PAPRIKA (2006)

File Under: Psychedelic Anime, Surrealism, Dream Logic, Sci-Fi Masterpiece.

Satoshi Kon’s 2006 anime feature has been described as an acid trip for good reason; when a machine that allows therapists to enter patients’ dreams is stolen, chaos ensues, and the only one capable of finding the culprit is Dr. Atsuko Chiba. When entering dreams Chida is transformed into an alter ego, Paprika. As she pursues the thief with her partners, she is forced into mind bending and terrifying situations, where the line between dream and reality is irrevocably blurred. This flick has been credited for inspiring Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” and it’s a worthy take if you’re interested in psychological thrillers exploring complex questions about identity and existence. Available for rent on Prime and Apple TV.

"Paprika", Satoshi Kon. 2006, Japan.
Running Time: 90 Minutes. Japanese.
Available for rent on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and YouTube.

VIDEODROME

David Cronenberg’s 1983 psychotronic, psychotropic fringe film starring James Woods as a sleazy TV station manager and Debby Harry as his sadomasochistic girlfriend, explores Marshall McClaren’s maxim “The Medium is the Message” in a frightening (albeit low tech) vision of television as a drug that blends into and transforms reality - an erotic pilot program turns out to be a snuff production; and so goes the film, ... caustic energy and bizarre sequences, frenzied sardonic sci-fi, a critique of our relationship with media prophesizing future dilemmas of the technological media age. 

“The very existence of imagination means that you can posit an existence totally different from the one you are living… if you accept at least on some level the Freudian dictum that civilization is repression, than imagination and unrepressed creativity is very dangerous to civilization.” - David Cronenberg