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What does a scanner see? Into the head? Into the heart? The
time: just beyond now. The place: Suburbia. The story: a twisted,
funny tale of people hooked on Substance D. And of a government
that cheerfully destroys its citizens - their rights, their
relationships - in order to save them. Robert Downey Jr.,
Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder and Rory Cochrane play strung-out
friends terrified of each other and of spies. Keanu Reeves
plays a spy who's also one of the friends... until his two
personalities begin to split. Enjoy the paranoia. Nobody's
watching you. Really...
A
Scanner Darkly
is based on the novel by Philip K. Dick - the sci-fi legend
whose works-to-film include Blade Runner, Total
Recall and Minority
Report.
America
in the near future has lost the war against drugs. Paranoia
reigns as two out of every ten Americans have been hired by
the government to spy on the other eight in the name of national
security and drug enforcement. Enter Bob Arctor, a reluctant
undercover cop recruited by the government. To maintain his
cover, Arctor regularly ingests the popular Substance D. The
drug has caused Arctor to develop a split personality. Arctor's
superiors set up a hidden holographic camera in his home as
part of a sting operation. A Scramble Suit that changes his
appearance allows Arctor's identity to be kept a secret from
his superiors. The camera in Arctor's apartment reveals that
his friends regularly betray one another for the chance to
score more drugs.
The
movie is as relevant now, with the current administration
in the USA, as it was when Dick first penned it in 1977. Working
on so many levels, the narrative is about so many different
issues that are, and could become in a short space of time,
problematic in the way a "free" society restricts
its citizens in order to create a false feeling of freedom.
In a world where security cameras are increasing and governments
are trying to push through laws that allow them to detain
anyone they like, for as long as they like, without explaining
why (pretending that it is all in the cause of preventing
terrorism) all of a sudden the ideas in A Scanner Darkly
don't seem like the work of a sci-fi writer after all.
Stylistically
the movie is very similar to Waking
Life (which the director and a lot of the crew
also worked on) with live action footage being overlapped
with animation to give the whole movie a graphic novel appearance.
Personally I feel that this is a process that is distracting
and rather pointless - art for art's sake. If you want to
make an animated movie, then make an animated movie. And,
if you want to make a live action movie, then make a live
action movie. Combining the two just feels cheap.
Anyone
with a personal computer and in interest in movie making will
know how to achieve the affect, and I couldn't really see
the benefits of using it in this movie. Possibly to save on
an effects budget, or to mask any poor acting... whatever
the reason, I personally found it made the whole movie feel
rather flat - and it will certainly date the film in years
to come.
The
acting is impressive Robert Downey Jr., is almost unrecognisable
as James Barris, Woody Harrelson is fantastically funny as
the unhinged, Shaggy from Scooby-Doo look-alike, Ernie
Luckman; and Keanu Reeves... well, he just plays Keanu Reeves,
really.
One
point I was confused about was the Scramble Suits. I didn't
really understand how these worked. As no one knows who is
inside them what's to stop anyone from infiltrating the building,
donning a suit, and causing havoc?
Extras
include an audio commentary with Keanu Reeves, Richard Linklater
(writer/director), Tommy Pallotta (producer), Jonathan Lethem
(Philip K. Dick historian) and Philip K, Dick's daughter Isa
Dick Hackett); One Summer in Austin: The Story of Filming
A Scanner Darkly 26 min featurette); The Weight of
the Line: Animation Tales (20 min featurette that goes
behind the scenes with the animators); and Theatrical Trailer.
The
audio commentary is fairly interesting. I loved the light
hearted discussion about how in the future Americans will
all be pulled in and arrested - all assumed guilty, as a formality,
in order to protect them all from the terrorist threat.
Sadly
I found A Scanner Darkly wasn't as clever as it tried
to be. However, it's still entertaining and I'm sure the majority
of Philip K Dick fans (or "Dick Heads" as his daughter
affectionately refers to them in the commentary) will lap
it up.
Nick
Smithson
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