Waking Life (2001)
"Dream is Destiny."
***
What a difference a second viewing makes. After hearing about ‘Waking Life’ when it initially came out, I was very interested to check it out. It just seemed like something that would appeal to both the intellectual in me as well as the film-lover. However, I never did get around to watching it until after I had seen ‘A Scanner Darkly’, Richard Linklater’s ‘other’ film where he used the technique of ‘painting’ over every frame to give the movie a sort of dreamlike/cartoon feel, while still capturing real actors motions and mannerisms on the screen. ‘A Scanner Darkly’ remains one of my all time favourite films, one that seems to reveal something upon each repeated viewing. ‘Waking Life’ however, did not go over well the first time through. After watching it, I felt tired and ‘talked at’, I didn’t find myself ‘interested’ in anything the characters had to say…I just wasn’t ‘feeling it’.
However, that take never really sat well with me. I’ve been a fan of most of Linklater’s stuff, but more than anything I find that he is a director who likes to explore the boundries of his art, which is something I’ve always been a fan and admirer of. Kubrick, Jarmusch, Aronofsky…there are many, but those 3 spring to mind…all these directors are attempting to merge the values of cinema and art and individuality and thought and perception together…in a medium that is often only concerned with profit and celebrity. So I wanted to give Linklater and ‘Waking Life’ another chance.
And I’m glad I did.
Maybe it had something to do with where I’m at now versus where I was the first time, but this time I felt like I was ready to take in the film…and everything it had to offer. The story is simple. Its about a guy and his dreams…and him finding himself in a constant state of sleep-waking where his dreams are interrupted by him waking up…into more dreams. He’s confronted with seemingly random people who offer him their ideas about life, philosophy, existence…it all very complicated and very ‘wordy’. Because of the ‘dream’ state he’s in, he/you seemingly float in and out of these encounters almost at random…so if your not following along within the first 5 minutes, you might as well turn it off, cause its one of those films where you’ve got to ‘sink’ into it and really open your ears and mind to what’s being said. The animation helps sometimes…but there are some pretty wild theories full of intellectual jargon and terminology that, if your not really tuned in, will just start to sound like a bunch of ‘big words’ really quick…which is probably what happened to me the first time I tried to watch it.
I don’t know…for what its worth…this time, the movie made sense…a lot of sense…and came at just the right time in my life…at just the right moment. But what it all means?
"No matter how empty the world seemed, no matter how degraded and used up the world appeared to us, we knew that anything was still possible, and, given the right circumstances, a new world was just as likely as an old one."
***
What a difference a second viewing makes. After hearing about ‘Waking Life’ when it initially came out, I was very interested to check it out. It just seemed like something that would appeal to both the intellectual in me as well as the film-lover. However, I never did get around to watching it until after I had seen ‘A Scanner Darkly’, Richard Linklater’s ‘other’ film where he used the technique of ‘painting’ over every frame to give the movie a sort of dreamlike/cartoon feel, while still capturing real actors motions and mannerisms on the screen. ‘A Scanner Darkly’ remains one of my all time favourite films, one that seems to reveal something upon each repeated viewing. ‘Waking Life’ however, did not go over well the first time through. After watching it, I felt tired and ‘talked at’, I didn’t find myself ‘interested’ in anything the characters had to say…I just wasn’t ‘feeling it’.
However, that take never really sat well with me. I’ve been a fan of most of Linklater’s stuff, but more than anything I find that he is a director who likes to explore the boundries of his art, which is something I’ve always been a fan and admirer of. Kubrick, Jarmusch, Aronofsky…there are many, but those 3 spring to mind…all these directors are attempting to merge the values of cinema and art and individuality and thought and perception together…in a medium that is often only concerned with profit and celebrity. So I wanted to give Linklater and ‘Waking Life’ another chance.
And I’m glad I did.
Maybe it had something to do with where I’m at now versus where I was the first time, but this time I felt like I was ready to take in the film…and everything it had to offer. The story is simple. Its about a guy and his dreams…and him finding himself in a constant state of sleep-waking where his dreams are interrupted by him waking up…into more dreams. He’s confronted with seemingly random people who offer him their ideas about life, philosophy, existence…it all very complicated and very ‘wordy’. Because of the ‘dream’ state he’s in, he/you seemingly float in and out of these encounters almost at random…so if your not following along within the first 5 minutes, you might as well turn it off, cause its one of those films where you’ve got to ‘sink’ into it and really open your ears and mind to what’s being said. The animation helps sometimes…but there are some pretty wild theories full of intellectual jargon and terminology that, if your not really tuned in, will just start to sound like a bunch of ‘big words’ really quick…which is probably what happened to me the first time I tried to watch it.
I don’t know…for what its worth…this time, the movie made sense…a lot of sense…and came at just the right time in my life…at just the right moment. But what it all means?
Actually...that's where it gets really interesting...
"No matter how empty the world seemed, no matter how degraded and used up the world appeared to us, we knew that anything was still possible, and, given the right circumstances, a new world was just as likely as an old one."
posted by neil at 11:31 PM
6 Comments:
I really like this style of film. I'm going to try to find this one. I think Tron and 89's music videos paved the way for this kind of cinematography.
YES! There is totally a Tron influence in the look of the film...I hadn't put the two together, nice one! (and any reference to Tron is just awesome!)
"the trick is to combine your waking rational abilities with the infinite possibilities of your dreams...because if you can do that..you can do anything"
nice one matt!
...and I do believe that there's something to the notion that there really isn't a whole lot separating our waking lives from our 'dream' lives.
"we're mostly water!"
very very good choice indeed sir. Im actually going to rent it tomorrow for another viewing
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