(note: Spoiler Warning. Be forewarned. And I may ramble on a bit. Again, be forewarned )

I remember how excited I was when I first heard of A Scanner Darkly’s impending release on the big screen. I, along with at least 200 other people, eagerly anticipated the film adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s drug-mired future dystopia. (The film ended up grossing $391,672 its opening weekend….not stellar numbers by any means).

gaga

While a great number of the film’s enthusiasts got on board because of their appreciation for Philip K. Dick’s writings, I was not among them. Like every nerd, science fiction holds a dear place in my heart, but over the last decade I’ve not cracked open a science fiction novel, save rereading a few classic favorites (you can’t front on Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land or Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange). My nerdliness taking a shift towards music & art rather than Dungeons & Dragons, and never being a particular fan of Dick’s writing in the first place, I was on board because of a particular name attached to the film. And this name was not a part of A Scanner Darkly’s leading cast — all in their real lives inextricably linked to delinquency and drug-usage (Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson and Winona Ryder) or, failing that, dumb-as-dirt-ness (Keanu Reeves) — but instead, the film’s director and screenwriter, Richard Linklater.


Linklater shattered boundaries and caught my eye with 2001’s Waking Life, a surreal look at philosophy and dreams. Waking Life follows its protagonist as he wanders through the dreamstate, interacting from scene to scene with characters who discuss lucid dreaming, the meaning of life, differing philosophies, quantum physics and existentialism, among other things. Often just two talking heads in dialog, or even monolog, the film transcended the norm on not only an artfully intelligent and conversation-spurring level, but on a visual one as well. Initially shot on digital video, the film was then animated using a process known as Rotoscoping. Different artists would take scenes and digitally animate them frame by frame, creating a flowing, colorful, intangible world in which the characters would sojourn. Its technical achievements, along with its intellectual content, makes Waking Life a permanent resident of my Top 5 Movies. Rent it (or just buy it) if you haven’t seen it.

With his achievement in Waking Life, I was ready for Linklater’s take on A Scanner Darkly, but because of scheduling conflicts, never made it to the theaters to see it on the big screen. (I’m more of a DVD fan anyway.) I finally watched it for the first time last night. I was as impressed as I was confused. SPOILER WARNING. The story, which takes place (Seven Years From Nowâ€? involves an undercover agent, (Fredâ€? (Reeves) who’s spying on Bob Arctor, a supplier of Substance D, a drug so addictive that, as Barris (Robert Downey Jr.) explains, (Either you are on it, or you haven’t tried it yet.â€? The twist? Arctor and Fred are the same person, but they don’t know it. Still with me? If you are, that makes one of us. At a distance that story seems easy enough to follow, but when you narrow it down it’s a bit of a challenge to resolve how all the events work together. The film rarely stops to give the audience exposition, leaving you to connect the dots yourself and make heads and tails of the characters, their dual identities, and each identity’s motives.

In the end the bigger picture is clear enough, sending up both the drug war and drug culture along with the increasing level of surveillance and lack of privacy that every American citizen is subject to. But still, I’m trying to connect point A with point B. Given the reality-shifting nature of Substance D, the storyline of Arctor, as Fred, surveying Arctor, gets appropriately murky. Same with Ryder’s Donna as Hank; I’m still figuring out who set up and narc-ed on who. It’s something of a mind fuck, but a compelling one that warrants revisiting. Hell, after watching the film and its extras, I immediately watched it again with the commentary track (and sadly, fell asleep half way through because it was terribly late).

Then there’s the animation. In a word: badassical. Like Waking Life, A Scanner Darkly was first filmed and edited, then animated over using Rotoshop, a rotoscoping program. The animation process took 18 months to complete, and as displayed in one of the DVD’s extra featurettes, is a process both interesting and technically involved. The end results are nothing short of fantastic; and unlike Waking Life, Scanner has a more defined style, giving its look a more unilateral and comprehensive appearance.

As for the acting, not to completely sell the cast short, but it’s secondary to the film’s story and rotoscoping. Here Keanu takes on all the comprehension and authority of a deer caught in the headlights (ala Neo from the first Matrix), which works well for his role(s). The vertigo caused by Substance D really plays into Reeves’ shortcomings as an actor, letting him deliver his lines in his signature confused/stoned manner. Downey Jr. and Harrelson spar well opposite each other, with Doweney’s Barris pushing Harrelson’s Luckman buttons for some much needed comic relief. They both apparently took cues from the intended animation, choosing to portray their drug-addled characters with a very much herky-jerky and over-the-top flair (but not nearly as much as Rory Cochrane’s spasmodic, bug-scratching Freck). When not chewing the scenery, Downey’s smugness and callousness gets a chance to surface, giving Barris more depth. The complexity of Winona Ryder’s character(s) only comes into focus after the film’s denouement, and by then her performance is nearly forgotten. Maybe it’s a testament to her role as the everywoman user, with dreams and aspirations pushed further from reach with every pill ingested. Even so, her pairing with Reeves is listless, tension is slack and nary a spark is emitted from Donna.

Like Waking Life, even getting your head around the framework and overall arc of A Scanner Darkly takes some brain power; comprehending all of the ideas presented within it is a whole other enchilada entirely. Few movies stay with you to the extent that A Scanner Darkly does, and I’m certain my brain will be churning the story’s information until that clichéd light bulb above my head blinks fully on. That, in itself, makes me give this a good rental recommendation, but with a caveat: if you’re looking for a bash ‘em, smash ‘em, shoot ‘em with lasers Sci-Fi flick, stick with The Running Man or Starship Troopers. A Scanner Darkly might just break your brain.

A Scanner Darkly — The Official Film site

Tags: A Clockwork Orange | A Scanner Darkly | Barris | Bob Arctor | Burgess | Fred | Heinlein | Keanu Reeves | Philip K. Dick | Richard Linklater | Robert Downey Jr. | Rory Cochrane | Stranger in a Strange Land | Substance D | Waking Life | Winona Ryder | Woody Harrelson

Related posts

Be Social:
  • This scrumptious piece of content has relatives in Film, Technology