Perfect Blue vs. Paprika

[JosephDaley 26]

Satoshi Kon is one of the greatest storytellers to work in any medium, let alone film, and these two feature films specifically are the foundational 'Urtext', as Devin would say, for much of Darren Aronofsky's and Christopher Nolan's visual nd thematic ideas found in the film's 'Black Swan' (and to a degree certain shots were lifted for 'Requiem for a Dream' also) and 'Inception'.

 

Now that we're going through the looking glass and beginning to talk anime, I think it's high time we recognize other filmmakers who aren't Hayao Miyazaki

[NathanGordon 1096]

I've heard a couple of anime fans point out Nolan and Aronofsky using Kon as inspiration; it's important to remember he also drew a lot from other Western filmmakers, especially Hitchcock and Kubrick. Perfect Blue is in many ways a standard thriller, but it's what Kon does specifically with the medium of animation to enhance the story that makes it a masterpiece, and probably his best work. Paprika is a gorgeous film, but flawed.

 

I was shocked to learn of his death back in 2010. Although animation fans have always championed his films, I think that his body of work is still underrated among cinephiles and general audiences. This probably has more to do with the perception of Japanese anime as a medium, as well as an attitude of "lol japan is so weird" that's founded in Orientalism.

[JosephDaley 26]

To the first point, Aronofsky did purchase the adaptation rights (from what I remember) to Perfect Blue, specifically because he wanted to use actual shots from the film in Requiem for a Dream, but then he later basically remade Perfect Blue as Black Swan, and lifted many of the shots he had previously already used for Requiem again in that film, not even talking about the storytelling similarities (though that's really too general of a criticism) so I definitely concede that it isn't really an issue since he openly acknowledges the influence that Kon's films specifically have had on him as a storyteller.

 

But Nolan is the one that I find actually egregious. I don't think I've ever listened to him talk about Satoshi Kon, and yet most of the principal and iconic visuals from Inception are shot for shot lifts cribbed from Paprika. I agree that Paprika isn't a perfect film narratively, but I think it's easily worthy of Canon discussion considering the movie that was spawned from it was one of the first movies discussed for Canonicity.

 

I also freely admit to a personal bias, or crusade or what have you... I cannot stand Devin's attitude towards anime in general. I absolutely believe that Perfect Blue deserves to be in The Canon Eternal, and that Paprika could easily be in as well. I also think that Akira is absolutely a slam dunk for The Canon. Although I also really want to see something from Ralph Bakshi go up too... Ughh.

[JosephDaley 26]

*Also I know. His death was so tragic. It came completely out of nowhere for me. And he was in the middle of working on The Dreaming Machine, which I've lost faith in ever seeing completed honestly.

 

**PPS I think you're absolutely right. But what directors aren't influenced by Hitchcock and Kubrick? I feel like that's such a foundational level of film study for any cinephile, let alone filmmaker. For me it's obviously more noticeable that Nolan's ambition is steeped in attempting to emulate those filmmakers, and doing his own thing and allowing his vision to come through filtered by their techniques... But Kubrick and Hitchcock have been adored and talked about to death. By all of us, and I think Satoshi Kon's contribution to what ultimately became both Black Swan and Inception is incredibly large and important enough to discuss his influence just as much theirs? Idk if that came across the way I intend it to?!

[NathanGordon 1096]

To the first point, Aronofsky did purchase the adaptation rights (from what I remember) to Perfect Blue.

This is not true, and this sort of baseless accusation does neither filmmaker or film any service.

 

To be honest, I'm in agreement with Devin on anime despite loving many classics of the genre; on the whole, I find the bulk of it embarrassing and puerile at best.

[JosephDaley 26]

As far as I'm aware, and honestly I haven't looked into it for like 6-7 years, but he did legitimately purchase the rights to Perfect Blue specifically for the bathtub shot for Requiem for a Dream, and that's been a very well established and discussed point of contention against Black Swan, which he denies any influence from but acknowledges in the same breath- for now almost a decade. And I don't think that's a fair assessment at all, Cannibal Holocaust is a puerile and disgusting movie, and yet that is somehow more suitable for the Canon? I don't think so.

[bri-witched 60]

I've heard that Aronofsky bought the rights too, but have never seen a legit source for it.

 

Anyway, I love Kon and would be happy with either of these films being discussed. I think I like Paprika better, but Perfect Blue is a better film.

[Grand Moff Talkin' 20]

If we're talking vs., I'd go Prefect Blue vs. Millennium Actress instead of Paprika. I think Prefect Blue and Millennium Actress do a much better job of using Kon's "is this real?" storytelling to build suspense and tell a solid story. Paprika is pretty but I the story a little empty emotionally.