Paprika (パプリカ Papurika) is a Japanese animated science fiction film, based on Yasutaka Tsutsui's 1993 novel of the same name, about a research psychologist who uses a device that permits therapists to help patients by entering their dreams.
The film was directed by Satoshi Kon, animated by Madhouse Studios, and produced and distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment. The film's music was composed by Susumu Hirasawa, who also composed the soundtrack for Kon's award-winning film, Millennium Actress, and equally lauded television series, Paranoia Agent.
Plot
In the near future, a revolutionary new psychotherapy treatment called dream therapy has been invented. A device called the "DC Mini" allows the user to view people's dreams, exploring their unconscious thoughts. The head of the team working on this treatment, Dr. Atsuko Chiba, begins using the machine to help psychiatric patients outside the research facility, using her alter-ego "Paprika", a persona she seems to assume in the dream world. The movie opens with Paprika counseling Detective Toshimi Konakawa, who is victimized by a recurring dream depicting himself in various cinema scenes, ending with a murderer escaping from a homicide.
As the government had not yet approved usage of the device, Chiba's actions are technically illegal and thus are kept a secret between herself and two colleagues: Dr. Kōsaku Tokita, a morbidly obese child-at-heart genius and the inventor of the DC Mini, and Dr. Toratarō Shima, the friendly and cheerful chief of staff. Three of the prototypes for the DC Mini are stolen and the Chairman of the company leads a meeting with the trio to discuss the ramifications and his severe doubts on the ethical nature of the DC Mini. Without warning, Dr. Shima suddenly goes on a nonsensical tirade and throws himself through a window, nearly killing himself.
Shima's psyche is examined and it is discovered that his thoughts had been invaded by someone else's dream: a lively parade of inanimate objects, instrument-playing animals, and various cultural icons. The visiage of Kei Himuro, Dr. Tokita's assistant, appears amongst the images of the "dream parade". It is suspected that he had used a stolen DC Mini to psychically assault Shima. Tokita and Chiba, along with another colleague, Dr. Morio Osanai, investigate Himuro's abandoned apartment. There, Chiba's mind is invaded by delusions of pursuing a Japanese doll through an amusement park; she nearly throws herself off a balcony as a result and is rescued at the last moment by Osanai. Back at the research facility, two other scientists fall victim to the dream parade. The Chairman cites the incidents as reason enough to ban the use of the device completely.
Chiba deduces that the amusement park from her previous delusions is a real location Tokita and Himuro used to relate about. Tokita and Chiba visit the park only to encounter Himuro, a DC Mini embedded into his skull, throwing himself off a Ferris wheel. Himuro survives the ordeal but is left in a vegetative state; he is ultimately held responsible for the dream parade incidents. Chiba however believes Himuro himself to have been a victim, chiding Tokita when he shows apathy to the situation. Tokita responds by using the DC Mini to access Himuro's psyche to find out for himself, and becomes the latest victim of the dream parade, which in turn starts to actively invade the dreams of others as Paprika and Dt. Konakawa discover.
Paprika and Shima explore Himuro's psyche using the DC Mini and find that it's literally been reduced to an empty shell. Tracing the "roots" that controlled him, Paprika confronts the Chairman himself, who claims that he is in fact the "protector of the dreamworld", guarding this last haven against the inhumane horrors of reality and technology. He is aided by Osanai, who agreed to give the Chairman his body and become the Chairman's lackey as long as he retains equal powers over his own dreams. Paprika is eventually captured by the pair after an exhausting chase.
Paprika wakes as a butterfly pinned to a table in a room surrounded by pinned butterflies. There, Osanai admits his love for Chiba, and literally peels away Paprika's skin to reveal Chiba underneath. However, he is interrupted by the outraged Chairman who demands that they finish off Chiba; as the two share Osanai's body, they battle for control as they argue over Chiba's fate. Konakawa enters the dream from his own recurring dream, and flees with Chiba back into his. Osanai gives chase through Konakawa's reoccuring dream, causing Konakawa to realize that his recurring nightmare and anxiety result from his guilt that he never finished the film he was making with a friend. He decides to "finish the film" and take control of the dream by shooting Osanai. The act actually kills Osanai's physical body with a real bullet wound.
Dreams and reality have now merged. The dream parade is running amok in the city, and reality itself is starting to unravel. Shima is nearly killed by a giant Japanese doll, but is saved by Paprika, who has become an entity separate from Chiba thanks to dreams and reality merging. Amidst the chaos, Tokita, in the form of a giant robot, eats Chiba and prepares to do the same for Paprika. The Chairman also returns in the form of a living nightmare, reveals his twisted dreams of omnipotence, and threatens to darken the world with his delusions.
A ghostly apparition of Chiba appears and reveals that she has in fact been in love with Tokita this whole time and has simply been repressing these emotions. She comes to terms with her own repressed desires, reconciles herself with that part of her that is Paprika. Paprika returns to Tokita, throwing herself into his body. A ghostly apparition of a baby emerges from the robotic shell, like a womb. Sucking in the wind, the child grows until she sucks up the Chairman himself, becoming a full grown beautiful combination of both Chiba and Paprika. In this new form, she is able to consume the Chairman's dream form and end the nightmare he created.
In the final scene, Chiba sits at Tokita's bedside. Konakawa and Shima leave the two as Chiba puts her hand in Tokita's. As Konakawa and Shima walk down the street, Shima asks if Konakawa ever figured out the meaning to all this. Konakawa, turning to his reflection and seeing the figure of his film friend, realizes that he in fact became the character from their original film, the cop. Konakawa visits Paprika's website and receives a message from Paprika: "Atsuko will change her surname to Tokita... and I suggest watching the movie Dreaming Kids." The film ends as Konakawa purchases a ticket for the movie.
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Subs: Paprika.srt
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