Monday, August 25, 2008

A Scanner Darkly

In our society, we tend to try to categorize everything. Personally I think movies and music tend to have the most genres and labels slapped on them. Many people, especially those of the teenage variety, tend to associate people with music they listen to or movies they like. An example of this would be the assumption that someone who likes Cheech and Chong movies does drugs. Even if they do participate in the use of various illegal pharmaceuticals, many seem to judge them before they can get to know them better and find out that they actually do those things. The only good thing about labels is that it lead me to A Scanner Darkly, a 2006 film by Richard Linklater (also director of such great cult classics like Slacker, WAking Life, and Dazed and Confused). The film was introduced to me by someone stating it was a sort of indie stoner film, but it is much more than that.

A Scanner Darkly is not the average limited release film. A Scanner Darkly is a thrilling tale of drug addiction and conspiracy. For an independent film it also has a few heavy hitter actors, including Winona Rider, Keanu Reaves, and Robert Downey Jr. What really separates this film from the norm is the visuals. The entire film has a cartoonish visual that is created by taking every frame of the movie and using a method called rotoscoping. Rotoscoping creates a truly unique feel for the movie and goes very well with the futuristic setting of the movie. Though at some parts of the movie, the graphics feel a bit awkward the director seemed to manage to make it work. The use it to their advantage especially on the drug trip scenes when hallucinations occur. I would urge anyone interested in cult movies or animation to watch the film. The unique style is not easily forgotten and is a good escape from some of the duller more predictable mainstream films that have been coming out in the last few years.

1 comment:

bcope said...

Good post. Did you know that this film is based on a work of the same name by Philip K. Dick, a science fiction (another label albeit) writer. I've read a number of his works, but never A Scanner Darkly. Initially his work was considered pulp writing, but has more recently been incorporated in the postmodern canon.

Beyond the artistry of the film, what meaning did the movie convey?