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After a short three-year hiatus, filmmaker Richard Linklater (whose previous
outing was The Newton
Boys) has returned to the world of cinema with the offbeat and ambitious
Waking Life, an animated excursion through the dreams and philosophical
musings of the main character. Waking Life is clearly an experiment, and,
as such, looks and feels much different from anything else recently seen on a
movie screen. When he introduced the film at its Sundance 2001 premiere,
Linklater posed one question to the audience, and it goes a long way towards
setting the stage for Waking Life. "How many of you out there are on
drugs?" he asked. When a number of hands went up, he added, "Good. This is for
you. The rest of you, just bear with me."
Waking Life is animated, but not in tradition of Disney features.
Linklater filmed the entire movie in live action, then digitally transferred the
images to computers, where his animators went to work. The final result is
disjointed and dreamy, with images that are sometimes finely detailed and
sometimes almost crude. The backgrounds frequently waver, making it look like
all of the action is taking place on board a gently rocking ship. This is all
intentional, since every moment of Waking Life is meant to be transpiring
inside a dream.
The nameless protagonist is played by Wiley
Wiggins, who is perhaps reprising
his role from an earlier Linklater offering, Dazed and
Confused. Also making a return appearance are Ethan Hawke and Julie
Delpy, picking right up where they left off in Before
Sunrise (my choice for the best romance of all time). They are present
in an interlude, having an intriguing discussion about dream activity and
reincarnation. Indeed, Waking Life is comprised of a series of
philosophical discussions ranging from how language evolved to the role of the
media in modern life to free will & quantum mechanics to the meaning of
identity. For those who enjoy this kind of rambling, talky motion picture,
Waking Life offers a full platter. Guest appearances by the likes of
director Steven Soderbergh and Speed Levitch (the motor-mouthed protagonist of
The
Cruise) only up the ante. Waking Life certainly isn't for
everyone, but, in large part because of its fresh approach and its endlessly
fascinating discourses, it ends up staying with you long after the jittery
animated images have faded from the screen.
From
movie-reviews.colossus.net
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