Critical film review - Essay Example

A critical review of the Film Paprika of 2006 A critical review of the Film PAPRIKA of 2006 Scientists at the Foundation for Psychiatric Research have just made a scientific breakthrough that is going to revolutionize psychotherapy. It is a machine that allows therapists to venture into the dreams of their patients. The celebration for this incredible discovery is cut-short when a thief manages to steal it. This causes a lot of worries in its three discovering scientists. They are not only scared that a precious gadget has gone missing, but because with it, a bigger problem is on the leash.

The access codes to its use had not been restricted. Paprika is the one who can stop the misuse of the stolen device. Until today, out-of-body experiences raise eyebrows, and for some, they would rather shrug it off as mere dreams with nothing beyond that. Dreams and reality do not meet for many. In this film though, the two are merged with a lot of ease (McElroy, 2007). As the story opens, detective Toshimi Konakawa is seeing Paprika for counseling. He has a recurring dream that has disturbed him for quite a while.

As much as disembodied experiences are not as credible to the natural senses as other forms of reality, they are real, and they exist. If we become obsessed so much with disembodied experiences than in other easily tangible reality, we can be overwhelmed. Individuals cannot understand the nature of this other reality that is a bit too abstract (Haddock, 2001). This is what happens to Doctor Torataro Shima when he realizes that the gadget he treasured had been stolen and there was no hope of getting it back.

He almost commits suicide. To Shima, this scientific discovery is like a dream and the experience makes him walk on clouds. Dreams and out-of-body experiences are pleasurable, but it is clear too that there is a big disconnect between reality and such experience. Many people including philosophers of ancient time agree that dreams come to reveal things repressed in to our unconscious mind. In this film, when people get to move around freely and interact in dreams, they are in a way building on the same premises.

As Konakawa comes to realize later as the film closes, the blanks he had been having in his recurrent dreams were as a result of an unfinished film that they wanted to produce with deceased friend. Another eminent element is that experience in dreams and out-of-body episodes can actualize in the reality. In his constant dream, and in his role, in the film, he acts as a cop; just what they had agreed with his deceased friend when preparing for their movie (Schofield, 2004). Paprika is almost wanting in the beginning as it leaves viewers confused.

The story ramifies intensely before explaining the reasons behind every one of them. For a viewer seeking for pure fun from beginning to end, this might make them recoil. Interestingly though, dreams start like that and if we can recall how lost we always are during the beginning of many of our dreams we can conquer with Paprika (Schofield, 2004). Lucid dreaming opens communication between the conscious and unconscious. In lucid dreaming, an individual knows that they are asleep, but they watch themselves doing errands as if in a movie.

Paprika enacts this when she replays Konakawa’s dream on the laptop. Science fiction helps bridge dreams and reality (Luckhurst, 2005). Paprika even shows us how it would be if we were to be able to interact in our dreams; some would be hostile and can even die in the process.ReferencesHaddock, D. B. (2001). The dissociative identity disorder sourcebook. New York: McGraw Hill.Luckhurst, R. (2005). Science fiction. Cambridge: Polity Press.McElroy, M. (2007). Lucid dreaming for beginners : simple techniques for creating interactive dreams.

Woodbury, Minn. : Llewellyn Publications.Schofield, A. T. ( 2004). The unconscious mind. Whitefish, Mont: Kessinger Pub Co.