disoriented in this hall of mirrors of descending madness. Even if you don’t understand what’s going on, you can still enjoy the experience. It’s a kaleidoscopic lucid dream with oddly specific and uncanny imagery, though technically it’s a sci-fi tale of trying to stop a criminal whom has stolen dangerous dream traversing technology. What ensues is the cinematic journey, which is the main purpose of the film, not the context or actual story.
Conclusion:
This could be a masterpiece if it were a bit more cohesive. The Japanese version of Alice in Wonderland on steroids. It very clearly influences Inception, except with psychedelic and more absurd realities afforded by the unlimited imagination of animation. A wild hallucinogenic experience that is just short of greatness because it’s too schizophrenic to follow. But that’s what dreams are and this film recaptures that trip into the deep subconscious. It may even resurface memories you thought had been lost, that’s how evocative it is. Whether the experience is a dream or nightmare, will depend on your tolerance to the spice.
Recommendations
The greatest cinematography to have no story.