Film #10 of 'It's June Jim, but not as we know it.'

A Scanner Darkly is perhaps the most faithful Philip K. Dick adaptation I've ever seen. It is my favourite novel of his, a mind bending, deeply emotional and autobiographical Science Fiction novel and I guess that's why I never bothered with this adaptation. I truly respect Linklater's attempts to stay as close to the original even though he unfortunately favours form over content.

Linklater's rotoscopic technique is a bit of a double edged sword for me here. I loved how the animation made me share in how all the druggies in the film view the world. It is a kaleidoscopic experience, sometimes with a surreal world, sometimes with…

Five years after his first animated film, Waking Life, Richard Linklater decided to take the rotoscoping technique to another level with an adaptation of one of Philip K. Dick's most acclaimed literary pieces. Once again the way the American director takes advantage of the rotoscoping technique (which consits of shooting on video - as live action - and then painting over) and proves it isn't merely an excuse to make an animated film, this style of animating serves the film's plot, subject matter, tone and atmosphere perfectly, now with a clearer execution (the fleeting, uncertain and foggy forms of Waking Life, which served the film's dream-like essence, are almost left behind - but the whole surrealism and insanity of the…

i had every intention to say something about martyrs and scapegoats and victims of (supposedly) architectonic goals & ideologies, but then the film concluded with an excerpt from Philip K. Dick's afterword, which made me cry in a very sad & helpless way. i found the entirety of the afterword after finishing the movie, which i'll paste below when i finish rambling. but i'd like to first pull some snippets both adapted for the film & not included:

"This has been a novel about some people who were punished entirely too much for what they did. They wanted to have a good time, but they were like children playing in the street; they could see one after another of them being killed—run over,…

An A-list cast made up of Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., Winona Ryder, and Woody Harrelson cannot save Richard Linklater’s “A Scanner Darkly” from its incompetent storyline that doesn’t have enough substance or drama to serve as a functional film.

Its premise isn’t enlightening enough as a drug addiction film, nor does it carry anything significant. Linklater’s execution is pretty lackluster. For one, the story is overly convoluted. Much of the direction is misleading as the twists and turns along the way lack suspense and instead like the rest of the movie, come off bland.

I think the biggest flaw to “A Scanner Darkly” is the lack of energy. The intuitive style in animation is visually appealing, yet the monotonous…

Scavenger Hunt #34 - JANUARY 2018
All tasks: letterboxd.com/angelmonkey/list/scavenger-hunt-34-january-2018/
My list: letterboxd.com/clarissav/list/scavenger-hunt-34-january-2018/
Task #14. A film you saw only once and remember really disliking... but feel you should give it a second chance.
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I tried to love it as I love the novel, but even though it encompasses what the book is and faithfully translates Philip K Dick’s vision, I had a hard time finishing it, even on the rewatch. Watching the confused ramblings of a bunch of drug addicts simply isn’t as engaging as reading it. The spirit of the book is definitely there; it feels like a futuristic 1970s California inhabited by lost souls who just want to have fun. The aching loneliness, the mistrust of others,…