Waking Life Review
by Mark R. Leeper (markrleeper AT yahoo DOT com)October 19th, 2001
WAKING LIFE
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: The first digital video animated film is an account of a man going through his dreams listening to people talk about dreams, dream states, and the nature of time and reality. Some of the speakers are philosophical, some highly speculative, and some incoherent. The undulating animation is at times irritating, worse than hand-held cameras, but few films so revel in ideas. Rating: 7
(0 to 10), +2 (-4 to +4)
Not only is it rare to find a feature film like WAKING LIFE itself, it is rare to find a feature film that is even plays in stylistic fields this far from the norm. First what is the film about? An unnamed character played by Wiley Wiggins talks to people about the relationship and duality of dreams and waking life. Richard Linklater filmed with a hand-held camera Wiggins and some people who talked to him and gave their views of reality. The visual images were transferred to computer where animators superimposed animation over Linklater's filmed images in a technique like rotoscoping. So we just have animated films of Wiggins talking to many and various people about the nature of dreams. The film is little more than that. Wiggins does little of the talking. He just listens with a "Wow! Cosmic, Man!" expression on his animated face.
The film is a symphony of ideas the viewer may not be able to hum later. The point is not assimilating all the ideas on one viewing; it is to immerse the viewer in the flood of ideas. I do not believe that any of the people shown in the film are in any way considered expert, but each has philosophy of sorts. The ideas are concepts of life, death, and time. They are views of dream and reality. The ideas just interplay as we as an audience in Wiggins's dream go from one person to the next. We hear some old chestnuts like that time is an illusion. And probably no matter who you are you hear some ideas that are new to you.
At some point one must discuss the artistic decision to animate this film and to use the style of animation that was used. I think that the style that is used is near right, but on some level it sabotages the effort. It certainly gives the film the right dreamlike quality. Linklater himself says that he is going for the feeling of being on drugs and made the film for people on drugs. If so I think he is also showing us a little of the downside. The images give motion where it is not needed. At time the scenery seems to undulate on dry land as if it were on an ocean. There it distracts rather than enhances. Other places the animation comments on the discussion, illustrating an idea here or there or playfully turning the speakers into billows of clouds. Linklater had the animation assignments broken down by character and not by scene, an approach the better animation studios use now. That way stylistic differences become part of the character rather than errors and inconsistencies. It eliminates the need for the director to police the style to maintain consistency. Rather than the new very realistic animation styles this film falls back on an easier impressionist approach. But the people are still recognizably the same people with the essence of their expression still there in simplified form.
To tell too much of the ideas discussed would be a little like revealing the jokes in a comedy. One moment the person speaking will be talking about the philosophy of Kierkegaard, the next the subject will have gone to out of body experiences. One person will be talking about different concepts of life and the physical universe; the next will be as concrete as giving ways to recognize dreams.
The film was written as well as directed by Linklater though it would be interesting to find how much of what he wrote was transcription of conversation and how much was contributed by the speakers. One would be tempted to believe these are all interviews with real people presented verbatim but for a scene of actors Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, possibly playing their characters from Linklater's BEFORE SUNRISE, also entering into the discussion. It is not at all obvious what it means to say the screenplay is by Richard Linklater. I would rate the film a 7 on the 0 to 10 scale and a +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
[email protected]
Copyright 2001 Mark R. Leeper
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
