WAKING LIFE - MOVIE [Blu-ray] [2001]

Super interesting and thought provoking. Inspires life-changing introspection.This is my favorite movie.

Mind Bendet! Must watch for everyone. I’ve seen it so many times.

Waking Life is perhaps one of the most amazing "not-films" I've ever watched. Don't be decieved by the DVD box suggesting that it's a movie. It's a motion picture as art. This film lacks everything a film should have: story, characters, plot, conflict, climax, everything. Then why do I give it five stars? Because it's not about the story, it's about the experience. It's not about the characters, it's about the ideas expressed by the people on the screen. It's not about the plot, it's about being totally mesmerised by the innovative rotoscopy animation. The film is a 100 minute acid trip and you don't get any of the harmful side effects that real LSD poses. Simply just a prolonged disconnection from the world as we know it allowing us to escape from all of the pressures of everyday existence and just be and think and live as a worryless lump of matter for a short while. The worst part about the movie is that if you start watching, it reaches a point that it is over.Director, Richard Linklater, takes us through a montage of of discussions from people on the screen about scores of philosophical, metaphysical and anthropoligical issues: existentialism, evolution, free will, language, dreams, death, life, reincarnation, pessimism, and so much more. This is not a traditional film. Throughout the whole run of the piece we are simply assaulted with philosophical monologue that may be boring or intellectually stimulating, pretentious or profound, tiresome or envigorating. Either way, I feel that it is a great way to just feel so disconnected and freed from the world for a little while. Among other elements of the film, the rotoscopy animation and the enchanting soundtrack by Tosca Tango Orchestra aids in this effect of disconnection, almost making the viewer feel like he or she is floating. It's important to understand the context of this film. It was released just after 9/11, when everyone needed a break from reality for a little while. Some may feel that presently we are all in need of a break from reality. Whatever the case may be, this is a film that may not be easily recieved by all people of all times. I gave this movie five stars. Covering every point that I just covered, I just as easily could have given it one. The only possible way that one can judge whether they will appreciate or scoff at this work of art is simply to experience it.

Full of intriguing ideas paired with an intriguing animation. Every time I watch this movie I get something different out of it, highly recommend it!

I haven't yet bought this DVD, but very much plan on doing so. I have always wondered, even to myself, the purpose for *buying* a movie. Am I really going to watch it, over and over again? There are plenty of DVD's I have bought, which I don't think I have watched since I bought them (this question, of course, becomes moot when dealing with a child's movie..since my four year old will watch Star Wars Episode One over and over..and he has relished in the menu aspect of being able to control the movie and its features... he is the new line of movie watchers: the interactive watcher).One common feature that this DVD offers which has been used ad infinitum on most every DVD, but which I have finally found wonderfully useful on this DVD: the commentary. It's neat knowing that the filmmakers have offered comments to run through a movie, but, except for American Beauty, I have not found the urge to use this feature. This DVD offers a running text which gives you background on the philosophic ideas being presented, and even suggestions and excerpts from texts to consider if you want to explore a specific philosophy further.A reviewer quoted here mentions how most of the audience walked out a third of the way through this movie when it was in the theater.I can understand that since, as a linear piece, it is quite taxing on attention span, despite the engrossing animation. For a world conditioned to be distracted every ten minutes, it is quite a feat to sit through the movie, even for one such as I who feels he has quite a long span of attention. This movie is ripe for DVD. It is easy to pull out pieces to watch, stop, skip, return, repeat, in a way that even video tape could not afford. In a way, this is a showpiece for the DVD format, which makes me wonder if other additional features could be created which were innovative to DVD... perhaps a randomizing feature which delinearized the film...hmmm.Anyway, if you are a deep thinker and love a mind challenge, BUY it on DVD. If your heroes are Jean Claude Van Damme, Stephen Segal, and Sylvester Stallone at his grunting best, you will be totally bored by this movie...go out and get the latest, blow-all-the-bad-guys'-guts-out Playstation game!!!

Un film complesso, che fa del sogno la sua cornice, della vita il suo contenuto e, pertanto, del tutto il suo orizzonte. Bello, complesso, affascinante.Amazon, ancora una volta, perfetto.

Ich hab mir den Film mehrere Male angesehen und komme auf den Entschluss: sehr,sehr gut!Er ist sehr philosophisch angelehnt und regt zum Denken an. Das besondere, dasich so noch nicht gesehen hab, ist die Darstellung. Es ist eine Mischung aus realenSchauspielern und animierten Zeichentrickfilm, richtig geil!

I'm a big fan of Richard Linklater, but this is one of his least accessible films. Lots of philosophical dialogue over rotoscope animation; its a unique movie that will have you thinking, but not for all tastes. Personally I love it; such an interesting concept for a film. Definitely one worth checking out if your a fan of the director and looking for some of his more obscure films.

Waking Life (2001) est un film d’animation rotoscopique réalisé par Richard Linklater. Le film fut tourné entièrement avec une caméra numérique puis des infographistes ont coloriés les images, transformant le film en film d’animation.Les dialogues des premiers personnages secondaires, flux verbeux sur des champs aussi différents que la philosophie ou la physique quantique sont difficiles d’accès. Puis brusquement, cette logorrhée provoque chez le spectateur un épuisement de sa pensée conceptuelle, il entre dans un état à mi-chemin du rêve et de la méditation, au moment où le personnage du film réalise lui-même qu’il est en train de rêver. Le rêveur lucide trouvera des références familières: onironautes, tests de réalité, faux réveil, corps de rêve, personnages du rêve… Puis la poésie et l’humour entraînent le spectateur vers une quête spirituelle sur le sens de l’existence, offrant des moments magiques …Chef d’œuvre définitivement inclassable ce film apporte une dimension spirituelle à l’art de rêver: sommes-nous somnambules dans un monde éveillé ou lucides dans un monde de rêves ?

Esta película es fascinante, desde el propio guión en el que se nos lleva por el desconocido mundo de los sueños, una mezcla de irrealidad, ideas de vanguardia y futurismo, indagando desde filosofía hasta política, diría que esta película es casi una oda a la experiencia de la vida. Producto impecable, formato UK solo en inglés. En un futuro compraré la versión Bluray.