waking life

this has to be one of the most enjoyable films i’ve ever watched – a true work of genius.

firstly for those who don’t know, this was perhaps the first full-length feature to use digital cell-shading filters over the entire stock of footage, meaning it was shot on film, then digitised to look somewhat hand-drawn. the visual style works so well because your mind knows it’s real filmed footage, but your imagination captures the alterations, exaggerations and additions that the cell-shading allows.

floating around online as one does after watching a film, i noticed a few people’s responses to the film mentioning that ‘it isn’t that great’, basically because they’re well versed in the philosophies and ideas presented in the film. while not much discussed in the film was new to me either, i still absolutely enjoyed watching it…

…because it speaks in my language.
here is a film that i don’t think is really out to promote seemingly ‘new’ or even widely unknown ideas, or ideas rarely spoken about, but one that seeks to have fun in discussing them. i laughed and laughed and felt such elation at the presentation of the topics of discussion, and the sheer playfulness at which these ideas were discussed. the visual form and stylisation certainly helped so much, but equally as important and crucial to this sense of fun was the director Richard Linklater’s approach to the photography and the narrative. sure, the narrative isn’t very complex, but that in itself is part of the very heart of the film, the central idea that the film revolves around. nothing is straight-forward in this film, which is what the visuals make astoundingly clear from the very beginning. everything is in abstract, and every image and idea is simultaneously ultra-meaningful, packed with multiple meanings, and totally meaningless.
it’s such a delight to watch.
when i say it speaks my language, yes – i do mean in the actual words and structures that i vocalise in, but also in the way it is presented. the way the characters play out what they have to say is so human and so similar to my own, not to mention that many of the people making appearances in this film play themselves as writers, lecturers and commentators, which definitely goes a long way to being quite human rather than the presentation feeling like actors carrying out a script. on occasions when actors were used, they were fantastically conversational in their approach, it sounded like they were just given the content to discuss and roughly how long each should go for, roughly how each should respond, and then let go to talk as normal people.

many might think there is no point to this film, many might struggle to find a point, doubting that there is one. some will have their minds blown by the content, some the visual presesntation and its interpretation of the content, some hopefully by both.
of-course i’m a big fan of everyone gets what they want to out of art, and this couldn’t be more true in this case. everyone is right. for those who think there isn’t any point to the film, they’re right. for those who think it has a wealth of questions and ideas, they’re right. for those who are disoriented in the swirl and sheer volume of content, that is how they should feel.

hopefully there are some like me who are able to feel all of them at once, and be able to decypher exactly why this is the case – why all of those feelings are accurate, why they are all necessary, and what the film is communicating by inspiring all of these responses. it is truly an intelligent film, a masterful piece of choreography that weaves an almost gentle yet deeply intricate atmosphere that has everything and more to offer any who would dare to reflect on it.

i have ordered both the dvd and the soundtrack from amazon, who just sent me stand alone complex: 2nd gig disc 1 special edition – god bless’em. god bless’em all.