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WAKING
LIFE
Waking Life challenges "normal"
views of reality, objectivity and certainty. The characters question
theories that most people are afraid to question, but the questions
are never answered; they simply lead to more questions. None of
the characters are certain, but they're all curious.
Review by Simon Remark
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WAKING LIFE
(2001)
This page was created on November 22, 2001
This page was last updated on
May 17, 2005
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Directed
by Richard Linklater
Writing credits (WGA) Richard Linklater (written by)
Peter
Atherton .... Hit-and-Run Driver (voice)
Steve Brudniak (voice)
John Christensen (voice)
Julie Delpy (voice)
Guy Forsyth .... Guy
Charles Gunning (voice)
Ethan Hawke (voice)
Nicky Katt (voice)
Kim Krizan (voice)
Timothy 'Speed' Levitch (voice)
Richard Linklater
Louis Mackey (voice)
Steven Prince (voice)
Steven Soderbergh (voice)
Ken Webster .... Bartender (voice)
Wiley Wiggins (voice)
Produced
by Caroline Kaplan (executive producer), Tommy Pallotta (producer),
Jonathan Sehring (executive producer), John Sloss (executive producer),
Jonah Smith (producer), Anne Walker-McBay (producer), Palmer West
(producer)
Original music by Glover Gill
Cinematography by Richard Linklater and Tommy Pallotta
Film Editing by Sandra Adair
MPAA:
Rated R for language and some violent images.
Runtime: 99 minutes
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Quicktime
Trailer
(hi-res 480x360)
(med-res 320x240)
(lo-res 240x180)
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The
Certainty of Curiosity
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SYNOPSIS:
Director Richard Linklater presents this computer-animated, dreamlike,
meandering film about a college-age man (Wiley Wiggins) who wanders
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.
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 Review
by
SIMON REMARK
simon_remark@hotmail.com
Film Reviewer
Simon
graduated from Trinity Western University where he studied film
under prolific screenwriter Ned Vankevich. He prefers independent
and lower-budget films.
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 In
film, form and content intertwine to influence the viewer's perceptions
of the images, dialogue and interactions on screen; filmmakers employ
various shots and camera angles to manipulate these perceptions. David
Linklater's Waking Life takes this concept to a whole new level. First
shot on film, it was then transformed to animation by numerous artists,
giving each moment its own feel. The result is a film that is surreal
in both form and content. Wavy pictures and vibrant colors allow it
to flow with an abstract, lyrical quality, while the fluid images
enhance the innovative narrative structure, which abandons traditional
story telling for a more inconstant composition. |
 The
film follows a nameless young man (Wiley Wiggins) through what appears
to be a dream, or perhaps a less objective reality than the one we
prefer to understand-it would be too uncertain. His journey begins
at a bus station where he opts to hitch a ride with a man driving
a boat-like car instead of catching a cab. We are immediately submersed
in the string of philosophical conversations that make up the film,
as the character driving the boat describes his windshield as a window
to the world, saying that while he doesn't always agree with what
he sees he accepts it. He adds that in life everyone is given a box
of crayons, some get a pack of eight, others a pack of sixteen, but
it's not the pack that matters, rather, how we use it: color outside
of the lines, think outside of the box, he insists. |
 And
as the film progresses we meet one interesting character after another,
each offering their theories on life, reality, personhood, philosophy,
and theology: A professor who describes existentialism as a philosophy
of hope; two young lovers who muse over the thought of their lives
being simply the memories of others who are in the final moments before
death; two men discussing film, and how the images on screen are essentially
God, as creation reflects God's image; a man driving down the street
blasting his views on capitalism and consumerism over a loud speaker. |
 Some
of the dialogue is a bit esoteric, but it's always interesting. It
is often the personalities, gestures and the passion they have for
their ideas and theories that make the various characters interesting.
While our waking life is plagued with apathy, the dream-life we travel
through in Waking Life is so full of energy and ideas, and people
who are excited about their ideas. The film is somewhat paradoxical,
as we travel through the unconscious only to meet a group of highly
conscious, aware people; people interested in social, political, philosophical
and spiritual issues. |
 Waking
Life challenges "normal" views of reality, objectivity and certainty.
The characters question theories that most people are afraid to question,
but the questions are never answered; they simply lead to more questions.
None of the characters are certain, but they're all curious. One of
my university professors suggested that there is no certainty until
death. The characters in Waking Life seem to accept this notion. Roger
Ebert wonderfully sums up the film's premise, saying, "He [the main
character] encounters theories, beliefs, sanity, nuttiness. People
try to explain what they believe, but he is overwhelmed until finally
he is able to see that the answer is--curiosity itself. To not have
the answers is expected. To not ask questions is a crime against your
own mind." |
"I
am trying to get a sense of where I am going."
...and
other quote from the movie.
Spiritual
connections by David Bruce
Selections from the New Living Translation Bible
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"Your life is yours to create." |
| So
God created people in his own image; God patterned them after himself;
male and female he created them. -Genesis 1:27 |
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"Maybe I exist just in your mind. Still, I am as real as
anything else."
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| For
as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, "Eat and drink!"
But his heart is not with you. -Proverbs 23:7 |
"It seemed like I had walked into an alternate universe." |
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was the Lord's Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit. Suddenly,
I heard a loud voice behind me, a voice that sounded like a trumpet
blast. -Revelation 1:10 |
"I am not in an objective rational world." |
| "My
thoughts are completely different from yours," says the Lord. "And
my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. -Isaiah 55:8-9 |
 "It
seems like everyone is sleepwalking through their walking state or
walking through their dreams." |
| And
where your light shines, it will expose their evil deeds. This is
why it is said, "Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ
will give you light." -Ephes. 5:14 |
"So, you produce a neo human. An individual no longer restricted
by time and space." |
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if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed
away; behold, all things are become new. -2 Cor. 5:17 |
"When I say love the sound comes out of my mouth and it hits
the other person's ear. It travels to their memories of love, or lack
of love." |
| I
will gladly spend myself and all I have for your spiritual good, even
though it seems that the more I love you, the less you love me. -2
Cor. 12:15 |
"It's like I am being prepared for something." |
| The
steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every
detail of their lives. -Psalm 37:23 |
"I have really romantic evenings with self. I go with self to
dancing with my confusion." |
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we worship the right way, God doesn't stir us up into confusion; he
brings us into harmony. -1 Cor. 14:33a Message Translation |
"Everyone knows fun rules." |
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If there is no resurrection, "Let's feast and get drunk, for tomorrow
we die!" -1 Cor. 15:32b |
"You can do whatever you want to." |
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is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.
-Proverbs 14:12 |
"Everything is possible." |
"What do you mean, 'If I can'?" Jesus asked. "Anything is possible
if a person believes." -Mark 9:23
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| Contiued
next page |
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WAKING
LIFE
Subject:
Waking_Life.
Date: Sun, 03 Feb 2002
From: Adam
T
THE MOST CREATIVE MOVIE I HAVE EVER SEEN! I am excited about this
movie... and I don't normally get excited about movies. If you like
Momento or Dancer in the Dark, then you will most likely become
ecstatic after seeing this movie.
ADAM
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Waking Life © 2001 20th Century Fox. All Rights
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