|
Thankfully director Richard Linklater (Tape,
2001) has never been one to shy away from unconventional filmmaking and
it’s hard to imagine a person better suited to tackle one of Dick’s
most disturbing and unsettling works.
In A Scanner Darkly,
we are introduced to a near future where an increasing percentage of
the population is addicted to a drug called Substance-D, which causes –
among other things – paranoia and hallucinations. Keanu
Reeves plays Bob Arctor, an undercover cop who has infiltrated a house
it is hoped will lead his unit to the wider network of distributors.
Hidden cameras are set up in the house and from time to time Bob heads
back to the ‘station’ (he and his colleagues wear special morphing
suits to hide their identities from everyone – including each other),
where as ‘Officer Fred’ he tries to glean what information he can from
the surveillance footage. But to be convincing in his role, Bob has
been taking Substance-D – and it soon begins to mess with his brain,
making it difficult to determine what’s real and what’s not. Confusion
and a couple of twists lead up to the climax, which is both depressing
and satisfying in a One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest kind of way.
While it has the sturdy platform of Dick’s novel to stand on, the true strength of A Scanner Darkly
is its performances. Reeves has rarely, if ever, been in such good form
- and Robert Downey Jr and Woody Harrelson are ideally cast as Bob’s
sketchy motormouth and deluded stoner housemates. Linklater’s direction
is also superb, allowing the actors to ad-lib within the bounds of
their characters but also using a firm hand to keep the film on course.
One other thing: in the lead up to the release of A Scanner Darkly,
much publicity has been given to the rotoscoping process, where
animation is laid over live action film. I’m pleased to report the
hoopla is warranted, in this instance anyway – the rotoscoping helps
convey Dick’s unsettling vision of a drug-addled sub-reality. Much like
the effects used in Sin City,
rotoscoping puts the viewer’s brain in a weird kind of no-man’s-land,
where it’s trying to reconcile the on-screen image with either
live-action or animation but is unable to do either. Quite
remarkable. Sadly, though, it’s a safe bet that the release of A Scanner Darkly
will be succeeded by a slew of mediocre movies that have been
rotoscoped for no good reason, other than the filmmakers thought it was
‘cool’.
A Scanner Darkly is definitely not for everyone, in the same way a film such as Trainspotting
was not for everyone. This is not mass-market entertainment. It’s the
sort of intelligent, inventive and courageous filmmaking that has all
too infrequently been associated with Philip K Dick’s work. There’ll be
the usual chorus of ‘This was boring’ and ‘I didn’t get it’ clogging
the IMDB message boards (not to mention the inevitable whining from
some Dick purists) but any genuine connoisseur of film should add this
to their must-see list immediately.
EXTRAS
Extras include audio commentary by Keanu Reeves, director Richard
Linklater, producer Tommy Pallotta, author Jonathan Lethem and Phillip
K. Dick's daughter Isa Dick Hackett, a 'One Summer in Austin: The Story
of Filming A Scanner Darkly' documentary, a 'Weight of the Line:
Animation Tales' featurette, and the trailer. Nothing amazing... but
still worthwhile. Conclusion:
Movie 90% Extras: 60%
|
