Plot: What’s it about?
In the early part of this decade, director Richard Linklater expanded his cinematic horizons and gave us two different kinds of films, both of which gave an original viewpoint. After taking a chance at a big screen true story about the greatest thieving brothers in history, Linklater dared to film two features digitally. One was set in one place and focused on three characters. The other, which was released first, is a film that was shot on video but transposed using computer animation and rotoscoping. It has many discussions, brings up different points and shows one individuals dreamy Waking Life.
An anonymous male (Wiley Wiggins) awakens on a train. When he gets off, he’s lured into a multi-idea world filled with a car made from a boat, a projected film narrated by a talking chimpanzee, a TV channel that has a cat as a guest on a talk show, and the discussion of life from people around him, people in between him and people discussing with him.
With this life, there is no story only images, vignettes and ideas and they are shown from both the positive and negative level and in this film this unique collection is an experience on many levels. There is plenty to think about from the different individuals we are introduced to and are waving off to as well. At the same time, with those thoughts, there is plenty to look at thanks to Bob Sabiston and his team of animators, including Wiley Wiggins.
Waking Life can be seen as too heady or too cerebral because of it’s collection of deep thoughts, but in the hands of director Richard Linklater, it is ambitious visually, thoughtful in what it presents and a pleasure to be in the company of this many deep thinkers. One of the characters in Waking Life sums up the film nicely, “I may not understand it, I may not necessarily agree with it, but I’ll tell you what I accept it and just sort of glide along.”
Waking Life is an experience worth having and a trip worth taking.
Video: How does it look?
Waking Life is given the 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen treatment and with every viewpoint from the assorted animators, the picture quality ranges from a little speckly to clear as a bell but the overall effect with it’s rotoscoping and animation are a great combination for a solid picture that has next to no flaws retaining a bright visual sense without overbleeding and keeping a multicolor palette without the colors getting too soft. The viewer can freeze frame any image from this film and it could be a lovely picture in itself worth framing as the quality of the look of the picture on this DVD is exceptional.
Audio: How does it sound?
The clever mix of occasional score and effects with it’s abundance of dialogue is recorded nicely in the Dolby Digital 5.1 track as the mix focuses greatly on the dialogue and effects with a once in a while instance of score. All channels are utilized nicely with the dialogue dominating as well as the center channel getting most of the activity with the side channels getting it’s every bit of score and effects down nicely. The result keeps a similar clarity as the picture quality does and the sound comes as clear as the thoughts presented in the film. This disc also has a Spanish Dolby 2.0 track as well as English and French subtitles.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Fox Searchlight has provided many extras for Waking Life starting with 2 audio commentary tracks. The first of which is with producer Tommy Pallotta, writer/director Richard Linklater, art director Bob Sabiston, and actor Wiley Wiggins and the troupe are verbal throughout the majority of the film sharing stories of the moment and going into the different events in the film as well as sharing some ideas of their own as the film progresses. With their wonderful stories and a conversation that yearns for more at it’s end, it is a very good commentary.
The same can be said for the second track which covers all of the animators on the film at the time of their contribution to the film. There are twenty five animators and they pitch in their two cents at the time their piece is cued up and they go into their own take on animating the actors from the digital video. Each one gets their turn and like the characters in the film, they discuss for a short time and the next one takes their turn.
There is also a text commentary of the film that goes into some of the philosophical terms and some of the people in the film. It doesn’t come up on the time and is on more of a once in a while basis than the audio commentaries, but remains a decent piece and a good companion to the 2 tracks.
After that is the Waking Life Studio portion of the disc which goes into how the film was made and the section starts off with an amusing four minute EPK piece that is not the average DVD viewer’s idea of fluff but for this film, it is needed as there is no easy understanding of the film but this gives a nice brief take on it.
Next is the Animation Scrap Heap, seven minutes of nineteen scenes that are early attempts at what the animation and some of the live action looked like before being polished for the finished product. It is a good addition to see what could of been and what was on video and to see the film in comparison of the finished product.
Then there is the twelve minute version, the “Greatest Hits” version, of the live action Waking Life. Here it shows a demonstration of what was started with before the animators came in to bring a more visual look to this piece. It was two years in the making from start to finish and it’s interesting to see the different “look” of the film on digital video.
Next, Bob Sabiston takes us into how the film was animated by computer by showing a few scenes and what he did to make it so in the twenty minute piece “Bob Sabiston’s Animation Tutorial” which shows how the video first looked, than the animation, than the changes and then the finished product.
After, there is a three minute short “Snack and Drink” that is the first attempt at making this kind of film combining video and animation. It is an intriguing start at what was and amazing to think of what it resulted in Waking Life. The idea of the animation is there and the combination in the short is a good start and what went further.
Following that, is “First Pass” 3 minutes of animation that interviews animators and people, tests out the color, and showing the people at work from an intriguing point of view. It is a nice short at what was demonstrated and what it lead to be as Snack and Drink did as well
Lastly there is the film’s non anamorphic theatrical trailer and the non anamorphic trailer to The Banger Sisters.
I can’t let this title go by without mentioning the unique score throughout the menus and the motion animation and great use of color throughout all of them.
With it’s ton of ideas and a different look on life both figuratively and literally, Waking Life is an idea film that gathers them up nicely along with gathering up a great set of extras on this superb DVD.
