Waking Life

Theatrical Release Date: 2001 10 19 (USA - Limited)

UPC: 024543040651

Studio: 20th Century Fox

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Mild Violence, Not For Children, Adult Language]

Summary: Richard Linklater returned to the semi-improvised approach and philosophical themes of his debut feature Slacker while embracing a new and groundbreaking visual technology in his sixth feature film, Waking Life. Linklater and cameraman Tommy Pallotta shot the film on location in Austin, TX, using digital video equipment. Linklater and digital animator Bob Sabiston then used newly developed computer software to transform the images through a process called "interpolated rotoscoping"; the result merges the naturalism of live action with a stylized look that resembles a cartoon or a painting in motion. Waking Life's flexible, non-narrative approach follows a young man (Wiley Wiggins) who arrives in Austin and hitches a ride with a stranger, who engages him in a conversation about rarely considered facets of existentialism. As the visitor drifts through the city, he encounters a variety of people and finds himself absorbing their views on art, philosophy, society, and numerous other issues of contemporary life. Linklater's cast is dotted with well-known actors (Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Adam Goldberg, Nicky Katt) and pop-culture notables (filmmaker Steven Soderbergh, Martin Scorsese associate Steven Prince, comic Louis Black), alongside a large number of relatively little-known players. Waking Life received its world premiere at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival; Linklater's next film, Tape, was also screened at the same festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Category: Avant-garde / Exp

Awards: Best Digital Effects – American Film Institute Best Animated Feature – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Experimental Film – National Society of Film Critics CinemAvvenire Award for Best Film in Competition – Venice International Film Festival Special Mention – Venice International Film Festival Best Picture – Independent Spirit Awards Best Director – Independent Spirit Awards Best Screenplay – Independent Spirit Awards Best Animated Feature – New York Film Critics Circle

Features: Audio commentary by director Richard Linklater and others
Audio commentary with over 25 of the film's animators
Text commentary
Deleted animated scenes
Selected takes of the live-action version
Shorts by Bob Sabiston
Featurette
Animation software tutorial
Theatrical trailer
Anamorphic widescreen (aspect ratio 1.85:1)
Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Surround, Spanish Dolby Stereo
Subtitles: English, French

Waking Life

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 05/07/2002

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DS Dolby Surround (4.0)

Runtime: 100 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,Spanish

Subtitles: English,French

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. Dream Is Destiny [4:43]
2. Anchors Aweigh [4:18]
3. Life Lessons [7:33]
4. Alienation [4:26]
5. Death and Reality [6:22]
6. Free Will and Physics [7:47]
7. The Aging Paradox [1:50]
8. Noise & Silence [3:18]
9. What's the Story? [5:57]
10. Dreams [6:19]
11. The Holy Moment [5:48]
12. Society Is Fraud [2:30]
13. Dreamers [2:41]
14. Ants [6:59]
15. We Are the Authors [3:09]
16. Meet Yourself [7:26]
17. Performance [7:51]
18. Trapped in a Dream [2:50]
19. Wake Up! [2:17]
20. End Credits [5:10]

Elbert Ventura

Both a homecoming of sorts and a quantum leap forward, Richard Linklater's Waking Life can be taken as a companion piece to his groundbreaking debut feature, Slacker. Centering on the dreamscape rambles of an unnamed protagonist (played by Wiley Wiggins, who also served as one of the film's animators), the movie takes on Slacker's free-form approach, ricocheting from one conversation to the next with just a hint of a narrative. But while Slacker looked very much like the shoestring-budget indie movie that it was, Waking Life is an altogether different experience. Using new animation technology designed by Bob Sabiston, the movie's art director, Waking Life is one of the most visually innovative American films ever made. Linklater used a method that involved filming his actors in digital video; the frames were then painted over by a crew of artists. The resulting look is vibrant and ethereal, like a dreamy moving painting. The talk is dizzyingly flighty as well -- brimming with youthful inquisitiveness, Waking Life is a movie drunk on talk and ideas. Essentially a compendium of Philosophy 101 lectures, the movie's text is all over the place; discussion topics include existentialism, evolution, and film theorist Andre Bazin. Nonetheless, an obsession with dreams and their power to sustain emerges. With its ever-shifting planes and impressionistic figures, the animation is a fitting visual counterpart to Linklater's intellectual meanderings. While the movie falls short of profundity -- the various philosophical musings never quite rise above the level of entertaining mental masturbation -- its exuberance and inventiveness can't be denied. ~ Elbert Ventura, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Tom Pallotta  Producer 
Richard Linklater  Director 
Richard Linklater  Screenwriter 
John Sloss  Executive Producer 
Anne Walker-McBay  Producer 
Caroline Kaplan  Executive Producer 
Jonathan Sehring  Executive Producer 
Glover Gill  Composer (Music Score) 
Palmer West  Producer 
Jonah Smith  Producer 
Tosca Tango Orchestra  Composer (Music Score) 
Wiley Wiggins  Actor 
Lorelei Linklater  Actor 
Trevor Jack Brooks  Actor 
Glover Gill  Actor 
Laura Hicks  Actor 
Ames Asbell  Actor 
Leigh Mahoney  Actor 
Sara Nelson  Actor 
Jeanine Attaway  Actor 
Erik Grostic  Actor 
Bill Wise  Actor 
Kim Krizan  Actor 
Robert C. Solomon  Actor 
Eamonn Healy  Actor 
Ethan Hawke  Actor 
Jan Shakespeare  Actor 
Julie Delpy  Actor 
Charles Gunning  Actor 
David Sosa  Actor 
Alexander Jones  Actor 
Otto Hofmann  Actor 
Aklilu Gebrewold  Actor 
Lisa Moore  Actor 
Carol Dawson  Actor 
Steve Fitch  Actor 
Louis Mackey  Actor 
Alex Nixon  Actor 
Violet Nichols  Actor 
Steven Prince  Actor 
Ken Webster  Actor 
Mary McBay  Actor 
Kregg A. Foote  Actor 
Jason T. Hodge  Actor 
Guy Forsyth  Actor 
Caveh Zahedi  Actor 
John Christensen  Actor 
Adam Goldberg  Actor 
David Jewell  Actor 
Nicky Katt  Actor 
E. Jason Liebrecht  Actor 
Brent Green  Actor 
RC Whittaker  Actor 
David Martinez  Actor 
Hymie Samuelson  Actor 
Derry Power  Actor 
Tiana Hux  Actor 
Timothy (Speed) Levitch  Actor 
Steve Brudniak  Actor 
Steven Soderbergh  Actor 
Marta Banda  Actor 
Charles Murdock  Actor 
Louis Black  Actor 
Mona Lee  Actor 
Edith Mannix  Actor 
Richard Linklater  Actor 
Bess Cox  Actor 

Country: USA