Identity in Editing - Paprika
Overall in the film, Paprika by Kon the aspect that illustrated the importance of dreams was the editing and use of illustration of identity. Navigating the dream world itself is a challenge in relation to how the film approaches technology and the mind. Identity in this sense connects the characters and their dreams. I found it interesting as each character in the story struggles with their identity.
To begin with, Paprika is introduced immediately as the dreamlike perfect girl who is pretty and fun. She seemingly knows just how to go about the “dream” world with ease. As effortless as her character is, it is At-chan who is technically the owner of Paprika. In this case of identity, the dream version is seemingly who At-chan wants to be. Paprika is referred to by men as the free spirit “girl of their dreams” whereas At-chan is more controlling and uptight. The editing in this sense helps to highlight the difference between the two characters. The use of the match cut is a perfect example of this. There is a scene of at-chan in the lab about to enter a dream. The wind blows her hair and the picture is matched cut to Paprika falling in the sky in the dream world. This moment stuck with me the most as Paprika’s music entered during this point as well, Paprika begins to nose dive and take different forms as she falls from the sky during this moment. Overall this scene perfectly illustrates the difference in identity between the two characters.
Focusing more on editing the expansive use of multiple kinds of cuts, the sense of cuts is what really illustrates the transition between scenes. Not only does Kon utilize the match cuts, but he also utilizes exact graphic matches and interesting unique transitions such as zooming out of a TV. One extreme example of the editing that was very interesting in Paprika was the scene in the Beijing of the film where paprika exits a diner with a group of men followers and she seemingly jumps out of the frame through a person and then we see that same person walking up to the camera and Paprika is on that person's shirt as the shirt graphic fills the frame that sequence becomes a different location itself. The dream sequences are perfectly connected through the power of the editing. In this sense the audience feels powerless to edit as what happens next is unexpected, like in your dreams. My favorite use of the match cut in the film was in the dreams of the detective. Although this character was in one dream it would jump many times throughout different locations and each time it was connected through a match cut. In the first five minutes of the film, Kon shows us this editing which hooks the viewer into the dream immediately. As the detective is shown with many different identities through editing it reminded me of a Buster Keaton style while the characters themselves are also powerless to the edit.
In this sense, I feel that the edit is symbolic of the dream as it not only highlights the duality in the identity of characters it also controls and affects characters almost as if the editing is a character in the narrative as well.
