Each month on Film Club of the Air, we ask you to join the conversation with our live call in show. Now we'd like to ask you to join the conversation online as well. This month the KPBS Film Club of the Air presented a screening of the Japanese anime Paprika . If you attended the screening, we'd love to hear from you.
Paprika
On the KPBS Film Club of the Air, Scott Marks and I discussed the latest anime from Satoshi Kon, Paprika (opening at Landmark on June 15). Kon gained international acclaim for his 1989 anime Perfect Blue and more recently for his animated transformation of the American western Three Godfathers into Tokyo Godfathers. Paprika serves up a surreal tale about a device that allows therapists to enter the dreams of their patients. When the device is stolen, a dream detective must seek out the culprit.
At the KPBS screening, I conducted an informal poll and found that a couple dozen people in the audience were about to see their first anime ever whereas another couple dozen considered themselves otaku (if you have to ask then you arent otaku). So I'd love to hear from both sides. If this was your first anime, what did you think? Would you be game to try another? If you're an anime fan, how did this one compare with Kon's earlier Perfect Blue or his creepy TV series Paranoia Agent?
You can also take a listen to the discussion Scott and I had and see if you agree with us. Click here to listen to the May edition of the Film Club . Then post your comments. And check back here on June 15 for a full review of Paprika .
Companion viewing:
Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Memories
(Kon wrote the
Magnetic Rose
segment of this anime omnibus),
Paranoia Agent
(anime TV series)
Max L
June 01, 2007 at 07:20 PM
I love the movie, Paprika. Once opening sequence was shown with such a wonderful combination of dream-logic, the movie took off in a hurry. The characters were believable albeit not very developed, and the story was compelling.
The animation was great and the colors were popping, each lending fantastic views of the dreams being shown. The use of CGI was not overwhelming but enhanced the traditional animations. I don't know why the American counterparts cannot do this as well as the Japanese animators.
Paprika deserved to be seen on the big screen. The feel of how big the dreams and the settings were translated very well and probably wouldn't be done justice on a smaller screen. The fact that the movie wasn't dubbed in English was a plus as most of the dialogues would make no sense whatsoever in spoken English. And the music was wonderful.
Thanks, Beth, for having the screening.
BTW: Have you seen the movie 'Otaku in Love'?
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e t
June 01, 2007 at 07:24 PM
I want to thank you Beth for organizing the screening of this movie.
Ive been waiting for the US release of this movie since it came out in Japan, so I was really happy to be able to see this movie last night.
I was pleasantly surprised to see not that many hard-core anime fans there.
Hopefully we can get more people to appreciate Anime as it can be a good film.
I cant wait to see what you are planning to show next.
Beth Accomando
June 04, 2007 at 05:27 PM
Thanks for posting. I'll have to look for Otaku in Love. Have you seen the series Genshiken? It's about an anime and manga club and there's one episode where they go to a convention and it's just like Comic-Con. It's hilarious.
Thanks to both of you for your support of Anime. Hopefully we can have some more screenings in the future.
ML
June 13, 2007 at 05:21 PM
How do I join the Film Club? I got an email for Jindabyne, and got to see it, but didn't get any notification since then. I met a fellow film lover and she mentioned she gets invitations to screenings frequently, but I searched your site for film club application, there is none. How can I join? Thanks.
Beth Accomando
June 13, 2007 at 11:26 PM
ML,
We are planning to start a Film Club newsletter in the fall that people will be able to sign up for. But for now, just keep listening for announcements regarding our monthly film screenings.
Thanks for your interest. We hope to make the Film Club better in the coming months.
Fran Selder
July 08, 2007 at 12:59 AM
My husband and I would like to attend the screening on July 10. We have not found the notice at this site, but heard about it on the radio. Thanks, Fran Selder
