A Scanner Darkly

Richard Linklater, USA, 2006
4 out of 4 stars

So far, it’s the best movie I’ve seen that came out in 2006. Richard Linklater and his rotoscoping animation staff have greatly improved on the already impressive technique used in his earlier film, Waking Life, and the improvement is only helped by the use of actual characters this time around; there’s still not tons of plot, but it’s less of a patience-testing talkfest than the aforementioned film, which was nonetheless still fairly good.

Although it’s not particularly plot-driven, it’s still a narrative film (being as it is based on a Philip K. Dick novel), and so that means that we get to see this technique used toward “traditional” film towards the purpose of disrupting it. Some effects clearly need this medium to be accomplished effectively, but the nice thing about this medium is that the effects aren’t particularly different from the sight of a ashtray on the table, slightly wobbling in its color distribution. What this means is that every frame of the film is ultimately a joy to look at, which is a rare thing in film.

Surprisingly, the film is also quite hilarious, in addition to the expected morose darkness. Drug addiction is shown to be “funny” without the awful side of it somehow being erased with this depiction. This humor is mostly thanks to Robert Downey, Jr. although the other, more frequently maligned cast members hold their own fairly well. The twists and turns of who’s watching who and who’s responsible for what are politically and dramatically compelling.

Source: Warner 35mm print
11 July, 11 PM