The dream-hopping action of Christopher Nolan’s Inception certainly left a lot of viewers confused, although there’s a similar mind-bending movie that was even harder to comprehend. As a sci-fi heist starring Leonardo DiCaprio, despite being a major hit at the box office and gaining praise from audiences and critics alike, it’s not uncommon for viewers to admit they found this story of a professional thief infiltrating the dreams of someone else and attempting to implant another person’s idea into their subconscious quite difficult to decipher.
The complex nature of Inception was part of its appeal, and viewers have continued to debate its ending right up to this day. As one of the best films of the 2010s, Inception was such a success that it’s likely the first movie people think of when it comes to dreams and film. However, there is another even more mystifying movie from Japan that explored many of the same themes as Inception, with some even suggesting that Nolan could have been influenced by it.
Paprika And Inception Share A Similar Premise About Invading Dreams
It Was Released Four Years Earlier
It’s impossible not to be struck by the similarities between Inception and the Japanese anime Paprika. With both movies focusing on dream-sharing technology and even having a similar stylistic aesthetic at times, there are moments in Paprika that feel so similar to Nolan’s hit movie that it’s hard to believe they could simply be coincidental. With the blurred boundaries between the real world and the dream world being a central theme of both films, each explored powerful themes around idenтιтy and the nature of selfhood.
Christopher Nolan has never publicly confirmed or denied that Inception was influenced by Paprika.
From twisting hallways that defy gravity to elevators where the floor represents a different layer of the dreamer’s subconscious, even the way that dreams are depicted on screen is strikingly similar. Though one is live-action and the other animated, it’s impressive just how much narrative DNA Inception and Paprika share as they tell complex stories of dreaming, invading, and infiltrating.
Paprika Is More Abstract And Less Sci-Fi Than Inception
They Each Deal With Similar Topics In Different Ways
While Inception was confusing at times, it also embraced science fiction in a much more cohesive way than the abstract, absurd, and surreal logic of Paprika. Coming from director Satoshi Kon and based on the novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui, Paprika continued the Japanese filmmaker’s common themes of reality versus fiction, and at times it was very difficult to know what was a dream and what was reality.
With characters morphing into other forms, settings shifting without explanation, and surreal symbols continually appearing on screen, Paprika’s dreams were chaotic and metaphorical, whereas Inception played out more like structured virtual reality. This abstract expression of the subconscious made the dreams in Paprika feel more akin to what it’s actually like to be dreaming, as characters can inexplicably shift and change, and we’re forced to just go with the flow rather than try to form any sort of coherent understanding.
Paprika Is Even More Confusing Than Inception (In A Good Way)
Symbolism Takes Precedence Over Plot In Paprika
Paprika is the kind of movie that you need to watch a few times to fully get a handle on everything that’s going on, which makes for a more rewarding viewing experience overall. With the тιтle character Paprika being a dream detective who’s actually an alter ego of the research psychologist Dr. Atsuko Chiba, even basic character details take some time to make sense of. With a dreamlike logic, Paprika embraces the subconscious world without trying to rationalize it.
Although there’s plenty of over-the-top surreal imagery and disorienting visuals, like many other surreal filmmakers such as David Lynch or Alejandro Jodorowsky, the key to understanding Paprika is to just give yourself over to it fully. While Inception spends a lot of time explaining how its dream mechanics work in an effort to keep the audience oriented, Paprika just jumps straight into the chaos and expects that you will sink or swim in your understanding. As two profoundly interesting and complex movies, although both Inception and Paprika make for confusing viewing, they remain outstanding works of art.
