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Waking Life
2001
Director Richard Linklater presents this computer-animated, dreamlike, meandering film about a college-age man (Wiley Wiggins) who floats in and out of a series of philosophical discussions and ethereal experiences, meeting an interesting cast of characters along the way. Each character that Wiley meets engages him in an .. Read more
| Starring | Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Adam Goldberg, Nicky Katt |
|---|---|
| Director | Richard Linklater |
| Genres | Drama |
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Waking Life
Director Richard Linklater presents this computer-animated, dreamlike, meandering film about a college-age man (Wiley Wiggins) who floats in and out of a series of philosophical discussions and ethereal experiences, meeting an interesting cast of characters along the way. Each character that Wiley meets engages him in an existential discussion. Wiley listens, observes, and occasionally responds. Then he glumly shuffles off to his next encounter. At times, he wakes up in his bed and rubs his eyes, appearing to start a new day. But eventually viewers learn that Wiley is dreaming throughout the film, and is trying to learn to control his dreams--and accomplish lucid dreaming, or simply wake up.
Visually, WAKING LIFE is nothing short of fantastic. Linklater stays true to his indie style--jerky camera, drifting gaze, and steady head shots that allow non-actors to talk straight into the camera. To achieve the floating feeling of the dream sequences, he first tried taking aerial shots from a helicopter, then opted for the smoother effect of a hot air balloon. He shot the film on digital video, edited it, then called on 30 animators to finish it. The characters in the film move and gesticulate like live action, but they are animated with odd color schemes and surreal lines that make them cartoony caricatures. WAKING LIFE is a superb work that should be applauded for its atmospheric elements (lovely images of New York and Austin), its amusing bohemian dialogues, and its unique animation.
| Starring | Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Adam Goldberg, Nicky Katt, Steven Soderbergh, Richard Linklater, Glover Gill, Charles Gunning, Timothy Speed Levitch, Wiley Wiggins, Bill Wise, Caveh Zahedi |
|---|---|
| Director | Richard Linklater |
| Studio | 20TH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 36 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Released | DVD: 24 Feb 2003 Production year: 2001 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (6)
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Intellectually acute viewers may occasionally be alienated by the sophomoric posturings in director Richard Linklater's dazzlingly innovative and laudable attempt to provoke a little audience introspection, as an array of characters voice their philosophies of life to Wiley Wiggins's latter-day Candide during a series of dreamlike perambulations. While these musings may either fly way over your head or recall the late-night ramblings of caffeine-high freshers, it's impossible not to be impressed by Linklater's inspired imagery. Created by a 31-strong animation team, the hybrid visuals consist of live-action digital video footage that has been “painted” over, frame by frame, using software developed by art director Bob Sabiston. This provides a striking graphic diversity that perfectly complements the conflicting philosophical reflections. Audacious and uncompromising, this will prove to be a chore for some but an instant cult classic for others.
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Shot on digital video with live actors and rotoscoped to create a tremulous, brightly coloured animated movie, this looks better than it sometimes sounds, with much undergraduate philosophizing to little effect.
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Most helpful member's review
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13 out of 14 people found this review helpful
A Drunken Conversation of a film
An hour and a half of constant, disparate philosophical ramblings from every branch, knot and sodden hole of academia doesn't sound like a barrel of laughs. For the first twenty minutes you'll probably find yourself thinking you're watching a student's naval gazing graduation piece, or some god awful Sixties 'trip'. But once the faint hints of a story start drifting in through the swaying animation of the dreamscape, you start to get in on the joke.
The film scoffs as much as it expounds; which of the many views you laugh at, which you nod in agreement to and which you blink confused at will depend on you. A lot of the talk is intentionally too deep to make much sense of; other times it's too simple to take seriously.
The main draw of this movie is unquestionably it's shimmering, unique and (presumably) painstaking animation, but the style is necessitated by the content. This is a wonderful drunken conversation of a film.
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- deadmanjones from Stockport
- Posted 06 Mar 2004 14:55
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Most recent members' review
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5 out of 7 people found this review helpful
Despite many flaws, a film which needs to be seen
Waking Life is a film which suffers from being too ambitious. The film is a highly commendable effort which cannot be faulted on what it attempts to do, but unfortunately fails to deliver in a compelling manner.
Obviously the film has it’s fans, and to those who it appeals to, this film may well be viewed as a modern masterpiece in the fusion of philosophy and animation. An art-house dream come true in many respects, but for most this film is both too simple to take seriously, and too complex in it’s philosophical musings to take in completely.
However, despite what I may have been saying sounding negative, I do thoroughly recommend it as an essential viewing for anyone at all interested in surrealism or philosophy. True, the film may well alternate between too little depth, and too much depth (or at least the appearance of it) but when you finish the film you find that you have indeed been forced to think about philosophy. That should be recommendation enough on any grounds.
Had the film been more concise I might actually have considered it to be a potential masterpiece. At half the length the material could have supported it, but as such it felt stretched and thin, stuffed with much philosophical fluff.
(Warning; some may find the surreal animation to be rather motion sickness inducing) -
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Director Richard Linklater presents this computer-animated, dreamlike, meandering film about a college-age man (Wiley Wiggins) who floats in and out of a series of philosophical discussions and ... -