Waking Life is another impressive movie by the talented Richard Linklater. I'm sure for the many people that have seen his legendary hit, Dazed and Confused, they might be able to recognize a couple of actors in Waking Life. The main character whose name is never mentioned is played by Wiley Wiggins. In the movie, Wiley seems to take a never ending voyage that's reminiscent to that of a dream. This dream of his begins and ends several times, but continues to bring him closer to knowing more about human experience.
The movie consists of people discussing life and death, philosophy and politics, as well as dreams among other things. Wiley's character however, hardly says a thing throughout the entire movie yet his presence is always felt, even in the scenes that he is not in. I believe I was left with that feeling because I've had dreams where I was observing everything play out without actually being involved in what's happening. The scenes blend well together with the help of the mood setting music. The musical group Tosco Tango Orchestra gave the movie a dreamy effect which played well for the overall mood. The movie actually starts with the band rehearsing a song and once they work out a few things, the music carries over and the movie begins to follow Wiley's character from that point on.
Waking Life had its own style because of the animation that was added after shooting the film. The movie itself was shot live and afterward a large group of artists collaborated on scenes which gave the movie a very eclectic look. Since Waking Life was animated, the artists were given so much more creativity in each scene. They could add objects that weren't filmed. Usually when the characters were talking to each other, many of the things that they talked about would appear to be floating above them. I feel that this makes it easier for the audience when the characters are talking about certain philosophical viewpoints.
A great thing about the movie is how different each scene is. Since there were many artists working on the film, each of them gave a different style. So as the movie progresses the main character as well as the background all change throughout scenes. Some of the scenes have a looser and basic look, while others can get pretty detailed. Although there were many different styles the film still seemed to have a set composition when it came to color and how much freedom of design each artist could use. In other short films that use the same software for creating the animation, the scenes can be a bit overwhelming when artists are allowed to create any mood they want.
I personally made it a point to show everyone I know this movie. I knew that not everyone would like it as much as others, but the ones that did really enjoy it. I think at first many of the people that didn't like it, got turned off because of the movement and animation. Since the movie was recorded using handheld cameras the screen was shaky and unsteady, but after awhile people could grow accustomed to the movement.
It's a movie that must be watched more than once because you could always find something new to think about with all of the topics they discuss. The people in the movie that contribute the more complex ideas are very knowledgeable in their subject matter. The majority of them are actually professors and novelists who each gave interesting tidbits of information in their area of expertise. So if you are in a mood to experience a film that's unique and different than what you are used to, I definitely recommend watching Richard Linklater's Waking Life. The movie will keep you questioning what the characters talked about and it could give you a different outlook on life.
"Waking Life" opens January 19, 2001 and is rated R. Animation, Drama, Fantasy. Written and directed by Richard Linklater. Starring Adam Goldberg, Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Wiley Wiggins.
