A detective and a therapist team up to recover a stolen invention which allows people's dreams to be entered and recorded by others.
Satoshi Kon was one of the prominent animators of the last decade. His career began in manga comics, and then moved into animation, where he worked as a writer, background artist, and on layouts. Joining the highly-regarded Madhouse animation studio, Kon released four features and a television series in less than ten years of work, accumulating numerous awards in the process.
Kon's works usually deal with the blurring line between fantasy and reality, as well as subjective memory, explored through various technological devices. These ideas have been portrayed in a suspense thriller, a "fictional biopic", and in Paprika, a science-fiction whodunnit.
Paprika is based on a popular 1993 novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui, and while Kon made extensive changes to the story, the screenplay and film were both endorsed by the author, who has a small part in the cast.
The film was released to positive reviews, especially in the animated community. Other noteworthy fans include Christopher Nolan and Terry Gilliam, the latter a major influence on Kon's career himself. Time magazine ranked Paprika at #20 on its 2007 list of the All-Time Best Animated Films.
Sadly, in 2010 while in preparation for his next film, Kon was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer and died on August 24th. He posted a long message on his official website for his fans and friends, and left behind pre-production designs in the hopes that his work would be completed in his absence.
Running time is approx. 90 minutes.
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