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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (July 5, 2007)
!24 #).%-!3 ,HZ[[O BY MOLLY TEMPLETON Megumi Hayashibara as Atsuko Chiba 6WDUWV )ULGD\ O[[W!IPQV\JPULTHZJVT )URPWKHDFFODLPHGGLUHFWRURI 3(5)(&7%/8(DQG 72.<2*2')$7+(56 LICENSE TO WED PG13 11:20, 1:50, 4:25, 7:30, 10:00 TRANSFORMERS PG13 9:30, 10:20, 11:40, 12:10, 12:50, 1:40, 3:05, 3:40, 4:10, 5:10, 6:25, 7:05, 7:35, 8:30, 9:50, 10:25, 10:45 RATATOUILLE G 10:10, 10:45, 12:05, 1:05, 1:35, 3:00, 3:55, 4:30, 7:00, 7:35, 9:50, 10:25 EVENING PG13 10:00, 1:00, 3:50, 7:25, 10:30*EXCEPT TUES 7/10 Seishi Minakami and Satoshi Kon. Based on the story by Yasutaka Tsutsui. Developed by Masao Maruyama. Starring the voices of Megumi Hayashibara, Toru Emori, Katsunosuke Hori, Toru Furuya, Akio Ohtsuka and Kouichi Yamadera. In Japanese with English sub- titles. Sony Pictures Classics, 2007. R. 90 minutes. 55556 M uch as it’s hard to explain a dream to someone else, it’s hard to explain Paprika. The latest animated film from director Satoshi Kon (Millenium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers), requires that you give in to its dream logic, a mishmash of gorgeous but sometimes ominous imagery, imaginative technology and detective story. Based on a novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui, who later stopped writing “to protest the excessive, self-imposed restraint of Japanese publishers” (according to production notes), Paprika feels some- thing like what might happen if William Gibson and Hayao Miyazaki shared a fan- tastic dream with the help of the film’s dream-sharing invention, the DC Mini. The DC Mini is an exceptional device, an odd headset that allows the wearer’s dreams to be shared, seen and analyzed. It’s been developed as a psychotherapy treat- ment, but when several prototypes are stolen from the research lab, the DC Mini quickly becomes a weapon. Dangerous dreams are planted in the minds of doctors working on the lab — one sees a parade and goes running out a window to follow it; another nearly vaults over a balcony while investigating a lab worker suspected of leaking the prototypes. Paprika begins in the dreams of a detec- tive, the delineation between dream life and the real world seemingly clear. A sassy red- head named Paprika talks a troubled detec- tive named Konakawa through his dreams, suggesting meaning, exploring possibilities. But when she leaves, a gorgeous credit sequence follows her as she heads through the city, her appearance constantly chang- ing. It’s a hint as to how swiftly Paprika moves between waking and dreaming, between imagination and what might be real. People and things appear in the real and the dream worlds: the iconic cat with one paw raised, a toy robot, a creepy doll, an amusement park. But as the story continues and the DC Mini is used to infect more peo- ple with someone else’s dream, a parade of strange, chanting objects that shouldn’t be mobile walks from the dream world into the real world. The parade, awash in confetti, sweeps up everything in its path, an unfor- gettable visualization of what all our dreams might look like mashed together. You can resist Paprika or try to make per- fect sense of it, but you’d do better to give in to its strange visions, perfect soundtrack and appealing characters, many of whom need to come to terms with multiple facets of them- selves. Throughout the film, phrases repeat, images recur, and the power of film to affect a viewer’s imagination is discussed overtly and slyly as Konakawa explores the past that haunts his sleep. Konakawa connects dreams with film while Paprika suggests that they’re not unlike the Internet, a place where the mind can vent unchecked. The DC Mini becomes a wireless router, carrying sleepers into the same dream while they sleep in dif- ferent beds. Paprika is short and swift, an energetic, perfectly overwhelming visual marvel that once again confirms animated film isn’t just a children’s playground. Watching reality, personality and creativity shift, merge, sep- arate and transform in Kon’s delightful down-the-rabbit-hole romp is a strange treat, one that you may find cropping up in your own dreams for nights to come. ew SEE WEB FOR WED 7/11 & THURS 7/12 SHOWINGS FANTASTIC 4: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER PG DIGITAL SHOW: 11:10, 1:45, 4:15, 7:10, 9:45 SURF’S UP PG 11:30, 1:55, 4:20 12:15, 12:55, 3:20, 4:00, 6:25, 7:15, 9:30*EXCEPT TUES 7/10, 10:30 7:15, 10:15 10:55, 12:00, 1:30, 2:35, 4:05, 5:15, 7:00, 7:45, 9:35, 10:20 1408 PG13 11:25, 2:10, 4:55, 7:40, 10:20*EXCEPT TUES 7/10 Paprika parades clever creativity PAPRIKA : Directed by Satoshi Kon. Screenplay by STARTS TUESDAY 7/10 AFTER MIDNIGHT: 12:01, 12:02, 12:03, 12:04, 12:05 LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD PG13 EVAN ALMIGHTY PG Fever Dream HARRY POTTER & THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX PG13 OCEAN’S 13 PG13 KNOCKED UP R 7:05, 10:10 PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: WORLD’S END PG13 6:55, 10:40 SHREK THE THIRD PG 11:35, 2:05, 4:35 ´:KDWHYHULWLV\RX UHORRNLQJIRU FRPHG\KRUURUSDUDGHVRIVLQJLQJ IURJVDQGGDQFLQJNLWFKHQ DSSOLDQFHV\RX OOILQGLWLQ %/2: 6DWRVKL.RQ VDQLPH DGYHQWXUHDMDZGURSSLQJ IHDWRILPDJLQDWLRQµ (OL]DEHWK:HLW]PDQ 1<'DLO\1HZV 1LJKWO\ 6DW 6XQ0DW 5 ¹1N aW]^MM^MZJMMV\W8IZQ[ \PMNQTU¼[^IZQML\ISM[WV\PM +Q\aWN 4QOP\[Q[[MMXMLQV ZM^MZQM1N aW]PI^MV¼\ 8IZQ[2M<IQUM[MZ^M[I[ IVMV\QKQVOQV^Q\I\QWVº 1LJKWO\6XQ0DW 5 8FIBWFOFXXBZTUPTBWFNPOFZTFFNPWJFT BENJTTJPODBSEPOMZ 4&/*03BENJTTJPODBSEPOMZ i"WJCSBOUBOE VQMJGUJOHDPNFEZ ,FSJ3VTTFMMJTUBSUMZ JSSFTJTUJCMFw 0XFO(MFJCFSNBO &OUFSUBJONFOU8FFLMZ 4<:;,5+ 1LJKWO\ :665 6DW0DW %,-28/$7(1,7( RQO\ )5, 3* 6$7 'LUHFWHGE\7UH\3DUNHU 6811,*+76 &$ 1 1 ,% $/ 7+ ( 0 8 6, &$ / IULVDW VXQ 1V +W \4 VKMZ I\ 7 M6 052-36@+;/,>(33 Q\M ;OLJVTWSL[LLWPJHSI\ TWLYMVYT LKSP]LMYVT[OLSLNLUKHY` [V\Y56;HYLJYL 3P]LPU3VUKVUW HUK5,=,9),-69 H[PVU YVMLZZPVUHSS`MPST ,:,,5+VU[TPZZ[ YJOP]LK [OLZLHZVU OLMPUHSJVUJLY[3H LKH [L5P[LVM IULVDW VXQ DELTA FARCE PG13 WILD HOGS PG13 12:10, 2:45, 5:10, 7:40, 10:20 DISTURBIA PG13 11:20, 12:05, 1:55, 2:35, 4:25, 5:00, 7:00, 7:35, 9:30, 10:00 11:35, 2:20, 4:50, 7:15, 9:40 FRACTURE R THE INVISIBLE PG13 11:25, 2:00, 4:35, 7:20, 9:55 12:15, 2:50, 5:15, 7:50, 10:05 ARE WE DONE YET? PG BLADES OF GLORY PG13 300 R HOT FUZZ R 11:30, 2:10, 4:55, 7:30, 10:10 11:45, 2:55, 7:25, 10:30 BRIDGE TO TER- ABITHA PG 12:00, 2:30, 5:20, 7:55, 10:25 DMD LLC DENTISTRY 11:40, 2:15, 4:45, 7:05, 9:25 11:55, 2:40, 5:05, 7:45, 10:15 28 WEEKS LATER R D ONALD D EXTER J R 11:15, 1:50, 4:15, 6:55, 9:20 Contemporary care with traditional values. RESPECT • HONESTY EMPATHY • HUMILITY 2233 W ILLAMETTE S T , B LDG B 541-485-6644 Paprika opens Friday, July 6, at the Bijou. JULY 5, 2007 29
