Review of Waking Life (2001) by Matthew A — 08 Jul 2012

Waking Life is a movie like none other. It uses an innovative form of animation (called Rotoscoping, in which they film the actors doing their scenes and then artists later go in and put a layer of animation over it) to give you the feel of some sort of cross between reality and animation, between the physical world and the imagination. In short, it is perfect for a movie that concerns dreams.

Our nameless protagonist (Wiley Wiggins) isn't sure whether he's in a dream or not. He keeps wandering around from philosophical discussion to philosophical discussion, trying to figure out what's real and what's not. And, of course, how to wake himself up. The film, however, saves most of this story arc until the very end. The duration of the movie consists of our protagonist wandering in and out of different philosophical discussions that concern a variety of topics such as life, our place in the world, the imagination, and the definition of what a dream is. It is a very talky film, but is rarely boring.

Each conversation is lively and imaginative, both in terms of visuals and the content of the conversations. We feel like eavesdroppers invading someone else's conversation, someone else's thoughts, their dreams, their very consciousness. And the way this is pulled off visually is nothing short of intriguing.

The animation in this film is vibrant and colorful, and really makes you feel like you're in a dream, or at least in another sort of reality that is still grounded in our own. People talk, move, and emote just as normal humans do, but the animation allows their bodies to form into different shapes, their features and expressions to be greatly exaggerated, and little touches to be added around their body to help you pay attention to what they're saying (such as question marks coming out of someone's mouth when they ask a question or an illustration of what happens in your body when a sound wave hits your ear.).

Unfortunately, apart from all of its visual splendor and rich discussion, the film never really feels as tight as it should. This is to be expected, since the protagonist is in a dream, but there are certain plot points and characters that I wish would have been explored a bit more. The film just feels kind of incomplete, like it wants to present a whole lot of ideas without having a clear view of what exactly it wants to say.

Despite this, it is still a rich film that will, without a doubt, dazzle your eyes and exercise your brain.