Dream a dream – Part II

Every idea has two aspects, the humane and the evil. What happens if the only sanctuary known to man is evaded, exploited and commercialized?

Paprika explores the possibility of watching someone else’s dream, participating in this highly individualistic, personal activity. The conflict arises when DC Mini, the device that allows therapists to enter a patient’s dreams is stolen. All hell breaks loose, people jump off buildings, talking gibberish, possessed by some diabolical whim.

The beauty of such concepts is the freedom of expression they offer. Nothing is better than being able to see a person’s thoughts. And that’s exactly what you can expect from the film. Bizarre visuals, disconnected frames blatantly justified by their existence as a dream. The medium of animation lends itself beautifully to the narrative, allowing bizarre depictions of characters and plot.

Sigmund Freud would have been gleefully proud of this visual dichotomy of mind and body. Watch it, and you will never dream the same again...

Dream a dream

Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams is about what dreams are supposed to be, vivid contradictions and clashing ideologies. There is ambiguity of time and logic, stories mangled in a muddle of imagery and sound.

Apparently inspired by Kurosawa’s actual dreams, they tell the tale of hope and despair, the past and future. It personifies a grotesque glimpse of tomorrow infused by the actions of today. The social message is very clear, man is exploiting nature for his immediate gain and is about to reap annihilation.

The dreams are an octet some entirely disconnected, some woven in time and space. Not surprisingly, my most favoured story was ‘Crows’, where the artist jumps into Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings and meets him in person. Martin Scorsese plays the freakishly enthused Vincent who claims to work his body like a locomotive. Another dream worth mentioning is “blizzard’, slow and surreal, it seems endless to the point of imbuing sleep.

The sensibilities of the film are Japanese, music and dance very spontaneously carry the narrative with beautiful rhythm. The color palette varies vividly based on the storyline. I like the way Kurosawa lingers on the shot a little longer than usual, letting you gather your thoughts on the story so far.

Over all, it is a visual abstraction of his mind, which undoubtedly is genius supreme.

P.S. 1. There’s an interesting line in a film called ‘Paprika’ which goes “Don't you think dreams and the Internet are similar? They are both areas where the repressed conscious mind vents.”

2. The image associated with this blog post is a depiction of my dreams and nightmares, I call them “Monstrosities out of nothing”.