paprika, the non-review

I had to dig to find this quote. It's from a book on mime technique: (yep, no joke)

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Technique is impressive. Artistry is interesting.

"Impressive" alone does not stand the test of time. The next guy comes along and is taller than you, more accomplished, quicker, wealthier, busier. "Impressive" is based on relatives: more or less, better or worse, etc.

"Interesting" stands alone. When something is interesting, time stops, comparisons are irrelevant.

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I just saw Paprika, Satoshi Kon's latest film. Beyond good or bad, it's a challenging movie. There were parts I liked and parts I didn't like. There were enormous plot holes -- but the kinds that all great sci-fi movies dodge to remain internally consistent and not slow the pace to a exposition-laden crawl.

I couldn't help but think of the only other animated film I've seen recently: Ratatouille. Both are excellent movies. Both are somewhat predictable (not necessarily a bad thing). But the book excerpt I've quoted above popped into my head, and that's really what it is.

Americans -- by Americans, I mean Pixar, the only credible group of feature animation story-tellers still working with budgets over $1mil -- are miles ahead in terms of technology. Freehand artistry is up for grabs, but I'd bet that the folks toiling away on the next feature for Pixar are at least as skilled illustrators as the best studios anywhere else in the world. Computers don't give you a free pass.

That being said, Paprika isn't necessarily amazing because of the imagery, but it's amazing because of how that imagery moves and transitions. On the downside, the plot tends to sometimes read like an Outer Limits rerun.

You could even venture to say that holding the two movies up to each other as two distinct styles.... Paprika (or, say, Howl's Moving Castle) wraps an interesting concept around a genius art project. Ratatouille (or, for example, Finding Nemo) wraps great art around brilliant story-telling.

The tiebreaker here is that American animated features have to cater to the market that says, "animated features must throw some jokes to the kids, even if 80% of the movie appeals more to adults".

So, in the end, you have a product (American animation) that is impressive but not particularly thoughtful and another (Japanese/Korean/etc.) that is less technically impressive but definitely reaching for a more difficult plane of existence.

In the end, Paprika is the best kind of science-fiction -- it entertains while asking subtle, complicated questions and challenging audiences to look deeper.

Told you it was a non-review. Go watch.