Inception by Paprika July 31, 2010
Posted by ayasawada in Anime, Film.Tags: Dreams, Inception, Paprika, Satoshi Kon
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I read this in an ANN news story about Leonardo DiCaprio and Inception this week:
[Director Christopher] Nolan has reportedly cited Satoshi Kon’s anime film [Paprika] as an inspiration for the character of a female dream architect, played by actress Ellen Page.
This doesn’t surprise me, and probably doesn’t surprise any other anime fan who’s seen Inception. One of the first things that struck me as I watched the film was how much of its concept crossed paths with Satoshi Kon’s film. This is obvious to some extent — both films (and the original Paprika novel) are about entering peoples dreams and discovering their innermost secrets through that dream state, and how thin the line between dream and reality is.
But Inception is rather darker and more complicated than Paprika, without the latter’s sense of romance. The anime also plays more with the idea of separate personalities in dreams and reality. And in a weird way Paprika is slightly more believable, at least in terms of the technology (perhaps because that aspect is explained a little more than in Inception).
I’ll gladly watch either film over and over, but Paprika’s is a slightly more charming tale, with a smaller cast and much more emphasis on the heroine. Inception perhaps suffers from a need to go all Goldeneye in its final action scenes and from its rather large cast of support characters that demand almost as much attention as the lead.
What I love about both is how they are able to successfully blend fantasy and reality into one. When I first saw Paprika, I marvelled at how perfect the medium and story were for each other — anime is made for expressing stories about dreams. I didn’t think anything would ever top anime’s ability to visualise the fantastical and confuse ‘dream’ and ‘real’ elements so for the viewer. But Inception’s come mightily close — and in live-action.
These would be ideal companions in a double bill, exploring different aspects of how ‘dream technology’ could be used and what dreams really tell us about the human psyche and how we perceive reality. I was enthralled by Inception, which was both exciting and imaginative. But it also made me yearn to experience the colour of Paprika once again.
It’s interesting to see so many fans get caught up in this whole “Hollywood vs. Anime” debate.
I do agree that anime does certain things better, like portray dreams. Inception does come close.
I actually posted my thoughts about the Inception vs. Paprika debate. You can read them at:
http://www.mangatherapy.com/post/875442822/inception-paprika-pt1
http://www.mangatherapy.com/post/893440300/inception-paprika-pt2
Interesting couple of posts. Thanks for sharing. I agree some anime fans are too quick to claim ‘rip off’ on a lot of US/Western things.
For the record, this wasn’t what I was saying. Although Paprika influenced some aspects, as Nolan acknowledges, I realise the two are entirely different movies.
But as you say, it is interesting how anime seems to be better for expressing certain stories, like dreams. And as I say, I was stunned how close Inception came to achieving that.
I think the problem is that some anime fans didn’t even bother to see Inception and crying ripoff just from reading a general synopsis. If you’re going to talk the talk, be sure to back it up with good measure.
I do agree that anime does certain things better, like portray dreams. Inception does come close.
agreed, i still love paprika better though i’ve seen inception.
The broad concept does with dreams, but they are still different.
I’m not surprised that inception could blend reality and dream so well together though, because i know what technology can do nowaydays.
They’re both enjoyable, but i think what irks me most is that hollywood movies get so much attention and earn so much more than movies and concepts from japan that may be much much better.
I do my best to support good japanese animes and mangas, but i still feel sad so few will know paprika and so many will know inception.
“They’re both enjoyable, but i think what irks me most is that hollywood movies get so much attention and earn so much more than movies and concepts from japan that may be much much better.
I do my best to support good japanese animes and mangas, but i still feel sad so few will know paprika and so many will know inception.”
The anime fans feel the same and, that’s WHY they say what they say about ‘rip off’.
I liked Inception better tbh. Paprika was pretty good but it was more of an art form into the imaginations of dreams. Inception was more of just a heist film within dreams. Which is what I liked about it. It was more real but not too real. Also the way inception was done just seemed alot more epic.
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