Paprika (2006)
“Papurika”.
Animation, Drama, Fantasy |
Paprika is a Japanese science-fiction psychological thriller anime film co-written and directed by Satoshi Kon, 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. It is Kon’s fourth and final feature film before his death in 2010. The film stars the voices of Megumi Hayashibara, Tōru Emori, Katsunosuke Hori, Tōru Furuya, Akio Ōtsuka, Kōichi Yamadera, and Hideyuki Tanaka.
Kon and Seishi Minakami wrote the script, and Japanese animation studio Madhouse animated and produced the film alongside Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan, which distributed it in Japan. The score was composed by Susumu Hirasawa. The film received wide acclaim from critics. Sony Pictures via Sony Pictures Classics distributed the film in the United States, where it received a limited release.
In the near future, a device called the “DC Mini” allows the user to view people’s dreams. The head of the team working on this treatment, Doctor Atsuko Chiba, begins using the machine illegally to help psychiatric patients outside of the research facility, using her alter-ego “Paprika”, a persona she assumes in the dream world. Chiba’s closest allies are Doctor Toratarō Shima, the chief of the department, and Doctor Kōsaku Tokita, an obese, genius man-child and inventor of the DC Mini.
Director: Satoshi Kon
Writers: Yasutaka Tsutsui (novel), Seishi Minakami (screenplay), Satoshi Kon (screenplay)
Stars: Megumi Hayashibara, Tôru Emori, Katsunosuke Hori, Kôichi Yamadera, Tôru Furuya, Akio Ôtsuka
Cast:
| Megumi Hayashibara | … | Paprika / Chiba Atsuko (voice) |
| Tôru Furuya | … | Tokita Kohsaku (voice) |
| Kôichi Yamadera | … | Osanai Morio (voice) |
| Katsunosuke Hori | … | Shima Tora-taroh (voice) |
| Tôru Emori | … | Inui Sei-jiroh (voice) |
| Akio Ôtsuka | … | Detective Kogawa Toshimi (voice) |
| Hideyuki Tanaka | … | Guy (voice) |
| Satomi Kôrogi | … | Japanese Doll (voice) |
| Daisuke Sakaguchi | … | Himuro Kei (voice) |
| Mitsuo Iwata | … | Tsumura Yasushi (voice) |
| Rikako Aikawa | … | Kakimoto Nobue (voice) |
| Shin’ichirô Ôta | … | Reporter (voice) |
| Satoshi Kon | … | Jin-nai (voice) |
| Yasutaka Tsutsui | … | Kuga (voice) |
| Brian Beacock | … | Hajime Himuro / Kuga (voice) |
| Doug Erholtz | … | Dr. Morio Osanai (voice) |
| Michael Forest | … | Dr. Seijiro Inui (voice) |
| Shinya Fukumatsu | … | Magician (voice) |
| Kumiko Izumi | … | Announcer (voice) |
| Anri Katsu | … | Researcher (voice) |
| Akiko Kawase | … | Waitress (voice) |
| David Lodge | … | Dr. Torataro Shima (voice) |
| Yuri Lowenthal | … | Dr. Kosaku Tokita (voice) |
| Kôzô Mito | … | Pierrot (voice) (as Kozo Mito) |
| Eiji Miyashita | … | Institute member (voice) |
| Cindy Robinson | … | Dr. Atsuko Chiba / Paprika (voice) |
| Paul St. Peter | … | Detective Toshimi Konakawa (voice) |
| Ezra Weisz | … | Konakawa’s Old Friend (voice) (as Ethan Murray) |
Sources: imdb & wikipedia