abroadinjapan

WHY I NEVER Hike Alone in Japan (Clip) | NEW VIDEO This Weekend | FILM FRIDAY "Paprika" (2006)

Added 2020-07-31 16:11:52 +0000 UTC

Frustrating.

Educational.

Rewarding.

Cars.

These are just some of the words in my extensive vocabulary that I’d use to describe the production process of this weekend’s Abroad in Japan video.

It’s been quite the tough production, but I’m pleased to announce the Driving in Japan video will be up this weekend. It’s a truly monstrous video, shot across numerous locations in north Japan, with eerie abandoned cafes, CGI explosions, the spectre of bears and of course Natsuki with a beer on a beach.

I’m genuinely proud of some of the footage I was able to squeeze out of my camera and drone in this one and I’m confident that the video is peppered with some of the best cinematography on the Abroad in Japan channel to date.

And some of the best acting. Oscar worthy.

🍺 https://youtu.be/XUDuqdFPsJ8

Dare I say, I hope the acting was BEARable…..

- Yeah, I’ll get out.

IN a Patron Exclusive video next week, I’ll be revealing what happened behind the scenes, including how I blew up my car and how a surprising amount of things went wrong at every turn. There are some amusing and painful behind the scenes outtakes and stories I look forward to sharing with you along the way.

I guess I wanted to make a special effort with this one, given that on average I make a video about driving in Japan once every 8 years. As always, we can only hope it was worth the wait.

I have to say for August, amongst the several videos that are coming out, I’m also planning to do something rather odd and unconventional, involving some experimental videos on the second channel, in an attempt to make up for the lack of videos this month.

I'm keen to challenge myself creatively - in the same way vloggers do Vlogmas. After all, the Abroad Perspective channel was born to be more than just a place to host Live Streams. Even if it’s driving around with a GoPro, making daily videos for a week, it could be a lot of fun.

As always, open to ideas and suggestions!

But we’ll get on to that later, for now folks, it’s time for Film Friday.

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PAPRIKA (2006), Satoshi Kon

Official Synopsis: Dr. Atsuko Chiba works as a scientist by day and, under the code name "Paprika," is a dream detective at night. Atsuko and her colleagues are working on a device called the DC Mini, which is intended to help psychiatric patients, but in the wrong hands it could destroy people's minds. When a prototype is stolen, Atsuko/Paprika springs into action to recover it before damage is done.

Abroad in Japan Review: A few weeks ago on Film Friday we featured the gruesome psychological thriller, Perfect Blue, directed by acclaimed director Satoshi Kon; a tale about an idol girl who loses her sanity and finds herself being subdued by a terrifying fan.

This week I come to you with another gem from Kon, the 2006 anime “Paprika”, a film which blurs the lines between fantasy and reality, when a hacker steals a groundbreaking device enabling the user to peer into the dreams of others.

Thankfully such technology doesn’t exist today, lest the world not enter my own underwhelming dreams.

Genuinely - last night I dreamt I was trying to stuff a reluctant ET into a wardrobe.

In hindsight, it was more like a fucking nightmare.

For anyone who’s ever obsessed over dreams, Paprika’s stunning artistic style does an amazing drop in conveying the chaos and unpredictable flow of our subconscious state of mind while dreaming. To date I’ve never seen anything that captures the essence of a dream in a film, as well as this, perhaps with the notable exception of “Inception”, which is said to have been influenced by Christopher Nolan’s fondness for Kon’s work.

Half detective story, half utter mindfuck, as Dr Atsuko Chiba unravels the mystery of who stole the dream device and why, you’ll be mesmerised by the settings of the dreams and the sheer unpredictably of each situation and character she comes face to face with.

But the real thrill from watching Paprika, is the reflection that comes afterwards, when you start to ask yourself how do dreams make us who we are? How do our fears manifest themselves in our subconscious? Would we ever truly want to share our dreams if we could? And how much are we truly in control of them?

Hopefully, after you’ve watched the artistic masterpiece that is Paprika, you too will start to question the things that go on in your head and perhaps most importantly, why ET still still refuses to leave your nightmares after 30 long years.

Paprika is available to watch on iTunes & Amazon