Movie Review -- Waking Life (2001)

Most people will not understand Waking Life. Some will find it to be one of the most brilliant pieces of film ever produced. I found it to be beyond words; a combination of film, groundbreaking computer animation, and a difficult and profane script that produces a sublime interpretation of existence.
---Excerpt from Film Critic Review



Well, this movie is certainly not for everyone!!! Remember those movies you were supposed to take mind altering drugs to really see? This one is said to be in the same class by some, but you will feel your mind is being altered just by watching the images even without substances. What about listening to the heavy dialogue? The characters walking through this great dance of animation expound science, philosophy, theology, psychology, metaphysics and great commentaries on existence. If you are in the mood for a deep philosophical lecture with a story while just sitting on the cozy couch with your mouth hanging open, this could be your film. If you are one of the spiritual people walking the earth and are wondering, thinking, and reading about the deep mysteries in life, you may even be holding your mouth open with amazement and quite delighted. It is a great feeling watching and listening to this for me. Try not to drool.

In this film, a young man realizes that he seems to be having a series of interesting dreams or experiences. He meets many people on his journey that represents many points of view. Some are friends or at least people who he sees again. Much of this is "Slacker style" I am told, but I never did see that film. For awhile our main character believes he is awake, but then he continually finds himself back in a dream state, even after being struck by a moving vehicle! He does not die? He simply wakes up somewhere different with more experiences. Is life a dream or a series of dream states? What is the purpose of being "here" and where does it lead? This is a wonderful exploration of the subject of dreams, death and consciousness. You will have to think fast on the quick delivery on collective memory, God, death, free will and consequences of knowledge. The dialogue is very quick and I found I had barely enough time to reflect on one thought before the other idea was colliding with the next one. I did not stop the tape and rewind to listen again. I let the ideas run together like a great watercolor painting being created. It seemed the right way to watch the movie just feeling the curves and splashes of colors sweeping by on the wild ride. Rumor has it that some people just watch this film and even ignore the dialogue. That must be like sleeping with the book under the pillow for exams.

The animation is as different as it is creative. At first I thought that the images were very good water color paintings and there was a slight problem with the tracking. The images keep moving and changing and were even a little hard to watch until I turned my own personal dials inside my head to adjust to the style of animation. This is up there with watching the tile floor after one too many "something or others" for a short time. Tables float just a little, plants and gardens wave as though they are some of semi-solid sea. Houses give off a little shiver. The rippling effect of the entire animation is due to a technique called rotoscoping. This is a waving animation that is on top of digitally shot film. Apparently beneath the drawings are some live actors and actresses. This gives the unique feeling of life as being a kind of living vibration and always in flux. Characters are painted by 30 different artists that change throughout the film. Each artist was free to use their own artistic eye and style. For this reason, people appear differently, sometimes appearing as more complex images and other times being more simplistic youthful drawings. Life is like that in a way. We always see people differently and the more or less we know about them, the way we see them seems to change. We all see each other differently with no two people holding the same vision.

For anyone who is taking up astral travel, there are some interesting "facts" given by the film on how you know you are dreaming or not. One character states that in a dream you will not be able to change light levels. Small printed material is unstable and difficult to focus on. Attempts to turn on or off lights do not appear to work. Also, apparently the digital clocks will not give a clear time. If you find this is true, be sure to drop in a line on this post.

Did I understand the movie? Some of the movie I understood, and other points of it I ponder. Parts of the movie were so complex and full of difficult ideas and dialogue I probably did not get it all. The pace of ideas flinging by the window in this film is so fast, it is a mental roller coaster ride. The film certainly gives feelings in the range of what we have every day. Why would he say that? Did he just say that? Who is that? What does that mean? Is he alive or dead? Am I awake? Who are we to each other? So off to see the movie travelers!!! This one will hurt your brain really, really nicely.



Boat Car-Man: Not a problem. Anchors away. So what do you think of my little vessel? She's what we call seeworthy, s-e-e, see with your eyes. I feel like my transport should be an extension of my personality. Voila. And this, this is like my little window to the world and every minute's a different show. Now I may not understand it, I may not even necessarily agree with it, but I'll tell you what, I accept it and just sort of glide along. You want to keep things on an even keel I guess is what I'm saying. You want to go with the flow. The sea refuses no river. The idea is to remain in a state of constant departure while always arriving. Saves on introductions and goodbyes. The ride does not require an explanation, just occupants. That's where you guys come in. It's like you come onto this planet with a crayon box. Now you may get the 8-pack, you may get the 16-pack, but it's all in what you do with the crayons, the colors that you're given. And don't worry about drawing within the lines, or coloring outside the lines. I say, color outside the lines. You know what I mean? Color right off the page. Don't box me in! We're in motion to the ocean. We are not landlocked, I'll tell you that. So where do you want out?
---Excerpt from the movie



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A "write in" from my Brother:




Brother: So you are all settled and get to watch more movies now? You are the only other person I know that has seen the movie Waking Life. My wife M. did not like it. She felt it was a subject better suited for a book. She feels that movies should be of lower fare. Steaks should be gourmet, not hamburger.

The one part that particularly struck me was the reference to LSD Guru Timothy Leary who believed that once relieved from the time restraints of the physical body, that he would experience a virtual infinity of time in the last 5 minutes as his brain ceased to function. This is considered one of the physical clues for the non-metaphysical afterlife and also the importance of meditation to tap into the timelessness so that one is best prepared for that afterlife. It was the scene with the couple laying in bed talking about the distorted perceptions of time between the snooze alarms.


Me: I only used to see the movies when I was traveling. They used to show movies on planes all the time. People tell me they have television on planes now. I would miss seeing the movies in the air.

I like your observation of the movie. I think if you worried about missing any of the text of the movie, it would be difficult to watch. However, it grabs your attention to different points that you may have only noticed a little or takes you from that concept you know, to another. In a book you could slowly read each idea. You could not see the pictures however. The text alone is boring. The world visually in flux, from all different points of view, as seen by more than 30 different artists, was kewl.





Brother: I think that M. is partially correct, the movie needed some kind of a companion book or program to go along with the movie, like what they with an opera or the ballet. Some parts were so obscure that they were lost and no more than pretty pictures. I wanted a companion book or program so that I could look up some of the references. Even with the internet, it is difficult to track some things down. It took me ages to find the Timothy Leary references.

Maybe they knew that those with certain backgrounds would get some things and not others as opposed to the spoon fed generation, "If they wanted me to know, why didn't they just tell me."



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http://www.american-buddha.com/waking.life.htm More quotes from the movie.


http://jamesrskemp.net/html/jms2/wakinglife/jms2wakinglifeafewthoughtsonaninterestingmovie.htm:For some of the philosophy you missed flinging by those little foggy brain windows. You can click through on different segments for the commentary on the philosophies.