A Scanner Darkly
First of all, the animation of this movie completely killed my computer. The only configuration I was able to play this film in was Safari (of all browsers!).
The animation really is amazingly detailed and fast-moving. I could recognize Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder pretty much immediately. And there are so many small movements involved, making the characters look hyper-realistic yet difficult to watch at the same time. It seems like the motion-detection part of the video codec can’t really deal with it either – if the codec keeps ‘thinking’ that everything in the film moves, the video is bound to lag pretty much constantly.
There is something very special about this film, perhaps even more so than “Waking Life”. Unlike “Waking Life”, “A Scanner Darkly” has a very clear plot and background, and we get a good feeling what it all is about. Perhaps this is thanks to the fact that there is much less Linklater-ish existential talk and relationship tensions, but an intriguing plot which I heard is faithful to the Philip K. Dick book.
On top of that, “A Scanner Darkly” is much closer to the drug movie genre than any of his other movies are to any other genre (“Before Sunrise” really isn’t a love story, let alone a romantic comedy… it’s more like a relationship movie in a similar kind of way “Conversations with Other Women” is.) In general, I like these drug films (and was especially smitten by “Naked Lunch”), even though my life is as far away from drugs as it’s possible. Seeing films about people experiencing these crazy hallucinations and losing themselves at the same time is rather fascinating; as long as it doesn’t happen to yourself, the thin dangerous line they are walking on seems so exciting. Perhaps this is what makes this movie so intriguing.
The film itself does a good job at being relatively ‘neutral’ to drug use though. From the (extremely touching!) end quoting Philip K. Dick, I got the feeling that drug users are perceived as victims of their own immaturity, victims because they are paying a high price for such “child’s play” resulting in death or severe illnesses.
By the way, I have never seen “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” by the way, and feel like I definitely should.
In the end, “A Scanner Darkly” was a nice experience which turned out less insightful than I expected from a Linklater. Nevertheless, I think it’s a good story well told, with quite a few funny drug-induced scenes, a bunch of shocking revelations and a good portion of society criticism. I think Philip K. Dick was happy.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Yes, it is indeed very faithful to the book – right down to bits of individual dialogue (the ‘eighteen speed bike’ part included) and surprisingly it made the ‘conspiracy’ aspect clearer to me. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to make of it when I read the novel, but after watching the film it made more sense. I think Linklater placed more emphasis on it, but it turned out to be a wise decision I think.
I think it was very effective in being ‘neutral’ to drug use – it portrays the effects without making some overt “drugs are bad, m’kay?” statement but also brings the comedic and personal side out too.
Interestingly Terry Gilliam was the other director considered for this film…I’m not sure if he would’ve made a better job than Linklater, but they’re the only two I can think of who could’ve made it at all! Waking Life offers more food for thought I suppose, but as an attempt to bring a difficult-to-adapt story to the screen, it works.
I don’t know if you’ll find Fear and Loathing ib Las Vegas to be better than this one, but it’s still entertaining. A Scanner Darkly has anti-government paranoia and a ‘cautionary tale’ element woven in, which FaLiLV is more of a flight of fancy. Even less insight, but more laughs!
The eighteen speed bike is the absolute best! From what I can see on Youtube, it’s the most famous scene of the film, and it did stand out to me as well (on a very similar level as the last Frederick/Shosanna scene in “Inglorious Basterds” even, ahaha). I especially like the conspiracy aspect which suits that kind of story so perfectly.
One thing I have actually been slightly confused about was Barris’ intentions and motives. At the end it seemed like his character had nothing to do with the story itself.
Terry Gilliam would have been great! I want to see “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” even more now since you said it’d be funny. I’m actually not really a big fan of insights when it comes to films (otherwise I’d probably choose other movies to watch), but Linklater is famous for that, and so there is this expectation that comes with every new film of his I am seeing. And of course, I am actually a fan of the endless lines of dialogue in his films. ;)
I was told you’re supposed to see “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” under light drug influence in the middle of the night. If that happens one day, I’ll write about it, heh.