Waking Life

My sister had requested that I buy her the movie Waking Life for Christmas. So, I did. Tonight, we watched it.

Let me recommend it.

Firstly, the entire film is rotoscoped animation, but with a strange, artistically free twist. The purpose behind this is to create a dream-like reality. From an artistic perspective, this was interesting and engaging, especially since the style changed constantly.

Secondly, each character had dialogue that was deep and thought-provoking. I've seem some indie movies in the past that have attempted this, and often times they seem long-winded (there comes a point where some philosophies are only "profound" to unemployed, hobby-less college-goers and potheads). This movie, however, managed to incorporate the philosophies of the characters with the plot, along with the crescendos and decrescendos necessary to create characters with unique world views and experience levels. Furthermore, the dialogue served to pull you deeper into thought about the question rather than overwhelm or impress you.

Finally, the plot, although somewhat predictable (but then again, what plot isn't to some degree?) was engaging and interesting. It wasn't just about spouting philosophical perspectives (although there is a lot of that) -- it put them into an acceptable context as well. 

So yeah, see this movie.