Directed by: Richard Linklater
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., Winona Ryder
Rating:
A Scanner Darkly is a fantastic marriage of form and content. I haven't read the Philip K. Dick novella on which Richard Linklater's film is based, but having seen the movie, I can't imagine the story being told any other way. For those of you who haven't seen the stills, Scanner was produced using rotoscoped animation. Essentially, Linklater filmed the movie in live action and then his team of animators went back and animated over every frame. The result is beautiful to look at and perfectly fits into the movie's depiction of a reality that's increasingly becoming unhinged. Set in the near future, the film follows an undercover cop (played by Keanu Reeves) who has infiltrated a small group of drug abusers hooked on a chemical known only as Substance D. The only thing is, the cop is an addict as well and, without realizing it, his undercover persona and his actual identity are blurring together. The film is told almost entirely from his point-of-view, which means we're not always sure that what we're seeing is real or just another of his drug-induced illusions. The only thing we do know for sure is that something is terribly wrong in this future and no one seems willing or able to go about fixing it.
The aspect of Scanner that has gotten the most buzz is its depiction of an America where the government listens in on every call and watches your every move via hidden cameras and sound recorders. Considering certain recent headlines, this kind of story couldn't see more timely. Even though Scanner offers a very cynical view of the government, for me, this is really a story about personal responsibility. Dick wrote the book largely in reaction to the toll drug abuse was taking on those around him. Both the novella and the film end with a dedication in which the author salutes friends who died or suffered serious health problems because of their habit. And while the story heaps a fair amount of blame on a government that ignores citizens in need of help (and who may have gotten those citizens hooked on certain drugs in the first place) it also points a finger at the addicts themselves. Reeves is at least partially responsible for his own condition, as are the people around him. There's a deep sadness to A Scanner Darkly that makes it more than your usual paranoid thriller.
And then there's that rotoscoped animation, which is brilliantly executed. One of the key elements of the book is the idea that the cops where a scramble suit, which constantly rearranges their facial features and body type, thereby allowing them to pass by cameras undetected. I can't think of any way the scramble suit could have been accurately captured via live action filmmaking, but thanks to rotoscoping, we see these figures repeatedly morph and change before our eyes. It's hypnotic to look at and sets the tone very early on that reality itself is as mutable as these suits. I often found myself admiring the backgrounds as well, impressed with the level of detail the animators put into passing landscapes and buildings. The character animation is excellent as well; we can recognize the actors, but Linklater wisely doesn't go for lifelike representations. The only complaint I have is that rotoscoping doesn't always allow for smooth camera movement. There are some shots where the camera pans across a room or street and objects in the foreground and background keep shifting in size. But I guess that's only appropriate in a film where nothing is supposed to be as it seems.
